For an up-and-coming entertainer, you could do a lot worse than hang around Issa Rae.
Not only did Rap Sh!t stars KaMillion and Aida Osman get to hang with Issa, but they also got to call her their boss.
Issa executive produces Rap Sh!t, which follows the the journey of Mia (KaMillion) and Shawna (Osman), two estranged high school friends in Miami who reunite to form a rap group. The experience of being in Issa's orbit was, as they tell it, invaluable.
"My dreams are to be a mogul," KaMillion exclusively told E! News. "Looking to [Issa], she has her own label. She has her own production company. She's a successful actress. She raps on the side. Watching her do all of this stuff, as an artist myself who's independent, I have to be everything at one time. So finding somebody that I can look to to be inspired by that's doing it great and successfully, it's like, ‘OK, take notes.'
This wasn't a typical creative and production process, either. Issa, who also wrote the show's first episode, was hands-on.
"Seeing her be there every day on set, that's not even common for executive producers and creators," Aida revealed. "She was still there every day helping and maintaining the perfect amount of distance."
It all came at a very pivotal time in Issa's personal life, too, as KaMillion pointed out, "And she just got married!"
Indeed, Issa married Louis Diame in an intimate ceremony in July 2021, right before Rap Sh!t started filming.
While their boss and mentor was there every step of the way, she was careful not to actually get in the way.
"The cool thing about Issa is she lets us all shine," Aida said. "She put us in this position and she's going to let us figure it out. That's beautiful with the support, but also the space to grow and learn."
And it wasn't just professional guidance. Issa taught the actresses how to be more alive in their own bodies, too.
"I learned from her just how to move," Aida said. "On some basic, basic stuff, how to move as a woman."
Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact that given all of Issa's success, KaMillion pointed out, "She's still humble."
Sounds like a pretty great boss.
New episodes of Rap Sh!t drop Thursdays on HBO Max.