British rapper turned director and Roc Nation artist Rapman has been exploring different avenues in his creative journey, which led him to spearhead the Netflix series “Supacell.”
Rapman spoke with rolling out about the series, sickle cell research, his vision as a director and rapper, and Roc Nation.
How does your vision as a director align with your rap career?
…When I was rapping, I was always about the story. I love storytelling rap. Those are my favorite songs. I’m just a fan of a good story, of a good character, and of just a good journey. That’s how I’ve always thought as a director and writing anything.
What do you want people to take away from “Supacell”?
I just wanted people to see normal people with powers. We’ve been [told] for a long time that you get powers, and then you get spandex and you get a cape, and then you save the world. I get the saving the world part, but I was never quite sold on the spandex and the cape. That I never understood. I remember thinking, if you got to ask five of your friends the first thing they’re going to do if they have superpowers, I don’t think anyone’s going to tell you spandex and a cape.
I wanted people to see a show of regular people, people like you, like me, like people that they know, just regular people get these powers, and what would that look like? That’s why the show is entertaining. …What’s fun about this show is that you’re seeing natural reactions, you’re seeing things that you would do if you got a power and I just wanted people to go through the ride and enjoy it. It’s something different. Shout out to the giants like Marvel and DC for carrying it for so many years. Now, I just wanted to make a version of my own.
Why was it important for you to create this specific storyline?
I love the sci-fi genre, and I love the superhero genre, but what I love more than those things are grounded people, grounded characters, and things that I can relate to. Even though I’ve got all these crazy things like superspeed and super strength on the show, the biggest shift is just what everyday people are going through, which is losing their jobs, which is being overlooked at work, or relationship problems. I just thought that’s what makes it relatable. You can take out the powers in the show, and you can still watch the show and have a good time because you’re just going to follow these characters.
How did the conversation with Jay-Z go when you told him about the show?
We sent him two episodes around Christmas, and then I bumped into him in February, and he told me how much he liked it. Obviously, I grew up watching Jay; he’s one of the most successful people that I know, so it’s always good to get a thumbs-up of approval from someone that you’ve been inspired by. You want to one day rub shoulders instead of looking up to someone. It’s good to get the thumbs up from the people above you.
