Tank says he was 'built for' Broadway musical 'Hell's Kitchen'

Tank is temporarily joining the Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen. It will officially mark his debut on Broadway, but it's something he says he was prepared for.

"They got the right one," he tells People. "I love it, it's what I do. I work out twice a day and go to the studio. So I'm there, I'm built for this."

Tank will be replacing Brandon Victor Dixon as Davis, father of main character Ali, whose life is based on Alicia Keys' experience growing up in New York City. Knowing Brandon earned a Tony nomination for the role, Tank says he'd been learning from him in person and through his work.

"I studied what he did," he says. "The guy's nominated for a Tony, that's a guy you want to take notes from. Some of those character ideas that he embodies — you want to nail some of those things, you want to grab some of those things."

"He didn't put it in a space where it felt competitive. He put it in a space where, it honestly felt like love, man," adds Tank of Brandon. "It felt like he's giving me the approval, like, 'Hey bro, I want you to come in and do an amazing job. And anything that I can do to help you do that, let me know.' And once it's in that space and it's love and it's welcome to the family, all the competition part of it kind of goes out of the window and in a sense, you just want to make people proud."

On whether he's going to bring his vocals to the show, Tank says, "I get to act up a little bit. ... There were moments where Alicia and [musical supervisor Adam Blackstone] are like, 'Hey bro, do the thing.'"