Issa Rae talked about her upcoming series Rap Sh*t and how comments Jermaine Dupri made about current women rappers inspired the writing of the show in a new cover story on Rolling Stone. Rae announced Rap Sh*t back in October 2019. In February this year, it was announced that the show had received an eight-episode, half-hour order for HBO Max.
On appearance on PEOPLE Now two years ago, Dupri shared his thoughts about the current state of women rappers, referencing Da Brat and how he believes she paved the way for women rappers to “sell a lot of records.”
“Brat was the first female artist to go platinum, so we together broke the mold…and since then female rappers have been able to sustain and sell a lot of records, more records than guys, but before Brat that wasn’t happening,” he said.
When asked his favorite current female rapper, he replied:
“I can’t really say.”
“…I feel they’re all rapping about the same thing. I don’t think they’re showing us who’s the best rapper,” he added. “For me, it’s like strippers rapping and as far as rap goes I’m not getting who’s the best rapper.”
“I’m getting like, ‘Oh, you got a story about you dancing in the club. You got a story about you dancing in the club. You got a story about you dancing in the club’…OK, all right, who’s gonna be the rapper?”
These comments sent social media into a uproar and Dupri immediately received backlash for his double standard comments.
Rae addressed Dupri “coming out and criticizing female rappers for only talking about their pussy,” and shared how that played a part in the writing for the series.
“I was just like, ‘This is so unfair,’” she said. “So that inspired the writing of it.”
Rap Sh*t, her upcoming series about two childhood best friends who reunite to chase rap stardom. Though it’s set in a world she’s less familiar with — loosely based on Miami duo the City Girls, who have signed on as executive producers — there’s still some activism at its core. Rae was moved in part by female rappers like Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, whose rise through social media and reality TV fascinates her.
Issa Rae also discussed her own dismayed dealings within the music industry and the perpetuation of specific images, especially when it comes to black women.
She says, “She doesn’t understand how people can both work at labels and manage artists on the side, and questions the more “manufactured” elements of those who rise to the top”.
“I guess I feel more empowered in the film and television industry,” she says. “We have our own problems, but it is nothing like the music industry. I’m in awe every single day of just, ‘Y’all can do this? This can happen, and it’s still going to happen?’ I have a lot of catching up to do. That feels exhausting in a different way.”