Insecure's Season Two Premiere Continues To Serve Up Sophistiratchet Ambrosia

Here are five takeaways from a promotional block-party in Inglewood, California celebrating the breakout HBO series that had all of Black Twitter arguing between #TeamIssa + #TeamLawrence.

Insecure turned out to be more than a polished rehash of Issa Rae’s ultra popular Awkward Black Girl YouTube series when it debuted last fall. The series, following the lives of two early 30-something black women living in Los Angeles, became a ratings hit and a critically-acclaimed darling despite being snubbed for some major award nominations. It doesn’t hurt that each episode enjoyed some serious support from #BlackTwitter.

And, why not?

Each half-hour episode found itself packed with enough visual flair, commentary, clever dialogue and eclectic music choices to really hone in on its primarily young black professional demographic.

HBO obviously believes in the show enough for its new timeslot to be placed near its fantasy juggernaut Game of Thrones. More so, the premium network went so far as to hold a block party in Inglewood’s downtown area on Market Street and even held several showings of Season Two’s first episode in the remodeled Miracle Theater.

If any of the loud commentary, claps and applause mean anything, it’s that the Insecure cast and crew knocked it out of the park yet again. To get Okayplayer readers a little more excited for more Insecure, allow us to breakdown five things we noticed during its second season premiere.

Team Issa & Team Lawrence Is Very Real

Insecure’s biggest conversation piece was the breakdown of Issa’s relationship with Lawrence (Jay Ellis) and questions regarding what circumstances justifies cheating on a significant other. Look no further than the #TeamIssa and #TeamLawrence hashtags.

Putting things into perspective, there were a few individuals representing their chosen side at the block party par the photos below. Speaking with executive producer Prentice Penny, he had this to say about how invested viewers have become in the relationship.

“I love Black Twitter, it goes to show how much people care about the characters and the show,” said Penny. “When the Lawrence thing happened last year and dudes were jumping up and down and high-fiving. It was everything. It’s about how people care about the show.”

Out the gate, Season Two begins with the awkward post-relationship issues that come when attempting to move on both emotionally and physically. As the trailer shows, Issa attempts the dating game as Lawrence continues his situation with Tasha the Bank Teller. In true Insecure fashion, the one thing keeping both former lovebirds connected within the plot is a jury duty summons.

Minor Characters Get Bumped To Series Regulars

This season, both Natasha Rothwell and Amanda Seales were upgraded to series regulars. Rothwell’s portrayal of the happy and single Kelli became a standout more specifically during her highly hilarious “straight, straight, straight, Lee Daniels” moment. For Season Two, Rothwell said to expect Kelli to assist Issa as she hits the dating world.

“I think when we talk about the world of being single, you have women who love it, hate it and women who used to be single,” said Rothwell. “Each one of Issa’s friends represents one of those [entities]. I think Kelli is someone who loves it. I think that I help influence her and help her on her journey to figure out what to do with life after Lawrence.”

Seales is having a pretty successful year between her stand-up work, internet series Get Your Life and moments where she set Caitlyn Jenner and Katy Perry straight. As the happily married and proudly bougie Tiffany, she kept the shade-filled laughs ready during her short appearances. Speaking with Seales, she’s happy with the positive reception received.

“It’s weird, but it’s crazy to have people looking for me for advice, information or as a role model and that’s something I always aspired to do and be,” said Seales. “I’m honored that folks are listening what I have to say. I feel like I have common uncommon sense. That feels good.”

The Soundtrack Is Even Better Than The First

Kamiyah, Ty Dolla $ign and SZA performed during the block party celebration and pretty much summed up how in tune the series’ music is. Matter fact, all three of the performers are featured. It also helps that Raphael Saadiq (who was also in attendance) and Solange continue curating the soundtrack as well. In fact, a laugh-out-loud scene where Issa’s “We Got Y’all” boss Joanne encourages the show’s star by reminding her, “You can do it, put your back into it,” before the classic Ice Cube track cuts in is a stand-out moment.

Issa Refines Her Rap Skills Even More

Anyone who has followed Issa Rae’s career totally understands her love and respect for hip-hop. Awkward Black Girl’s most viral moment came in the form of “Booty Shawts” with her then group The Doublemints alongside other moments where she tries her hand at spitting. Then there are more low-key situations where Issa directed the music video for her brother’s popular jerkin’ group The Fly Guys titled “Penny, Nickel, Dime” featuring a pre-Yump Daniels Mann. And, let’s not forget the genius of Ratchetpiece Theater.

Of course, there were several scenes in last season of Insecure where Issa shows off her bars from “Broken P---y” to hitting the studio before getting nasty with Daniel. This continues in the first moment as Issa breaks into a rapped monologue describing how much she hates dating.

Inglewood Continues To Look Cooler & Cooler

Being an Inglewood native who moved to the city as I reached double digits, the city once had an unfair reputation of being a dangerous place despite being the polar opposite. Plus, that “Inglewood’s always up to no good” is always annoying to hear when asked about my hometown.

As Insecure displayed, gangs and overall ratchetry does exists. However, it’s historically remained a city filled with blacks sitting between lower-to-upper middle class which the series got totally right. Films like The Wood and Dope (both directed by Rick Famuyiwa) have done a remarkable job in giving context to the City of Champions, but Insecure is all about details.

For heaven sakes, my fiancé/mother of my child grew up down the street from The Dunes which itself has become a local tourist attraction thanks to the show. The city is also facing gentrification due to Tesla and SpaceX placing itself near the border of Inglewood and Hawthorne. That doesn’t even count the newly rebuilt Forum stadium and upcoming locations for Mstrong>The Los Angeles Rams and The Los Angeles Clippers.

Put simply, Insecure probably made the city even more attractive. It’s something that Penny echoed as well.

“How do we reflect the world we’re living in?” questioned Penny. “Issa and I live in Inglewood. I bought my house eleven years ago in Inglewood when it was all black. Nobody was checking for Inglewood. Now, I see the community I live in, white people are walking with their babies and stuff. We wanted to reflect a changing environment and we want to be reflective of that and true to that in our show.”

Check out the highlight images from the event below and don’t forget to watch Season Two of Insecure when it hits HBO on July 23rd.

Ural Garrett is an Inglewood native and graduate of Southern University and A&M College. For the past decade, the writer, photographer, and videographer has had his work featured in The Compton Herald, Complex, HipHopDX and more. Follow him (and us) on Twitter @UralG.