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Johannesburg - Comedy-drama series Atlanta takes time to grow on you, but once you get hooked, you’ll find it infiltrates your mental space like some kind of earworm. Created by the multitalented Donald Glover – also known by his rap moniker Childish Gambino – it follows a down-and-out university dropout who becomes up-and-coming rapper Paper Boi’s manager, who is also his cousin.
Paper Boi has a hit on his hands and is on the verge of becoming famous, but he’s still broke as hell. With Atlanta, Glover shows the side of hip-hop you don’t see – the banality of trying to get noticed, the boredom of waiting, the mental fatigue of always being broke.
Atlanta stars an all-black cast and writing team and, as such, goes to places I haven’t seen series go before.
There are seemingly innocuous scenes that speak volumes. One, for instance, sees Glover in bed with his girlfriend. She’s wearing a scarf on her head, like most black women do when they sleep, and after a while she stands up, takes it off and carefully starts styling her Afro. It’s an everyday part of a black woman’s life – and something I haven’t seen shown on TV before.
Atlanta’s kick-back tone belies a throbbing political heart. You’ve got to watch this series.
Watch the trailer here:
Catch Atlanta Thursdays at 22:40 on Fox Life (DStv 126).
