Role Call: HBO Max Adds More Cast Members to Issa Rae’s New Joint; Euphoria and High on the Hog Renewed for Season 2

The Root co-founder and historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. will be returning for a new season of his popular PBS series, Finding Your Roots. The network recently announced the renewal for its eighth season that will feature ten new episodes showcasing guests who have “excelled in a wide array of fields, each with ancestral stories that touch on the human experience and bring insight into how they became the trailblazers they are today.” Some of those guests include Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Terry Crews, Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr., Queen & Slim director Lena Waithe, One Night in Miami director and Watchmen star Regina King, The United States vs. Billie Holiday director Lee Daniels, fashion icon André Leon Talley, activists Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Anita Hill. Season 8 is set to premiere sometime in January 2022.

The Recording Academy will be honoring music legends Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as this year’s Grammys On the Hill recipients. Per a press release sent to The Root, the premier annual event celebrates the intersection of music and advocacy by “bringing together congressional leaders and music makers to recognize those who have led the fight for creators’ rights.” Jam and Lewis’ efforts in the fight for creators’ rights span across decades, as does their songwriting and production credits which boast hits from myriad artists such as Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Usher, Boyz II Men and more.

“The pandemic has shown us just how crucial it is for the Academy and Congress to work together to find equitable solutions that protect the music community,” said CEO of the Recording Academy Harvey Mason Jr. “We’re thrilled to celebrate the legislators and artists who have improved the environment for creators with the return of GRAMMYs on the Hill — a celebration of the music community and Congress coming together to achieve policy advancements in the name of music.”

Fatherhood actor and funnyman Lil Rel Howery will be releasing an all-new audio-only comedy album soon. Titled Lil Rel–Humbly Vulnerable: I Said What I Said, per Variety, the upcoming album promises to see Howery “return back to his Chicago standup roots with a set that is reminiscent of his comedy heroes, including Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor.” The album will debut exclusively on Pandora on Aug. 17 and on all streaming platforms on Aug. 24. Additionally, Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress and comedian Nicole Byer will be debuting a one-hour comedy special for Netflix. Deadline reports that the untitled upcoming special marks Byer’s first with the streaming giant and is set to be recorded in New York’s Gramercy Theater on September 5.

Known for plastering her face across a big billboard and literally screaming at Tyler Perry to hire her, Raquel Palmer has landed a leading role in Perry’s upcoming show, All The Queen’s Men. Palmer plays “Blue” in the show about Marilyn ‘Madam’ DeVille. According to TMZ, Palmer and Perry have “never talked about the billboard” and “almost pretend it never happened.”

As if we could ever forget.

After being “scolded” by Perry on Instagram for her stunt in 2019, she landed the role anyway—though she doesn’t recommend anyone try this tactic themselves. All The Queen’s Men was announced in March 2021 on BET+. In the teaser, you see flashes of “Madam’s” nightclub, her entourage and a series of sexy male dancers.

The show has yet to announce a release date.

Y’all see that? Eight. Figures.

Kemp has signed a four-year contract with the streaming platform to create a new series with the possibility of increasing to nine figures pending the success of the program. She will also stay on as an executive producer for the spinoff series of Power and will continue to have a say in the creative direction of the show.

According to Deadline, Kemp’s production company, End of Episode, will produce the upcoming Netflix series and each consecutive project will fall under the creative and production banner of the company. “I am incredibly excited to join the Netflix family, and to continue to develop the kind of entertainment that End of Episode is known for—diverse, multilingual, water cooler, social-media fueled series that pack a serious punch,” Kemp states.

Get your tickets now, because Nas just announced his return to the stage with a concert to benefit City Harvest. Nas will be performing in his hometown of Queens at the Forest Hills Stadium for his first live show in nearly three years. The rapper will be performing tracks from his latest album, Kings Disease II, which dropped last week.

“I am looking forward to returning to [the] stage for a performance in my hometown—especially since it supports a cause [I] care deeply about,” said Nas per a press release provided to The Root. The concert will be an exclusive event for 4000 people with luxurious features such as speakeasy suites, mini-lounges, and lounge-style seating.

Tickets for the show went on sale today for the show taking place on Thursday, September 23. You can purchase tickets here.

Television icon, trailblazer and legend Norman Lear will receive the appropriately titled Legend Award at this year’s AAFCA. Lear is the genius brains and producer behind shows such as Good Times, The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son, which to this day have a “long-lasting impact [on] diversity and inclusion,” most recently with the reboot and reimagining of One Day At A Time, per a press release provided to The Root. Lear’s career has spanned over 70 years and as he reflects in a press release, “As I reflect on the past 99 years of life, I think of all responsible for helping me make it this far...the brilliant actors, writers, producers and creators who made me laugh in places I didn’t know existed throughout my career.”

Due to the recent spike in COVID cases, the AAFCA will be hosted virtually again this year on Saturday, August 21 at 7:00 pm EST.

High on the Hog, the culinary docuseries that broke barriers around the importance and influence of African-American cuisine in this country has just been renewed by Netflix for a second season. The critically acclaimed show—adapted from food historian Jessica B. Harris’s book of the same name—delves into the “expansive, eclectic culinary history shaped by slavery, the Civil War, Juneteenth and present day,” per a press release provided to The Root. As we previously reported, writer-host Stephen Satterfield told Condé Nast Traveler: “I hope that it encourages people to think about the origins of their own diets and deepen their understanding and appreciation for their own respective food culture.”