Max’s Rap Sh!t Returns for a Moody Second Season | TV/Streaming

Now an official rap group, Mia Knight (KaMillion) and Shawna Clark (Aida Osman) are set to open on white rapper Reina Reign’s (Kat Cunning) tour. Their manager, Chastity (Jonica Booth), is with them, although she is struggling to outline her function or price within the face of smarmy opposition from Reina’s producer, Francois (Jaboukie Young-White, discovering new ranges of elitist villainy on tv). Shawna and Mia are excited to begin on a brand new chapter of their goals, however different points proceed to cloud their view of the long run. Reina barely bothers to masks elitist and racist contempt for Mia and Shawna’s contributions to the tour; the writing does an ideal job highlighting Reina’s appropriation of black music and tradition whereas racking up giggle after giggle. Mia nonetheless hasn’t discovered agency footing along with her youngster’s father, Lamont (RJ Cyler); they aren’t collectively however love their daughter equally, and his terrific producing abilities helped the pair’s “Seduce and Scheme” to turn out to be a success. Shawna is being investigated for bank card fraud by regulation enforcement; this subplot is a direct reference to JT’s authorized troubles, a member of City Girls, the Miami feminine rap duo who function the inspiration for “Rap Sh!t.” 

There are important modifications within the construction of Season Two. I admire the writers choosing much less social media-as-framing narrative units this season. Most of the primary season was lensed via Instagram Stories, FaceTime conversations, TikToks, and so forth. While I totally perceive the outstanding function social media clout performs in hip-hop, the grumpy Millennial in me, who neither makes use of nor is aware of use many of the aforementioned apps (I don’t even like FaceTime; simply speak to me on the telephone prefer it’s 2004), discovered it distracting, and generally complicated. There’s much less of that this season, and the quantity of FaceTime calls or Instagram Lives don’t interrupt the circulation of the story.

The writing in season two shows the colourful specificity of a world we, the viewers, get to discover. I do know little or no concerning the intersection of rap stardom and social media, however its exploitative nature appears similar to the struggles writers have in getting the eye of editors and publications and having to continuously promote our work on social media. I’m not an aspiring rapper, however few issues are as relatable as Shawna’s sigh of disgust when her financial institution notifies her that her checking account has dipped beneath $25, for the tour pays solely in publicity. The craven nature of the recording business and its affect on weak artists is explored in, frankly, surprising methods this season, making a spiderweb of potential discussions about psychological well being, the precarity of life as an artist, and prejudice in opposition to psychological sickness in communities of colour. Most of the themes explored within the first six episodes of season two may be extrapolated to most individuals’s lives; the precision of the writing makes these tales much more participating, and that’s a real victory for the writers’ room.