Power Book II: Ghost Title Story

2024 is a monumental year for the Performance Franchise – it is not just a celebration of a decade since the original Performance series premiered, but it is also the year of the last season of the popular spinoff, Power Book II: MindVentilate.

To commemorate this moment, Blavity and Shadow and Act gathered the cast together for our September Blavity cover story, which was shot on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It’s the first cover shoot the cast has ever done together.

Power Book II: Mindthe very first spinoff of the main series, was introduced to fans in a surprise announcement after the original series ended. Many viewers were delighted to learn that the series would continue in some form immediately – not as a prequel and not necessarily as a spin-off, but as a direct continuation of Performance himself.

Aside from series lead Michael Rainey Jr., who plays Tariq, the main cast includes two other characters carried over from the main series – Gianni Paolo, who plays Brayden Weston, and Alix Lapri, who plays Josefina “Effie” Morales.

Lapri recalled: “They [Rainey and Paolo] I definitely knew at first and thought I wouldn’t be there, but then Gianni told me because he found out [laughs]. And then he called me and told me before they told me. I was thrilled.”

Paolo remembered a photo from the set of Spirit was actually posted by 50 Cent before the series was officially announced.

“It was so funny because 50 had come to the set, and that was when it had already been announced [internally]but the public didn’t know about it,” he said. “And 50 posted a photo of him, me and Michael, and it was online for about four hours, and he was like, ‘On the set of the new spinoff.’ And that’s when it really started, the buzz about the show started, and I remember it being so funny. 50 was like, ‘No, I’m not taking it down.'”

Rainey added: “They told us to take it down. I said, ‘Dude, 50 Cent had like 30 million followers, you guys worried about my 800,000 at the time?’ I said, ‘Brother, calm down.’

Rainey and Paolo, who actually get the chance to become the dynamic duo Tariq and Brayden in this sequel, initially thought that the idea of ​​the show would not work.

The first said: “When they first told us what it would be, [or] When they first told me, I was like, ‘No, what are you thinking? This isn’t going to work.'”

Paolo understood his co-star’s feelings, but said he knew the project would work because he had previously worked with the creator and showrunner of both films. Performance And Power Book II: MindCourtney A. Kemp.

“I had a strange feeling, as if Michael was thinking, ‘I think everyone hates me. [Tariq]’ — [but] for some reason I just felt like it was going to work. I just had so much faith in Courtney and her writing and I thought, ‘She’s going to turn it around.’ And she did.”

But as Rainey noted, he was “not afraid” of the show itself, but rather because of fans’ previous reactions to Tariq.

“I’m not saying that because I didn’t trust Courtney and her writing and stuff,” he clarified. “I just know that the fans were really into business and didn’t like Tariq. So I was like, ‘I don’t know how it’s going to work.’ But it worked. … I just went with the flow of what Courtney and the writers wanted for Tariq, that’s what I wanted for Tariq. They kind of told me what the plans for the spinoff were going to be. They said, ‘We’re going to kind of show Tariq what he’s really been through and the reasons for all of his past actions.’ And they’re going to show why he’s doing what he’s doing right now for his family and everything, and they just wanted to make him a more relatable character. They did that, and people kind of saw the reasons for everything and they started to really resonate with him. [and] somehow to gain a little sympathy for Tariq.”

In addition to the three returning stars, the series had to fill its universe with other main characters. This is where the Tejada family comes in, led by Mary J. Blige’s matriarch Monet Tejada. The series was brought in by Woody McClain, then best known for BET’s The story of the new edition And The Bobby Brown Storyand then-relative newcomers LaToya Tonodeo and Lovell Adams-Gray to play Lorenzo “Cane” Tejada Jr., Diana Tejada and Dru Tejada.

“I have always been, and I always say this, always a fan of PerformanceFan of Courtney, fan of 50,” Tonodeo said. “I literally had Starz with Z on my vision board in 2017. So when I came on that show, it was just a blessing. And just to be part of that culture and then to be able to learn so much on this show and play a character like Diana? Hey, I’m grateful.”

“I thought at first it was a lot of pressure,” McClain said.Performance Because it’s such a successful show, there was definitely a lot of pressure involved. But I remember the OG, Wood Harris, I asked him about a project we were doing [at the time]. I said, ‘What do you think about that?’ He said, ‘I only do classics.’ So I kind of had that mindset when I went on this show, and we made a classic.”

Adams-Gray said: “I think in my head I thought, ‘I’m going into this world that I love.’ I was a huge fan. I didn’t know what the story was going to be like, right? And so I thought, ‘Finally, I get to work with Omari Hardwick and play basketball with him and see what happens.’ And then [I found out] it was a spinoff of the [original]. But I get to be part of something new and different, and that’s been so exciting for me. They say you shouldn’t follow in the footsteps of a great personality, you should go your own way. To be able to do that in this world has been a real gift.”

Perfomance, along with shows like scandal And How to get away with murderwas one of the most important shows in the era of live-tweeting broadcasts on Twitter (now known as X). Because of this, a large online community has formed for the show, and vibrant and active groups have sprung up to discuss fan theories, casting ideas, episode analysis, and more.

And although most people today stream shows or watch them on demand, Power Book II: Mind has managed to retain fans who still watch in real time when it airs. Although Performance ran for many seasons on Starz, the successor took over this legacy and continued it.

“It’s just awesome to be a part of it. It’s been part of people’s daily routines and routines for years and years and years and years, and the fact that they’re still tuning in live, still tweeting about it, still talking about it with their friends — that’s really special because people are taking the time to tune in with us,” Lapri said. “All the opinions, all the memes, I think it just goes to show how awesome this is for the culture. It really says a lot to people. For me, that’s super awesome to see.”

And there Performance was one of the shows from the heyday of live tweeting, it is only right that this was continued with Power Book II: Mind as well as.

“It’s not just a TV show, it’s basically like a community,” Rainey said. “It’s like a big community and people just share their little stories within the story, and it’s burning. It’s fire. People make their memes, their GIFs and everything. They have their little theories and everything. They say I’m Kanan’s son and stuff like that… some of it makes sense. I’m like, ‘Yo, am I Kanan’s son?'”

The cast also maintained a close relationship with each other, not only on set but also off the show. It’s something they already remember fondly.

“Man, that’s the thing I’m going to miss the most if this is the last season,” Rainey said. “I just come to work and look forward to working with people that I’m super close with, super cool with, and just super comfortable with. That alone makes the work so much easier and more enjoyable. It brings things to life and you see them on the screen. [and] it translates. I’m going to miss that for sure because I don’t think I’ll ever be as close to another cast as we were again.”

He continued, “We’re so close not only on set, but off set. We’re all super creative. Who knows what he’s going to write for us, or what I’m going to write for us, or what they’re going to write. So we’re going to keep each other in mind for everything we have. So it’s like, we’re going to keep the ball rolling, whether it’s Performance or a new film or a new series. We’re moving on.”

And at the end of the series, she not only contributes to the overall legacy of the franchise – the show also has its own legacy.

“I hope that this show and the success of this show and our ratings and what we’ve accomplished together as a universe can continue to show other people or those in power that people of color can continue to attract people, can continue to attract viewers, can continue to bring in money, no matter what the bottom line or the top amount,” Tonodeo said. “We’re making change happen. We’re making things happen. So I hope it continues to influence those who need to be influenced.”

Adams-Gray added: “I hope this is a moment that we can all look back on in 10, 15 years and say, ‘This is where it all started.’ … For me, this is a milestone.”

“There aren’t many universes outside of Marvel that have expanded like this,” Lapri said. “And 50 has done something really special with it. It’s really on par with Marvel.”

“I think it’s great that there was such a great team of writers who could take someone we all hated and [Tariq] the lead role, and by the end of the season we were in love with this guy,” McClain said. “I thought it was incredible.”

There are no limits for these six rising stars.

“This has been a crazy launching pad,” Lapri said. “It’s a crazy platform. So it’s really about what do we do with it now. What do we want to do? Because everyone here is so incredibly talented in so many ways. There are things these people do that people don’t even know about. They’re just super at everything, so everyone here can have the career they want.”

“I think it’s just a blessing,” Rainey said. “We’ve been given a platform and now we just have to use it and keep the ball rolling. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”