‘Queen’ Kai Ture Talks Playing a Rap Legend
The 14-year-old had to mirror Eve’s legendary rapping and said her performance in the show was more exciting and challenging than anything else she had experienced.
(Photo: Courtesy of Curtis Baker)
Flossmoor; Illinois — Reflecting on the first season of ABC’s “Queens,” Kai Ture dishes on her audition to play young Briana, how she worked on her flow and her mother’s influence.
The show follows four women in their 40s as they reunite to recapture their “Nasty B—-s” hip hop and rap fame from the 1990s.
Then known as Professor Sex (Brianna played by Eve), Butter Pecan (Valeria played by Nadine Velazquez), Jill Da Thrill (Naturi Naughton), and Xplicit Lyrics (Naomi played by Brandy), they now live mundane lives and try to regain their relevance with the help of a young artist, Lil Muffin (played by Pepi Sonuga).
Ture had to mirror Eve’s legendary rapping and said her performance in the show was more exciting and challenging than anything else she had experienced.
“For the audition rap I had to do the Shakespeare rap from the first scene,” the 14-year-old told YR Media.
But, she needed some help.
“My mom and I were like ‘How do we do this?’ We called up a friend and then her mom called up another friend and he was a rapper. We worked with him, and he told us how to rap,” she said.
As the basis for an episode that focuses on the 90s era of Black female rappers, Ture vicariously lived through her mother’s nostalgia as a model in the 90s.
“So, she was born in 1978 and in high school at this time. When I got on set she was like, ‘Oh my gosh! I wore the same outfit! Cross Colors was my stuff! My room looked just like this when I was young!’ So, it was me seeing her feel it and then thinking, ‘Okay keep that same energy,’” she said.
The multifaceted role of young Brianna required her to adapt Eve’s persona as a tough female rapper in a genre that saw Black women as primarily video vixens.
“Brandy is like the singing Bible, but Eve is a bulldog in a skirt. So, I have to take on that. Literally, I’m in a skirt and I have to be tough because that’s just naturally what Eve puts off. Bulldog in a skirt, that's what people called her,” Ture said.
As a young Black girl, Ture expressed feelings of empowerment by being in the presence of acclaimed performers Brandy and Eve.
“When I got on the set almost everybody there was Black. Like ‘Wow this is very empowering.’ On set, they always made sure my needs were met,” she recalled.