Rise to power
Prequel drama series Power Book III: Raising Kanan goes back to the ’90s as 50 Cent’s character gets his introduction to the dangerous but lucrative world of drugs.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Season 1 Tuesdays (from 26 October) 1Magic (*103) 22:00
Critically acclaimed drama series Power has spawned two spin-offs – Power Book II: Ghost, focussing on Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr) after he murdered his dad James St Patrick (Omari Hardwick) in Power, and now Power Book III: Raising Kanan, which zooms in on Kanan, the druglord character made famous by executive producer, rapper and onetime drug dealer 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson. “We had a story to tell and given the success of Power, it would’ve been foolish not to make these shows,” says 50 Cent, who has loosely based the series on his life. “It’s no secret that I was a drug dealer. It was the only way to survive the streets – you do what you’ve got to do or you die. It’s that simple. I’ve been shot, I’ve been beaten, I thought I was going to die but I didn’t,” adds the actor. But 50 Cent won’t be reprising his role because Power Book III is a prequel and reveals how Kanan became Kanan.
RAISING YOUTH
Young Kanan Stark is played by Disney kid star Mekai Curtis, who admits that people think he’s only got the role because he shares a surname with the executive producer. “It’s hilarious – we look nothing alike. It’s a coincidence.
I’m a fan of the original show and my agent told me about it. I wanted to be a part of the Power legacy and to get to play someone as polarising as Kanan is a lot of fun,” says the 20-year-old.
But it’s been a learning curve for the young actor – he’s had to rebinge the entire Power series and also watch the second spin-off. “It’s difficult because you know where he (Kanan) ends up in the first series, he’s involved in Power Book II, and now you’re creating life in the beginning with him. It’s great that 50 Cent has kept the same writing team and they know the character. So they’re able to tell me how to develop him, how to grow him from a young kid on the streets into this future drug kingpin.”
THUG LIFE
Power Book III is set in the poverty stricken suburb of Jamaica, Queens in New York and it’s something 50 Cent knows a lot about because he’s lived it. “I’m in the unique position to help with the writing and the characters. This is what I’ve lived, so I can tell Mekai and the writers what it’s like. You don’t just fall into the world of drugs. It’s a conscious decision and it’s not easy. You’ve got the potential to be robbed by your clients daily, to be gunned down by your enemies – the world of drugs will kill you one way or another.”
Young Kanan isn’t a straight-A high school student to start with. But he knows right from wrong… until the wrong people come along. “He’s pulled into this world. He doesn’t want to at first but then he realises that he’s great at it. He knows the streets and he knows what he’s doing. That doesn’t mean it’s going to all go his way,” explains Mekai, adding that “Kanan doesn’t see some of the threats being aimed at him. There’s a lot of people who’re going to be angry with him selling on their turf and they’re not people you mess around with.” At the start, Kanan still has a bit of youthful innocence about him but that’s going to disappear. He learns hard lessons and he’s got to wake up fast, says Mekai. “This is real life. You’ve got kids who’re carrying guns for protection and to defend their hoods from rivals. If you don’t sell your stash, that means your clients are buying from someone else and you’re going to go hungry tonight because you don’t have paper (money) in your pocket. Drugs are a way of life and death. For Kanan, he’s just very good at living,” says Mekai.