Mary J. Blige has said that she hopes to one day play Nina Simone in a biopic and that she’s always wanted to learn how to play the piano.
The Queen of Hip Hop Soul stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to speak about her new children’s book Mary Can!, and said Simone’ story was always one she wanted to be told.
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“I always wanted to play Nina Simone because I wanna learn how to play the piano and I love her songs,” she explained. “They’re very dark and moody and I can always find a place for that.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mary J. Blige spoke about Hip Hop 50 and how the artform still serves as a form of therapy for thousands of people.
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“I think it’s been amazing because Hip Hop has given our culture a voice,” Blige said. “It’s given everybody a voice and a place to speak their truth to. From JAY-Z to Nas to Biggie, they’re all speaking their truth through music, from Rakim to KRS-One.
“Everybody is speaking what they’ve lived and what they’ve done through their music and it’s given them some sort of therapy, and that’s what Hip Hop has done and I hope it continues to do that and I hope it stays around for a long time because the new generations are doing the exact same thing.”
The comments come after it was recently announced that Mary J. Blige has inspired two more original movies based on her music catalog.
Lifetime announced it would be collaborating with Blige for two films based off Blige’s biggest hits, “Real Love” and “Strength of a Woman.”
The movies will air on back-to-back Saturdays, beginning June 10 at 8 p.m. Blige will serve as an executive producer on both under her production banner, Blue Butterfly, with co-producers Ashaunna Ayars and Nicole Jackson.
Mary J. Blige herself is no stranger to getting in front of the camera, and is currently starring as Monet Tejada in Power Book II: Ghost.
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50 Cent’s crime saga has already received the green light to begin filming Season 3, and 50 took to Instagram in January to celebrate the first day of shooting alongside Method Man and Mary J. Blige.
“#1 Show on Tv right now GHOST, season 3 day 1 it’s lit BOOM,” Fif wrote alongside the photo.
