In Rap Sh!t, Social Media Has Main Character Energy

The first 60 seconds of Issa Rae's new HBO series Rap Sh!t are a glorious whirlwind. The Earth spins, zooming into Google Maps’ street-level view of Miami before transitioning to a swirl of Instagram stories that moves down South Beach. We’re introduced to the show’s protagonist Shawna (Aida Osman) via a hotel guest’s video, and the texts and notifications don’t stop there — they’re constantly in frame, mimicking the 24/7 rhythm of life in the social media age. While the dramedy about two friends with rap girl dreams is nominally about music, it’s social media — and the ways Shawna and her friend Mia (KaMillion) use it as they navigate their lives — that steals the show.

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Issa Rae Is Reflecting On 10 Years of 'Awkward Black Girl' And Envisioning What's Next

With a plethora of Black faces on TV and in films in everything from HBO's I May Destroy You to FX's Pose and OWN's Queen Sugar, it seems unimaginable that just a decade ago, there were almost no Black or brown faces on the big and small screens. Growing up watching a plethora of series like Living Single and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and seeing movies like Love & Basketball and Friday Issa Rae found herself baffled by the lack of representation in the 2010s, so she decided to do something about it. 

One year before Kerry Washington introduced us to Olivia Pope, Rae gave us a witty, refreshing, and unique depiction of Black women on-screen. The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl debuted on YouTube in 2011 and immediately swept across the internet like wildfire. The series garnered die-hard fans, critical acclaim, and a Shorty Award. 

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'The Photograph' Is The Soft Romance Film That Black People Deserve

There has been such a void in Black Romance dramas that we didn't realize how much we were craving one until The Photograph hit us in the face.

Though we still cling to our favorites, such as 1997's Love Jones and 2000's Love & Basketball, Black romance on screen is nearly as old as cinema itself. The earliest surviving movie depicting Black intimacy is 1898's Something Good — Negro Kiss, a 29-second silent film. Since then, the romance drama category has taken off in Hollywood with timeless films like Casablanca and Titanic. Still, seeing Black people in these kinds of narratives is a rarity. 

In 1964, Nothing But a Man, though not widely seen, made a powerful impact on cinema. Set in Birmingham, Alabama, it follows the romance of a railroad worker and a preacher’s daughter, played by Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln. The film showcases a Black romantic drama in a way that isn’t packaged for the white masses, as has been implied of 1943's Stormy Weather or 1954's Carmen Jones. Following Nothing But a Man, films like Mahogany came to be in the 1970's. However, it wasn’t until the 1990's that a slew of romantic dramas, including The Best Man and Waiting to Exhale, or romantic comedy Boomerang began to take center stage. Yet, in the past 20 years, there have been only sprinklings of Black intimacy, sex and relationships on screen, heteronormative or otherwise, especially in mainstream cinema. 

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Black Romance In Film Makes A Glorious Return On The Set Of 'The Photograph'

Love and romance are integral parts of the human experience. However, romantic dramas in cinema starring Black people have been few and far between. Some of the most beloved have been Love Jones, The Best Man and Love & Basketball. Also, recent projects like Beyond the Lights, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk have shown Black love.  However, there have been limited films that solely focus on love and relationships between young Black people in the 21st century. In her New York City-based romantic drama, The Photograph, writer and director Stella Meghie is putting the spotlight on Black love stories.

The Photograph follows Mae Morton (Issa Rae), a museum curator grappling with the death of her estranged mother, a famed photographer. After uncovering a forgotten photograph in her late mother's safety deposit box, Mae embarks on a quest to unpack who her mother truly was. Her journey connects with journalist Michael Block (Lakeith Stanfield), who is working on his own story about Mae's mom.

"I was 16 watching Love Jones on repeat," Meghie explained when Shadow And Act visited The Photograph set in New York City. "It was an adult, very sexy, intellectual, sophisticated kind of love. That film shaped me a lot. Love & Basketball was a big thing for me. Gina Prince-Bythewood is a definite inspiration. Hav Plenty as well."

The Photograph is a story that the Canadian-born director has been wanting to create for years. "I talked to Will [Packer] about a romantic drama like five years ago," she revealed. "I ended up doing my first film Jean of the Joneses and then Everything, Everything. However, I wanted to come back to this script. I finally ended up writing it a few years later after we spoke about it."

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Image: Universal Pictures.

On Set With 'Little': Regina Hall and Issa Rae On the Power Of Black Women

Black girlhood is often overlooked— not only in mainstream films but also in the archive of Black Cinema across the diaspora. Now, with the new movie Little — helmed by Tina Brown and starring Black-ish's Marsai Martin, Regina Hall, and Issa Rae, Black girls are being brought to the forefront of mainstream cinema.

Set in the present day, Little follows Jordan Sanders (Hall) a ballsy no-nonsense businesswoman in the tech space. On the eve of the most significant presentation of her career, Jordan wakes up in her penthouse apartment as her 13-year-old self (Martin) Forced to rely on April (Rae) her long-suffering assistant to keep her secret and her business up and running, Jordan must confront some tough truths about her present and her past.

Last July on a sticky hot day in Atlanta —Shadow and Act got the opportunity to visit the Little set. As the soundstage door opened, we found ourselves in Jordan’s office, a brightly lit space that had the CEO’s face and presence all over it. As filming continued on set, we chatted with Regina Hall and Issa Rae about working with Martin, Black women's stories and what it means to be the H.B.I.C.

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Situationships, Sex And Shenanigans: Our Predictions For Season 3 Of 'Insecure'

After an emotionally tumultuous and eye-opening season 2 of Insecure, the critically acclaimed series is set to drop its third season on August 12. This time it looks like Issa (Issa Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji) are entering their dirty thirties with the same ol’ shenanigans. Season 2 was the final nail in the coffin in Issa and Lawrence’s (Jay Ellis) relationship, and from what Ellis has told Angie Martinez, it doesn’t look like the former Best Buy employee will be penetrating Issa’s world anytime soon. In fact, after some much-needed closure, it looks like the man who forgot Issa's birthday is officially Black History. Even though we love Ellis as an actor, we aren’t mad that Lawrence and Issa are no longer circling one another. After all, we want to see Issa grow and prosper, and that’s just not going to be possible if she and her ex are still holding on to one another (symbolically or otherwise). But let's get back to the ladies on the show because that's what's so enchanting about the series. Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny are putting black women at the center and giving them the opportunity to tell their stories. Still, that’s not to say that even without the drama of Lawrence that Issa’s life is flawless.

The last time we saw the Stanford grad, she was moving out of the apartment she and Lawrence once shared and in with Daniel (Y'lan Noel), her college bae and the man with whom she cheated on Lawrence. Originally, Issa was supposed to move in with her brother, Ahmal (Jean Elie), but that quickly changed. Now, Issa is supposed to be sleeping on Daniel's s couch. But we’ve all seen Daniel, and we’ve indeed all witnessed the chemistry between the pair, so we'll give the new "roommates" until episode three before they fall back into bed together.

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