Kid Cudi to play Jean-Michel Basquiat in a film he will make himself

The American rapper announces Jean, a biopic dedicated to the famous New York painter. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Kid Cudi is going to do his Basquiat.

The American musician announced on social networks that he would play the famous artist in Jeansa film for which he wrote the screenplay and which he will also direct. Filming is scheduled for 2027.

To accompany this announcement, Kid Cudi revealed several photos of himself in costume, with a wig intended to evoke the painter. A first glimpse that is still provisional, as he himself clarified: “For years, I’ve been asked if I’m going to play Jean-Michel Basquiat in a film. But no project ever came to fruition. This year, I ended up saying to myself: too bad, I’m going to write it myself!”

The rapper, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, explained that he spent a lot of time preparing the project, between research, reading and discussions with people who knew Basquiat. He describes Jeans like a love letter to the artist, to the 1980s and to New York, a city inseparable from his career.

“Jean has inspired me throughout my career. It will be the greatest honor to tell his story in a way we’ve never seen before.”

If Kid Cudi first became known through music, he gradually established himself as a familiar face in cinema. He notably appeared in Bill & Ted Face the Music And House Partybefore joining Ti West’s horror trilogy, composed of X, Pearl And MaXXXine.

But he is not the only one who wants to tell the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Another project, led by director Kwame Kwei-Armah, is also in development. Titled The Collaborationit is adapted from the eponymous play created in 2022. The film stars Paul Bettany in the role of Andy Warhol and Jeremy Pope in that of Basquiat, around the artistic relationship between the two men in New York in the 1980s. No release date has yet been announced.

Died in 1988 at just 27 years old, Jean-Michel Basquiat remains one of the major figures of contemporary art. Coming from the New York underground scene, he established himself with a work combining painting, graffiti, text and references to history, popular culture and racial discrimination.

There already exists a reference biopic, released in 1996, soberly titled Basquiatdirected by Julian Schnabel. It launched the career of actor Jeffrey Wright, who played the title role magnificently, while David Bowie was Andy Warhol.