XBox Entertainment Studios is setting in motion a project, Street Dreams, which is loosely based on the life of rapper Nas.
Reported exclusively by Deadline, Nas is marking the 20th anniversary of this debut album Illmatic and this project will be a half-hour series set life in the 1990s in Long Island’s Queensbridge housing complex, where Nas grew up. It will look at the music, family and the difficulties of the rap scene.
Street Dreams comes from Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell’s Electric City Entertainment (The Place Beyond the Pines). Jonathan Levine will write and direct the project; he also grew up in New York during the 90s and used New York in the 90s as the backdrop for his coming of age film The Wackness. The Wackness won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Nas is involved in the writing and music for Street Dreams. Anthony Seleh, Nas’ manager, will executive produce with Patricof, Howell and Levine. Patricof and Howell developed HBO’s Muscle.
Xbox has yet to launch its first series but is buying scripts and currently has a pro skater comedy series in the works from writer Ian Edelman.