In this Cosmopolitan cover shoot, (created before the onslaught of the global pandemic) TV girl, producer and all around creative Issa Rae is lauded as the leader of the ‘new black Renaissance’ in America today.The Insecure leading lady and actress speaks to Cosmopolitan Magazine about everything from her legacy, her celebrity crush to building a contemporary black narrative in the publications June 2020 issue.
Inside the magazine, she recaps her journey, her failures, her attitude to supporting black creatives and more. She’s pictured on the cover and in the magazine in bright patterns and prints, reminiscent of her own effervescent nature.
Read some excerpts from her cover feature below:
On her legacy.
“I want to be a pop culture staple—a black pop culture staple,” she says. “I want to have an impact on my community. Everything I’ve done has been for—and in thinking of—black people, and I don’t take this moment lightly. I want to do right by us, at the end of the day.”
On giving opportunities to black creatives
She wants to know “who’s hungry” and surround herself with other black creatives so she “can just work. We don’t have to break things down. We understand each other. For me, it’s just about finding who’s got it, who’s got something to say, and who just feels down and with it.”
On fear and failure
“Candidly, it’s terrifying,” says Issa, as we talk about buzzy, big projects like The Photograph…“The bigger you are and the more people know your name, the more people you’re stumbling in front of.”
On impostor syndrome
“It almost just feels like I fooled people. Ha, ha, you put me on a magazine cover.” …“The blessing is like, Okay, I can for sure make my own opportunities, and that’s fun,” she explains. “But I also want to be able to…I want to deserve to be here, and that’s part of what keeps me up at night.”
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Read the full feature at Cosmopolitan Magazine US
Credits:
Photos: @ruthossaistudio
Words: @irathethird
Stylist: @cassieanderson212
Hair: @nicky_b_on_hair
Makeup: @joannasimkin
Manicure: @thuynguyen
Video Crew: @_themoog & @jupadhye
Props styled by Andy Henbest for Art Department.
Production by Crawford & Co Productions.
Wardrobe: Gucci , Ulla Johnson, Pierre Hardy Gucci , Monies , Valentino, Giuseppe Zanotti , Iris Apfel x Bernardaud, Jonathan Simkhai , Marni , Oscar de la Renta , Caroline Constas ,Kenneth Jay Lane, Auvere