Rapper Kanye West expands his work load with a guest-voice stint in 'The Cleveland Show' as Kenny West.
- Mar 18, 2009
AceShowbiz - Kanye West owes it to being "Family Guy" fan and his talent in rap, when he was signed to fill a voice for one of the characters in "The Cleveland Show". The established rapper was invited for a reading for the spin-off to "Family Guy" as Kenny West, a not so mega rapper, and passed. He had even recorded an episode for the FOX animation.
"It was surprising to us that (he) was so into it that he came to the table (read), and wonderfully surprising how cool he was, how funny he was and how unassuming he was," Mike Henry who voices some characters and executive produce the show said. "He's just a great presence."
Haris also noted that Kanye is a big fan of the show, since he mentioned on his blog about the spin-off and invited creator Seth MacFarlane to his house a couple of years ago."We knew he was a big fan, and a lot of us are fans of his," Haris said.
Executive producer Richard Appel also raved about Kanye's participation, revealing that the rapper even chipped in idea for one of the rap lines. "Before we came to the table ... there was only one line he didn't love, and he came up with another idea and in a completely modest, nice way said, 'Would you mind if I changed just this one line?'" Appel said. "And our feeling was, how many raps have we written? One? And how many has he written? Be our guest!"
"The Cleveland Show" is prepared for fall season premiere and Kanye's episode will be aired in 2010. No word yet whether Kenny West will be made as a main character, which will make Kanye as a regular in the show but the rapper has expressed his willingness to participate further. "He said he'd be glad to (be back). I said we could write him in to the next 21 episodes!" Appel continued. Other stars lending voice for the animated show are Taraji P. Henson, Nia Long, and Sanaa Lathan.
