Starz’s “Raising Kanan” returned for its second season on August 14, and the drama is already heating up, especially with Joey Bada$$’s Unique. When we last saw the rapper’s character in the Season 1 finale, Raq (Patina Miller) framed him for the attempted murder of Detective Howard (Omar Epps) to protect Kanan (Mekai Curtis). Despite beating the charge, Unique returns to the streets in season two to find his entire world has been turned upside down.
“It’s the first time I’ve played a clear villain.”
Months after being locked up for the Howard shooting, Unique is released from prison to find his drug business has been taken over by Raq and his team. With the heat of law enforcement on his back and no vendors on his side, the self-proclaimed villain is back to square one planning his next move. But knowing Unique, it won’t be long before he stands up and retaliates against Raq and anyone he considers his enemy.
Bada$$ admits to POPSUGAR that when he joined Power Universe last year, he had no idea his character would play such a pivotal role in the franchise’s third installment. “I don’t think I really thought about the involvement or the story part of that character. I was just more excited about the type of character it was,” he says. But if “Raising Kanan” had arrived years ago, viewers might not even have seen Bada$$ take on an antihero like Unique. “It’s the first time I’ve played a clear villain, especially one from the 90s era, from New York, a drug dealer,” he adds. “I stayed away from those roles early in my career because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed.” Fortunately, the offer to play Unique “came just in time”.
Since the premiere of “Raising Kanan” last summer, Bada$$ has come to embrace his character, even praising the comparisons he’s gotten so far – from Nino Brown to Wesley Snipes in “New Jack City to Tupac’s Bishop in “Juice” and the “Paid.” in Full” (Wood Harris, Cam’ron, Mekhi Phifer). “I take it all as compliments because I love all of these movies and characters. It’s all good stuff, like everyone’s favorite villain,” Bada$$ said. Similar to those iconic characters, the rapper brings his own flair to making Unique one of a kind.”[Our] the style is definitely aligned, but [I’m] not too much of an antagonist in real life. . . But that charm that Unique has, it’s not Unique, it’s from Joey.”
“He’s definitely determined to get back to where he was, and I don’t think anything can stand in his way.”
Bada$$’s Unique has been one of the main antagonists driving the action in “Raising Kanan” since day one, and according to the rapper, his villain narrative “is amplified” in season two. “I think his state of mind [now] should he get the upper hand,” he says. “He’s resentful, definitely looking for revenge, because how could he not feel that way? Framed for something he had nothing to do with, being taken away from his family and then his position of power being totally diminished. He’s definitely determined to get back to where he was, and I don’t think anything can stand in his way.”
Bada$$ adds, “With him getting out of jail, back on the streets, seeing all the changes, you don’t know what he’s going to do. If I was someone else who opposed him , I would definitely keep an eye on him.” It’s still too early to tell what kind of trouble Unique will find itself in in the second season of “Raising Kanan,” but Bada$$ says fans can surely expect “a wild ride.” “Buckle up and hang in there, because it’s going to be full of twists and turns,” he promises.
New episodes of “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” air Sundays on Starz.
