For thirteen episodes in this half-hour unscripted drama, BET´s cameras follow the lives of five kids from Columbus, Ohio who form the musical collective Fatty Koo and capture their struggle to break into the record biz. BLOWIN´ UP! FATTY KOO premieres on BET on Thursday, April 21st at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Photo Courtesy of UPN
Fatty Koo is five real people with the real pressures of school, family, love, religion, money and sex -- who fight and argue about everything except their music. Fatty Koo is a group not created in the halls of a record label, but organically and authentically. No Svengali calling the shots. No mega- studio. No penthouse. No bling-bling. They are a talented, multicultural ensemble of young artists who experience the highs and lows of making an album and establishing relationships. The members of Fatty Koo hooked up aboard the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, and working together as one created a unique fusion of R&B, hip-hop, Latin, jazz and pop that led them to score a record deal with Sony Urban/DAS/Columbia Records.
In BLOWIN´ UP! FATTY KOO, viewers meet Eddie B., Gabrielle, Marya, Ron and Valure where they live -- writing, rehearsing and recording back home in Columbus and New York City; dealing with differences in culture, values and upbringing; making gut-wrenching decisions about the direction of the group while waving away the trappings of show business; and trying to concentrate on their music while navigating the rocky waters of a tough industry. It´s a formula for great television and BET jumped at the opportunity to partner with Columbia Records to bring the Fatty Koo experience into the living rooms of the network´s viewing audience.
"These are real young people with talents and dreams," said Stephen Hill, Executive Producer and BET Executive Vice President, Entertainment and Music Programming. "As this describes many in our audience, we saw this highly entertaining show as a perfect fit for BET. Our viewers will be cheering ... and sometimes jeering the moves of these five kids. But the point is that the audience will be engaged. This story is that compelling."
The show´s executive producers also include David Sonnenberg, Academy Award-winning producer for "When We Were Kings," S.A. Baron of Orson Entertainment and Gary Fisher, Senior Vice President of Video Promotion and Television Programming for Columbia Records.
"This is a show about extremely talented people who have made great music," said Fisher. "We wanted to take a format of television that people were comfortable with, in reality programming, and turn up the volume. These kids are authentic and fun to watch with a great story to tell."
The Fatty Koo debut album, HOUSE OF FATTY KOO, is slated for release on Tuesday, July 12.
