Another star-making series is in the works, this time centred around the next big hip-hop act.
Earlier in the summer reports started circling that a competition based reality show was being helmed by FOX called The Four. The premise would follow a big-time performer, a record executive, a producer and a business mogul judging a number of talents, picking one winner to successfully launch into a career. The whole show is set to have an emphasis on the hip-hop genre.
TMZ reports that Diddy is set to be the record executive, DJ Khaled will be the panel's producer and Charlie Walk (President of Republic Records) will be the business mogul for the show's panel. As for the leading performer, the publication reports that it's been narrowed down to three women - Fergie, Meghan Trainor and Bebe Rexha.
FOX's newly appointed reality-programming executive, Rob Wade, previously told Variety that the first season of the show won't run too long, as a way to find the next star in a short amount of time.
"I think it could be anywhere between four and eight [episodes]. It’s very different. I know that the natural instinct would be to go all Idol or Voice [in season length], but this is different," he explained. "It’s an event that’s going to go on for a short amount of time. I don’t think you could lengthen it out. In a way it could be never-ending. But you don’t want it to be like that. You want there to be pressure on America and the judges to find a star in a short amount of time. I think that’s what works best."
The Four is set to air at the top of the new year. As for changing the panellists every season and seeing new hip-hop acts mentoring the upcoming stars, Rob noted that it's something he may consider.
"If the chemistry’s going great, you don’t want to disrupt it too much. But I think what they’ve done great on The Voice is change one or two people each season. I do like that format. We’ll see who we get," he said.