'Rap Sh!t' trailer: Issa Rae's new series promises freestyles and friendship

"It's me and you. We about to kill this."
 By 
Caitlin Welsh
 on 
A young Black woman wearing headphones in front of a mic in a bedroom studio.
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If you're still mourning the (perfect) ending of Insecure, you can at least look forward to the next series from the chaotic mind of Issa Rae.

Rap Sh!t is the story of former school friends Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) who reunite to try and make their dreams of hip hop stardom come true. But in an industry where women are still often expected to trade on their sexuality and get undeniable results for doing just that, can they stay true to their goal of saying something real and relatable?

While Rae's official title is executive producer, she wrote the first episode and co-wrote the finale, so her clever, madcap voice will definitely be present here. The creative team behind the show also includes co-EPs Yung Miami and JT, aka the iconic duo City Girls (who also have a 2018 song that shares the show's name) — so the series has the credentials to make something incredibly fun and real.

Rap Sh!t premieres on HBO Max on July 21.

Topics HBO Trailers

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Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin is Mashable's Australian Editor. She has written for The Guardian, Junkee, and any number of plucky little music and culture publications that were run on the smell of an oily rag and have since been flushed off the Internet like a dead goldfish by their new owners. She also worked at Choice, Australia's consumer advocacy non-profit and magazine, and as such has surprisingly strong opinions about whitegoods. She enjoys big dumb action movies, big clever action movies, cult Canadian comedies set in small towns, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Replacements, smoky mezcal, revenge bedtime procrastination, and being left the hell alone when she's reading.


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