What you call a icon living?
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Issa Rae, that’s who; and even more so now thanks to a new interview she did for the first-ever, digital cover of TODAY.
Beautifully photographed by Raven B. Varona, and in conversation with Sylvia Obell, Rae talks in detail about what this next post-Insecure chapter looks like. And let me tell you right now: it’s a whole lotta mogul shit.
As previously reported by The Root, she’s executive producing the upcoming HBO Max comedy, Rap Sh!t, which premieres this Thursday. Her hope is that audiences will rock with it and enjoy the new story that this series tells.
“There’s obviously still pressure, but the cast killed it,” she told TODAY. “And I really do believe that it’s such a fun summertime show. [...] I just really hope people like it and fuck with it and embrace it, and just have a good time watching it.”
In addition to that, she’s also be adding to her resume on the acting front with various forthcoming projects such as B.J. Novak’s directorial debut Vengeance and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, the latter of which she’ll star opposite Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie. She also has plans to expand her professional reach through her media and entertainment arm HOORAE, which encompasses her “audio everywhere company” Raedio, her management company ColorCreative and her philanthropic reach throughout South LA.
If that sounds like a lot, well...that’s because it is. And for Rae, it’s a dance that she’s still figuring out one step at a time.
“It’s hard to do both well, and I really want to be good at both. I don’t think I’m there yet, and I won’t be until I figure out how that balance works out…that’s something that I’m actively working on,” she explained.
Nevertheless, she’ll persist. She has to, after all, because she’s got a mogul era to enter into. Speaking to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, Rae commented on her ascent to mogul status saying that no matter the setbacks or difficulties—she’s determined to make things happen anyhow.
“I realize I can still make my own opportunities at the end of the day, like if I don’t get hired for something—I’m fortunate enough that I can make something,” she said on TODAY with Hoda and Jenna. “And if it doesn’t get picked up, I still have the confidence that I’ll find a way.”
You can check out Issa Rae’s full interview on TODAY’s digital cover by heading to today.com.
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