Artistes such as 50 Cent, Drake, and many others have created successful TV shows guided by their street experiences and creative vision.
The music industry has been a launching pad for most artistes to discover ways of expressing themselves and venturing into other sectors of the entertainment industry.
For years, those in the hip-hop community have leveraged and expanded their horizons in the world of television.
Storytelling is said to have no specific formula, just as the craft of a hip-hop song, and for that, most find it an easy slide.
In the era of streaming channels, most are finding success in television more than they do in music.
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With that in mind, we take a look at five TV shows that were and are created by some of our favorite music artists.
Power
After winning the Hustler of the Year award at the just-ended BET Hip Hop Awards, 50 Cent is, without doubt, a true definition of the word “hustler”.
In 2014, 50 Cent, along with Courtney A. Kemp, brought all the love and past experiences he has for his hometown of NYC to create the world of Power.
The series focuses on James “Ghost” St. Patrick, your average New York City nightclub owner by day who runs a drug empire by night.
Power featured a lot of rap stars as well—50 Cent became a major character in the series as Kanaan, and they even got Kendrick Lamar to play a drug addict.
Rap Sh!t
Rap Sh!t, created by Issa Rae for HBO Max, is an American comedy television series set in the streets of Miami.
The show mimics the real lives of City Girls, JT, and Yung Miami, who also served as executive producers.
Top Boy
Top Boy is a British crime drama thriller television series set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney.
It was created and written by Ronan Bennett and executive produced by Drake.
The series focuses on two drug dealers, Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson), along with others involved with drug dealing and gang violence in London.
The show made it to Netflix in 2019 after it was originally canceled in 2013 (the first two seasons were renamed Top Boy: Summerhouse).
Trigger Warning With Killer Mike’Trigger
Warning was launched and hosted by rapper Killer Mike.
The aim of the TV show was for the Grammy winner to use his fame to serve as an activist, hoping to explore issues in America that affect the black community, including drugs, gangs, religion, and poverty.
The show also explored cultural taboos and allowed viewers to examine the “what ifs” and “why nots” that limit how people operate in the world.
While not everyone will agree with some things that Killer Mike does or says, he does.
However, stand in solidarity with any marginalized group and focus on what one person or small group of people can do to affect change.
Swarm
Swarm is an American satirical black comedy horror miniseries created by Donald Glover and Janine Nabers.
The series tells the story of Dre, a Houston-based superfan of the singer Ni’Jah, a young woman who is obsessed with a fictional pop star. Based on the title and plot info, it seems Swarm was based on the Beyhive.
The comedy-horror spectacle tells the story of how Dre doesn’t tolerate anyone slandering the artiste she loves.
