COLUMBUS, Ohio — This holiday season, rapper and songwriter Kurtis Blow is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Hip Hop Nutracker, and it's coming to Columbus for one night only on Sunday, Dec. 4 at the Palace Theater. 

What You Need To Know

  • Blow is known for hit singles "Basketball" and "If I Ruled the World" 

  • The Hip Hop Nutcracker is a fusion of upbeat hip-hop and classical music 

  • The plots of the classic Nutcracker and the Hip Hop Nutcracker are the same — it just has some different characteristics

  • Blow is the M.C. of the show

Blow has been one with hip-hop since he can remember. He was a pioneer of the mainstream genre and took on every role in the industry. He was a breakdancer, an M.C. and eventually became the first rapper to be signed to a major label.

“I just don't do hip-hop,” said Blow. “I live hip-hop.”

He’s still changing the game decades later. He started the Hip Hop Nutcracker 10 years ago. It fuses the classical tempo of Tchaikovsky with upbeat elements of hip-hop.

“It's two young people that fall in love, and their love creates a special magic that can defeat evil. And we need that nowadays more than ever," Blow said.

Blow had a heart transplant a few years ago and said he’s grateful to still be able to do what he loves decades later.

“When I wake up, (I) thank God that I'm here. I'm still able to breathe air, and it's a blessing,” said Blow. “You know, it's like life now to me is so much of a blessing to just be able to breathe air.”

Blow was a breakdancer or "b-boy" himself when he was first introduced to the rap game. He has a special connection with all 10 b-boys and b-girls in the show. They trade ballet slippers for tennis shoes and pirouettes for popping and locking.

“The head spins and the windmills and the back spins and the air twists” are just some of the moves Blow said were in the show. 

He worked with director and choreographer Jennifer Webber to reimagine a world where the Nutcracker could be set in 80s Harlem, New York.

“One of the only rappers who still uses breakdancing and b-boys and b-girls in my live show now,” said Blow. “This is a part of the Hip Hop Nutcracker that I really enjoy and truly connect every night."

As M.C. of the show, his responsibility is to hype the crowd up in the beginning and end. He said his main goal is to connect families and generations and make everyone feel inspired.

“You will leave the show feeling good inside in the revitalization and in the spirit of the holiday season and that the hours that love conquers all," he said.

Tickets for the show range between $32 to $62. There are also performances in Cleveland Friday night and in Springfield, Ohio on Saturday.