Kanye West to score new slave drama series

Rapper Kanye West has signed up to score a new TV slave drama starring former Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Christopher Meloni.

Underground will follow the trials and tribulations of a group of slaves who plan an escape from a Georgia plantation with help from an abolitionist couple which runs a station on the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes used by runaway slaves in the 19th century.

Actors Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Jessica De Gouw and Aldis Hodge have also been cast in the drama, while West will provide the show's soundtrack.

Production on the new series will begin next week (begs13Apr15) and air on cable network WGN America, according to ProjectCasting.com.