Wendell Tucker, a Chicago native and gradutate of Southern Illinois and Chicago State Universities, has taken hip-hop and put it on stage. Basing his play off of Common’s “I Used To Love H.E.R.,” Tucker has utilized the personification of hip-hop as a woman and played off of how money and fame influences her direction.

Tucker says he doesn’t want the show to reach only his peers but to be an ambassador to people who don’t know anything about hip-hop or don’t like it because of what they think it represents.

“People have such a negative, unfair view of hip hop,” says Tucker in an interview with Chi Town Daily News. “They think about violence. They think about drugs. They think about kids with their pants hanging off their butt.”

Tucker, and business partner Jeremy Noah, are planning on debuting several new plays on topics such as depression and suicide in black men and the hustler mentality that is pervasive in hip-hop culture. “I Still Love H.E.R.” is playing at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings now through August.

Between benefit concerts and culturally-aware theatre performances it seems that May is going to be a good month for hip-hop.