Over the past year, more than a few rappers, including Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Drake, have lent their signature hip-hop voices to animated cartoons. Now, one of hip-hop’s heads honchos, Jay-Z, is joining the ranks of rappers turned voice-over actors, as he lends his voice to an episode of the Hub TV animated series, “Secret Millionaires Club.”
The rebooted animated web series, which originally aired online in 2009, follows a group of kids tackling kid-friendly financial emergencies and has been adapted into a television show which will run on Hub TV. According to The Boombox, in the premiere episode, Hov plays a character not unlike himself, a successful businessman using his power, knowledge and influence to help the younger generations to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
“As a team, you can put your interests in business to good use,” says an animated Jay to the four main characters. “That’s what I’ve done. Being a good businessman has allowed me to help others, like my charity, the Sean Carter Scholarship Foundation.”
The series also stars entrepreneur Warren Buffett, who also co-founded the show with Andrew Heyward. In the series, Buffett’s character acts as the financial guru for the business savvy foursome and according to Buffett, getting Jay-Z to appear on the show was a breeze.
“It was not a tough sell, believe me,” said Buffett to the New York Times‘ Dealbook. “He’s a real businessman, I’m just pretending,”
The premiere episode, titled “Be Cool To Your School,” will air on Hub TV on Oct. 23. –nicholas robinson
