Kid Cudi to Star in Season 3 of ‘Empire’

Kid Cudi is joining the cast of Empire. The "Day 'N Nite" rapper will play Gram, an independent musician and rival of Hakeem Lyon (played by Bryshere "Yazz" Gray), in the third season of FOX's hit show according to a report by Entertainment Weekly.

Gram will not only be an adversary to Hakeem in the music business, but also in his romantic life. The third season of Empire is set to have Gram dating Hakeem's ex-girlfriend Tiana (played by Serayah McNeill). Kid Cudi's character is sure to add to the tumult in Hakeem's life after season two ended with his wedding to Laura (played by Jamila Velazquez) being called off.

Kid Cudi is not the only hip-hop star joining the next season of Empire. Last month, Xzibit got bumped up to a series regular in his role as Leslie "Shyne" Johnson. French Montana and Birdman are also slated to make appearances on the show.

Things are going well for Kid Cudi's career these days, but the rapper recently admitted his accomplishments once led him down a dangerous path. During an appearance on Pharrell Williams’ Beats 1 program OTHERtone, Cudi said he became a drug addict to cope with success.

"I was a considerable little addict for a time," he said. "I didn’t want people to know, I had tricks of hiding it. It was wild man, ‘cuz I was just trying to maintain. I wasn’t trying to be cool. I wasn’t proud of it. My two uncles were crackheads growing up. I had to see that shit."

Thankfully, Kid Cudi is in a better place now. And that's a good thing for the Cleveland native since he's got much more on his plate than acting. The melodic rhymer is set to headline the 2016 Trillelectro Festival next month and plans to drop two new albums this year.

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