Cannon's Next Superstar Tour 2023 will kick off Saturday in Los Angeles.
Nick Cannon's about to embark on his Future Superstar Tour, and his mission's simple: give future superstars a much-deserved platform.
The talented host and rapper invited ET's Kevin Frazier to tour his Ncredible Southern California office, where they discussed what the upcoming tour means to him, the empire he's growing and whether he wants to have more kids (hint: yes and no).
Cannon will kick off his Future Superstar Tour on Saturday night at the famed Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. It's the first of a 24-city tour featuring 10 rising stars ready to shake up the game with their talent. For Cannon, it's not about him becoming some kind of talent scout. It's more than that. It's about paving the way forward.
"I don’t have the credibility to deem anyone a superstar," The Masked Singer host tells ET. "To be [a superstar] it goes back to you gotta have that superstar energy; it's already within you. It comes from within. ... I just wanted to put all those people together on a tour bus, old school Berry Gordy style."
Some of the up-and-coming talent slated to perform includes Symba, 24kGoldn, Big Boss Vette, Hitman Holla, JD McCrary, Traetwothree, Klondike Blonde, DW Flame, POP MONEY and more.
Cannon says he's gladly ripping a page out of Gordy's playbook. Gordy, of course, was the famed record executive who founded Motown Records and spearheaded efforts to turn up-and-coming stars into household names.
"You didn't have music videos and social media [back in the day]. You heard a song on the jukebox and you wanted to know what that person looked like, how tall they were," Cannon said. "So, Berry put them all on there -- from the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Supremes -- they all traveled and went to the hood, and that's what we're doing. We're bringing the superstar."
In other words, Cannon's providing them all the platform to succeed, and they'll take it from there.
"There it is and that's the process and we're documenting the whole thing," Cannon said. "It's gonna be on BET and they get the opportunity to do the cover of Vibe magazine. How amazing that is, like, I never got to be on the cover of a magazine. So, even in that, to see this next generation take over. I have been a curator for so long. I've been real quiet about a lot of the career platforms that I've built, but now I can bring it to the forefront; get the opportunity to show myself as a businessman and music executive, and that's what the show is about."
The Future Superstar Tour will also include a superstar seminar. First up on Saturday, record executive and GRAMMY winner L.A. Reid. Babyface is also slated for Sunday's show in Anaheim, California, at the House of Blues.
Cannon gave ET a tour of his expansive office, which features a DJ room, recording studios, a soundproof game room, a kitchen stocked with snacks and even a playroom for his kids. The father of 12 joked that the room's max capacity is 12. Cannon shares 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with Mariah Carey. He also shares Rise, 5 months, Powerful, 2, and Golden, 6, with Brittany Bell; Beautiful, 3 months, and Zion and Zillion, both 1, with Abby De La Rosa; Halo, 2 months, and the late Zen with Alyssa Scott; Legendary, 7 months, with Bre Tiesi; Onyx, 5 months, with LaNisha Cole.
Cannon shared with ET that, when it comes to spending time with his children, there's a misconception when it comes to how he goes about it.
"Everybody thinks it's time management. It's energy management," he said. "[Because] once we're all aligned, the flow is a lot easier. If there's any kind of low frequencies or dissension in there that’s what messes up the scheduling. As long as we're all on the same page and we all got the same goal -- to be the best parents we could possibly be -- that works and then the scheduling is the scheduling."
Cannon's cognizant of the fact that, at some point, the business empire he's building is something his kids will inherit. It's what keeps him busy (he wakes up at 2 a.m. to go to work) and motivated. But with so much love to give, will he ever say it's time to hit pause on having more kids? Yes and no.
"Yeah, yeah [laughs] yeah," said Cannon when asked if he's done having kids before offering a caveat. "God decides when we're done [laughs] but I believe I definitely got my hands full. And I'm so focused. I'm locked in. But when I'm 85, you never know. I might."
But, in all seriousness, Cannon can't help but beam with pride at the bright future he's set up for his kids.
"It's a blessing, man, like, hopefully because of what I am able to do, my kids can do whatever they want to do, to be able to be in a position that if they want to be a nuclear physicist, I know somebody at an Ivy League school that I could [hit up]," he said. "If they want to go into the military, if they want to be artists, if they want to be actors, it's a thing where we have the capability. Let's start talking about it now so we can help your dreams come true."
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