Knockturnal had the chance to catch up with ABFF Ambassador, Issa Rae, to chat about her highly
anticipated series, Rap Sh*t.
The new comedy series follows two Miami-based rappers, Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion)
attempting to find success in the music industry.
“It’s something for the summer!” Issa stated, “Whether you’re a creative in the music industry or just an
entrepreneur in general, there’s something to relate to in this particular story.”
In recent years, we’ve witnessed Issa Rae becoming a mogul with all of the other projects she’s done
leading up to this moment; from running her entertainment company (Hoorae Media), opening up a
black-owned coffee shop in Inglewood, gracing several magazine covers, and more. She
expressed to Knockturnal how making time for herself came with some challenges.
“I took all of January off and that was hard for me”, she explained. She went on to discuss why that
month was so grand. “My birthday is in January, the first day of the year is in January and that’s when
I’m the most productive”, she expressed. Taking that month off made her realize that rest is needed to
create space for new ventures.
Knockturnal also had the opportunity to attend the HBO Max Power of Visibility (POV) event to chat
with the behind-the-scenes talent of Rap Sh*t: Eliza Diop, Chris Sanford, Montreal Mckay, Aida
Osman, and Nina Gloster.
The writers of Rap Sh*t made it clear that this show isn’t about the real-life popular rap duo City Girls.
The City Girls actually serves as co-executive producers for the show and they inspired some of the
character arcs in the series.
“We can’t come to Miami and tell the story without tapping in with the City Girls”, Montreal exclaimed as he spoke about the influence Miami female rappers had in the entertainment industry, “Everyone up here, including
Issa has such reverence for what these women are doing now.”
Aida Osman, who’s a writer and also plays “Shawna” on the show, tells us about developing the
characters in the writer’s room, “In the writer’s room, we naturally tell our own personal stories that
relate to the characters. We get very personal and deeply vulnerable about our story, especially being a creative that’s
sensitive about their work”.
Rap Sh*t will premiere July 21st on HBO Max.
