The life of Issa Rae

Brut America

"Entrepreneur means, I did that s– by myself."   She's an "awkward Black girl" who talks to herself... And one of the most exciting voices in entertainment today. This is the story of Issa Rae.

Transcript

00:00Emerging Entrepreneur Award, duh b****es.

00:04Entrepreneur means, I did that s*** by myself.

00:22Naeva was a, oops, I, I, I, I, I'm going.

00:30I was like, oh, I have to, like, try to make new friends or reinvent myself again.

00:52You tend to observe a lot.

00:55That's kind of been like where a lot of my inspiration comes from, just from observation

00:59and from being just generally uncomfortable.

01:10When I was 11, I went to my first TV show taping.

01:14It was for Moesha.

01:15She was one of the first regular leading black girls I remember seeing on my screen who was

01:20around my age.

01:21It was inspiring.

01:22Being black in Stanford, there's so much pressure, you know, like I have to be a leader for black

01:43people.

01:44You know, I have to stay on top of my schoolwork.

01:48Am I the only one who pretends I'm in a music video when I'm by myself?

02:08Did it shrink?

02:09Can you wash it?

02:10Is that how your ancestors wore it?

02:12Situations like these make me angry and uncomfortable.

02:15I would love to express that to her.

02:17Shut up!

02:18Shh!

02:19But I'm passive-aggressive.

02:21And I hate confrontation.

02:22Putting that out was nerve-wracking because I hadn't put myself in my content.

02:28And it was just an idea that I felt like I had to do.

02:30And as soon as I put out that first episode, to see the response, to see people be like,

02:35oh, this is so relatable, this is me, and where have stories like this been, I felt

02:40like, oh, I'm on the right track.

02:47I just have a lot of conversations with myself.

03:13I talk to myself a lot, and I answer to myself, and I try to be as positive as I can.

03:21Issa?

03:22Is that me?

03:23Oh, shit!

03:24Throwback me?

03:25We stupid!

03:43I have all these eyeballs, I have all these fans, and what can I do to make an impact

03:53and use the pool that I have to go for a greater cause?

04:14I love just new creative talent, and I think I get to live vicariously through artists

04:19because I can't do any of the things that can get you on stage and people singing your

04:24lyrics.

04:25It really bums me out that I'm never going to be able to have a stadium of people singing

04:29my lyrics back to me.

04:44I think that it's just, we make culture in so many ways, and people are just catching

04:51up to us and finally catching up to how good our stories are.

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