Prometheus 6

I'll figure out a headline later

Finally, a show that parents can watch with their children's probation officer.

UPN's "Platinum," which begins tonight, is the first prime-time drama set entirely in the hip-hop music scene. The saga follows two up-from-the-hood brothers, Jackson and Grady Rhames, as they battle the grimy-glamorous rap demimonde to preserve their independent record label, Sweetback Entertainment.

. . . "Platinum" may look like "Snoop Dogg Meets `The Sopranos,' " but it is closer to "Dynasty" with a hip-hop beat. It even has a hip-hop version of Alexis Carrington, Max, the alluring and ruthless owner of a rival record label, Conflict Entertainment.

. . . But the most outré supporting character is VersIs, an angry white rapper played by an angry white rapper called Vishiss. P6: see what I'm sayin'? Pale, sullen and Eminem-ish ("Why you rap so nasty 'bout yo' wife?" a girlfriend asks him), VersIs is the brothers' marquee artist and biggest pain, a gangsta Ted Baxter in their clique. Jackson calls Grady and says over a cellphone, "VersIs shot somebody." His brother instantly replies, "Again?" So does the next person Grady informs.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/14/2003 06:02:03 AM |