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Issa Rae Reflects on ‘Insecure’ Soundtrack in Spotify Playlist Ahead of Final Season Premiere

Todd Spangler
·3-min read

Issa Rae, a self-described “major music fan,” provides new insights about the creation of the soundtrack for her HBO comedy “Insecure” in a new playlist on Spotify.

“Insecure Interludes” combines music from the series with a discussion of its most memorable songs, the scoring process and the cultural impact of “Insecure’s” music. In addition to Rae, the playlist features commentary from “Insecure” music supervisor Kier Lehman; actor-director Jay Ellis; and artists featured in the series, including Cautious Clay, Victoria Monet, Vince Staples and Rico Nasty.

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HBO Max launched “Interludes” Friday on Spotify as part of promoting the premiere of the fifth and final season of “Insecure” this Sunday, Oct. 24. The playlist includes Nnena’s “Fun,” giving fans a first-listen to the first track on the “Insecure” Season 5 soundtrack. (Listen to the full playlist on Spotify at this link.)

In “Insecure Interludes,” Rae walks through her thought process for certain song selections, including picking Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” as the intro song into the series. “I always used to say early on that this show might be trash — but the music was for sure going to be fire, like I was very confident in that,” Rae says in the intro.

Related video: Issa Rae gets married in private and 'impromptu' ceremony

Rae says she wanted the music in “Insecure” to revolve around indie, L.A.-based and female artists. She also offers the origin story behind her infamous mirror raps: “I knew that that was a piece from ‘Awkward Black Girl’ that I wanted to take to ‘Insecure’ and make this character see her real self in the mirror, be her raw, authentic self in the mirror.”

Artists including Rico Nasty discuss how “Insecure” has provided a platform for Black female rap and hip-hop artists who weren’t previously featured on TV.

“It was early on in my career, and a lot of people watched the ‘Poppin’ music video, and that was like a huge moment for me,” Rico says in “Interludes.” “And I think that like for all the girls to come after that were on it, I think that it was a really big moment for them too. So this is also Black history.”

The playlist includes 26 songs, including Lamar’s “Alright,” “No Small Talk” by Kari Faux, Rico Nasty’s “Poppin'”, “Golden Pussy” by Sasha Go Hard, “Fun!” by Vince Staples, “Little More Time” by Victoria Monet, “Just Me” by Lion Babe, “Let Me Know” by Brent Faiyaz, “Cold War” by Cautious Clay, and “Show You” by Baby Rose.

“Insecure Interludes” is produced by HBO Max in collaboration with Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios and Issa Rae’s Raedio.

In addition to “Insecure Interludes,” HBO Max’s companion podcast “Insecuritea” hosted by Fran (“HeyFranHey,” “TheFriendZone”) and Crissle (“The Read”) will be returning in-season for the final season.

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