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Issa Rae has never been shy about her love for music and what it means to her L.A. roots. An advocate of Black female artist, the instant success of Insecure's soundtrack made the 2019 launch of the actor, writer, and director’s label Raedio, no shock. In a recent interview with the L.A. Times Rae got candid about her experience with the music industry,d what she fee
“It’s probably the worst industry that I have ever come across…The music industry, it needs to start over” Rae said after being asked if she thinks the music business is a place where good ideas flourish. “Archaic mentalities. Crooks and criminals! It’s an abusive industry, and I really feel for artists that have to come up in it.”
Rae went on to expound on how her own experience as a creator and hearing the stories of artist treatment at other labels has put her in a position to create a label that is “more artist-friendly than a lot of other labels and companies out there.”
The label experience was not Rae’s only critique. “What really bums me out — and this aligns with Hollywood — is the way that music is rewarded. When I think about the Grammys and these other systems that are designed to reward artistic creativity and uplift artists, I just feel like, Y’all don’t get it. What are you rewarding?”
Rae expressed her disappointment in snubs like Wiz Kidz' Essence , which despite seeing global success and being the first Nigerian single to be certified platinum in the US she believed “could not be properly acknowledged by the institution that is supposed to celebrate the best in music."