Q-Tip Joins The Team Behind New Broadway Musical About Muhammad Ali

Q-Tip has joined the list of Hip Hop artists who have taken their talents to the Great White Way, revealing that he’s now part of the team behind the upcoming Broadway musical about boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Pitchfork revealed that the aptly-titled Ali will make its debut in Kentucky in the fall of 2024 before hitting Broadway in 2025. “We’ll use [Q-Tip’s] hip-hop beats, and his talents will be used in other areas as well. This show’s covering a lot of areas of music and we’ll exhaust all of Q-Tip’s knowledge,” said writer and director Tim Dyer, who also revealed that the Tribe Called Quest MC will be serving as the music producer, co-lyricist, and cast album producer.

Richard Willis, the lead producer of the play, also told the outlet that Ali will combine “spoken word, verse, classical music, poetry, rap and hip-hop” in the production.

“I am very excited to be collaborating with Teddy, Clint, Casey and Sean in telling The Greatest’s story on stage. Muhammad Ali has always been a hero to me!” Q-Tip said to Deadline.

The MC and producer is just the latest Hip Hop legend to join a Broadway production.

Last December, Common made his Broadway debut in the show Between Riverside and Crazy, which opened in New York City on December 19.

Between Riverside and Crazy follows an ex-cop and his paroled son as they try to keep ownership of their rent-controlled apartment in the Upper West Side. Common starred as the son, Junior.

“It’s been inspiring. It’s been a lot of fun it’s been really hard work it’s been one of those things where I always loved theater and dreamed being a part of theater,” Common told local New York outlet Pix 11.

related news

Black Thought To Star In Off-Broadway Musical 'Black No More': '[This] Could Be My Life's Work'

October 7, 2021

He added, “What I love about Junior is that he’s not just one-dimensional. He really has a lot to him but a lot of people could look at this person the way we do like, ‘Ok this dude was locked up, he was on dope, he ain’t gonna never be nothing,’ but that’s not who Junior is.”

When it was initially announced that Common would play the role of Junior back in September, he echoed these sentiments on Instagram and said this opportunity had been a dream for years.

“This has been a dream of mine for a very long time to act in a play, to do theater, and to be a part of a theater company,” Common shared on Instagram. “I am supremely grateful and overwhelmingly inspired to be a part of Between Riverside and Crazy. I can’t wait to begin this process and to live this journey.”

He added: “When I got this role, I called my mother like I had gotten my first record contract. Haha! It was that much joy.”