Issa Rae

Fans Are Going To Miss The Music Of ‘Insecure’ As Much As The Show Itself

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One of the highlights of Issa Rae’s hit HBO show Insecure was always the soundtrack, curated by Issa herself and featuring some of hip-hop and R&B’s rising stars. Fans reveled in both hearing longtime faves and getting put onto newcomers with every episode, with the show’s team sharing each episode’s tracklist as part of a growing playlist on streaming services. On Sunday night, the series finale aired, bringing the show to a close that fans are still discussing and debating on Twitter.

And while the touching finale may have sparked diverging opinions on the resolution of its lead character’s complicated love life, one thing many fans seem to agree on is that the music helped make the show. Scrolling through the “Insecure” trending topic on Twitter, you’re just as likely to see messages praising the show’s musical curation as you are ones debating various plot points throughout its five-season run.

Many of the artists featured on the soundtrack also chimed in with both praise and thanks for Issa Rae’s fan-favorite series, which many say helped introduce them to new audiences — a sentiment that fans echoed wholeheartedly. Issa herself, who always live-tweets the show right along with fans, offering background information from the writer’s room and her inspirations for the show’s setting, plot, and its plethora of jokes, even noted how some of the finale’s songs found their way into touching pivotal scenes.

Issa Rae Includes Thundercat, Raphael Saadiq, SiR, And Others In Her Favorite NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

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Surely, we’ve all gone down the NPR Tiny Desk Concert rabbit hole. There’s something about seeing favorite artists (and new discoveries) in a highly intimate setting that feels special, even if we’re not there and just watching from our screens at home. The series has become a ubiquitous part of pop culture and lately, NPR has been asking celebrities to list out their favorite performances. Today, Insecure star, writer, and creator Issa Rae checked in to share her picks.

She led off her list with Raphael Saadiq, who is not only the composer for the musical score of Insecure, he’s also certifiably one of the best live acts in hip-hop and R&B. “When he linked up with Lucky Daye for “You Should Be Here” was just phenomenal,” Rae said as one of her highlight moments of the performance. She also counts Thundercat as one of her favorite Tiny Desks and in goofy Issa Dee fashion (her character in Insecure) she explains that “The lyrics [to his song FriendZone’] are lowkey kind of dumb. But to hear it sound so melodic was just like a treat for me.”

She goes on to talk about Sampha and how his music was featured in Insecure season 2, and that she “was introduced to Sampha by Solange when she was doing the music for season one, so he has a special place in my heart.” She tips the cap to SiR (“because, you know, Inglewood”), and rounds out her six with Baby Rose and Nick Hakim, who’ve both had songs featured on Insecure.

Read Issa Rae’s full comments on her favorite Tiny Desk Concerts here.

Issa Rae’s Artist NCognita Balances Her Career With School In Her ‘Nita Unfiltered’ Docuseries

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It’s not always easy balancing work with school — especially if you’re a recording artist. While more and more artists attempt to complete their educational goals at the same time as their career ones, you might wonder: What does that balancing act actually look like? South Central LA rapper NCognita attempts to answer that question with her new docuseries, Nita Unfiltered. Kicking off today, its first episode follows her NCognita as she prepares to return to Loyola University New Orleans, talking it through with her family at home and describing the differences between LA and New Orleans.

Ncognita is just starting her career, but she’s already got a lot of weight behind her thanks to the co-sign of Insecure creator Issa Rae, who signed the young rapper to her label Raedio earlier this year after holding a competition for an invitation to a writing camp for the show’s final season. Issa Rae has been curating the soundtrack for Insecure all five seasons, leading to expanded work on the soundtracks for shows like 50 Cent’s Power and HBO’s Betty. Raedio previously partnered with Baby Tate to release her After The Rain EP as well, spawning the hit record “I Am” with Flo Milli.

So while Ncognita may not be a household name just yet, there’s a strong chance you’ll be hearing her in at least one of the places Issa Rae currently holds sway. Take the chance to get familiar now.

Issa Rae Covers New Roc Nation Luxury Magazine

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Issa Rae

Issa Rae might be ending her “Insecure”  show, but she has no plans of slowing down. The director is the new cover star of Roc Nation’s new luxury multimedia magazine, EDITION. She’s The New Cover Star Roc Nation and Modern Luxury Media’s new multimedia platform, EDITION, has launched its inaugural, limited collector’s Art Issue with Issa […]

Saweetie, Thundercat, Mereba, And More Will Appear On The Soundtrack For The Fifth Season Of ‘Insecure’

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Issa Rae’s trademark television show Insecure has grown to be one the country’s most-watched shows through its four and a half seasons. In recent years, Insecure took home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series at 2021’s NAACP Image Awards. The show also earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series last year. In addition to its storyline and its characters, the soundtrack for Insecure is also another aspect viewers love about the show. Now in its fifth and final season, Issa Rae unveils the tracklist for this season’s soundtrack and it looks like a good one.

The soundtrack for the fifth season of Insecure features familiar names like Saweetie, They., Jesse Boykins III, Ambre, Duckwrth, Thundercat, Mereba, and Teamarr. Elsewhere, ESTA, Mack Keane, Akeem Ali, 27Delly, Jorge Amadeus, B.K. Habermehl, Nnena, Josh Levi, Mikhala Jené, Amindi, 27Delly, Kiah Victoria, and Ace Henderson can also be found on the soundtrack. The full project arrives this Friday, December 3.

“Music has always been an essential part of every project I do and working with emerging talent is a personal passion,” Rae said about the upcoming tracklist to Variety. “Raedio allows me to continue that work within the music industry and audio entertainment space. The Atlantic Records team are innovators in terms of shifting and shaping culture. I’m excited to join forces with them to discover new artists.”

You can view the full tracklist for Insecure: Music From The HBO Original Series, Season 5 below.

1. Saweetie — “Get It Girl”
2. They. — “Snoring”
3. Jesse Boykins III, Duckwrth, Ambré, ESTA, and Mack Keane — “Seein Ya”
4. Akeem Ali, 27Delly, and Jorge Amadeus — “50 Lem Hunnits”
5. B.K. Habermehl — “Time Off”
6. Nnena — “Fun”
7. Josh Levi — “What’s the Use”
8. Thundercat — “Satellite” Feat. Louis Cole & Genevieve Artadi
9. Mikhala Jené — “Mad Bitches” – Feat. Ro James
10. Mereba — “Glock Peaceful”
11. TeaMarrr — “Pipe Dreams”
12. Amindi, 27Delly, Kiah Victoria, and Ace Henderson — “Fantasy”

Insecure: Music From The HBO Original Series, Season 5 is out 12/3 via Raedio/Atlantic.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

SOHH’s Top 10 Picks for Black-Owned Friday

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Black Shopping

This post-turkey-day, SOHH wants you to be more purposeful with your coins. Join us as we celebrate “Black-Owned Friday” with Google and the US Black Chambers, an organization that works to ensure success for black businesses.  Check out SOHH’s Top 10 Picks for Black-Owned Friday and spend the biggest shopping day of the year supporting […]

Issa Rae Still Hasn’t Forgiven Meek Mill For Beefing With Drake

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The ETCs

As the basketball and music worlds continue to crossover in entertaining and unexpected ways — think Damian Lillard’s rap career, Kawhi Leonard curating a rap compilation, or 2 Chainz, Jack Harlow, Lil Baby, and Quavo participating in a 2-on-2 during NBA All-Star Weekend — one of the more welcome surprises has been Kevin Durant’s podcast, The ETCs. The well-noted Drake stan and his co-host Eddie Gonzalez not only talk music and sports, but they also occasionally bring on interesting guests from both worlds, including TDE engineer Derek Ali, Roc-A-Fella Records founder Kareem Burke, and in today’s episode, Insecure creator Issa Rae.

While discussing Issa’s role in curating music for the popular dramedy and running her own label, Raedio, in conjunction with Atlantic Records, Issa wonders what the two hosts have been listening to lately. While there seems to be agreement around the table that Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy is worth revisiting, Issa stops cold when the fellas mention Meek Mill. “I have not listened to Meek Mill,” she admits. “Y’all forgave him?”

“For the Drake thing?” Durant asks. “You didn’t forgive him.” Eddie points out that Drake forgave Meek, which Issa acknowledges but refutes, saying, “I’m the girlfriend that’s like, ‘He asked for no onions!’ So that’s like, I just felt protective of him — with him and Pusha T.”

I guess that means we’re not going to hear any Pusha T music on the final season of Insecure. Check out a video clip of the conversation below.

Entertainment News: Nick Cannon Swaps “Wendy,” Dave Chapelle Closes, Bye Issa Rae, ‘Toxic’ Tamron Hall Show

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Nick Cannon

This week’s entertainment news spotlight is on Dave Chapelle’s new comedy show, Issa Rae’s farewell, Nick Cannon and Wendy Williams trading places, and reports of toxicity at The Tamron Hall Show. Issa Rae’s Goodbye, Dave Hittin’ Hard Issa Rae has just released a new trailer for the last season of her hit show “Insecure”.  Fans […]

Issa Rae Says Nipsey Hussle Helped Repair Her Relationship With Lauren London

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Issa Rae’s breakthrough show, Insecure, is coming to an end after its fifth and final season, but it’s clear she has more where that came from. Recently it was announced she’s helming the reboot of Project Greenlight, the IFC reality show from the aughts in which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck helped filmmakers make their dream projects (with lots of nightmares along the way, of course). Rae spoke about the revival during a recent profile with Vanity Fair, though she also shared a story about the late Nipsey Hussle.

According to the Insecure star, HBO initially thought Insecure should star not Rae but a woman of lighter skin color would be a better fit. When they suggested London, Rae took offense, but she later discovered that London, who was Hussle’s partner from 2013 until his death, heard about her complaint and even took offense.

But in 2019, at Diddy’s 50th birthday party in 2019, Hussle played mediator. “He was like, ‘You should just talk to her. Let me set it up,’” she said. “It actually sparked an amazing two-hour conversation. We had so much in common. She was like, ‘People don’t understand, I’m an awkward Black girl.’” She added, “In the same way that I was upset about the limited portrayal of Black women, she was like, ‘People do the same thing to me.’ I completely get that.”

Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Saweetie Names Her All-Time Favorite Female Rap Verse

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West Coast rapper Saweetie is putting major respect on a legendary verse. During a recent interview with “Insecure” star Issa Rae, the California native named her best female bar in hip-hop history. Saweetie Singles Out Lil Kim’s 1996 Rap Verse Saweetie gave total props to New York veteran Lil’ Kim. She quoted 1996 song “Not […]

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