Issa Rae Is A Bit Surprised That Fans Love Her Hot Takes

Thursday night at Genius’ headquarters in Brooklyn, Rob Markman and Issa Rae sat down for an intimate conversation about the music of Insecure. Sitting in a room of around 150 people, the dynamic talent talked about music selection, pivotal season two scenes and what she’s currently listening to. “He is one of my music baes,” Rae said about Frank Ocean. “Drake is [also] a music bae. Prentice [Penny] and I meet in a cabana before each season to just drink and talk about what we want to explore in the season. And before we even started about talking about stories, I was like, ‘Yo. So for the first season I just want to do like, Drake… I want people to just utter dialogue that are Drake lyrics.'” Being such a Drake fan makes sense, as her character on the HBO show is known for releasing her upset through anxsy bars. Rae initially started rapping on her web-series Awkward Black Girl, and brought the same element to Insecure. “A lot of people asked for it on the first soundtrack. I was like, ‘Oh, people want those?’ So we put them on for the second season.” Yes, on the soundtrack that drops today fans can hear a mix of SZA, Jorja Smith and Jazmine Sullivan —in addition to Rae. “They’re really just first-draft trash raps tha come from the gut. I just wanted this character to not be so good at what she does, and that’s her pure way of expressing herself.”