Rapman Shakes Up The Superhero Genre With 'Supacell' Netflix Series

This feature is in our Summer '24 "Music" Issue. Click here to subscribe.

London rapper, producer and director Rapman is the mastermind behind popular projects like 2018’s Shiro’s Story YouTube trilogy and 2019’s Blue Story, which marked his writing and directorial debut. Now, he is fusing the grit of South London with thrilling superpowers in his new Netflix series, Supacell.

Supacell cast, from left: Josh Tedeku (Tazer), Eric Kofi-Abrefa (Andre), Nadine Mills (Sabrina), Tosin Cole (Michael) and Calvin Demba (Rodney). PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

What initially inspired the idea for Supacell?

I’m a big fan of the whole superhero genre. But I just never saw a show that was realistic in a way where if I got powers, I’m not thinking about how to save the world. I’m thinking about how can I make my situation and my family’s situation better first—then we’ll talk about stopping a bridge from falling down. I just never saw anybody do a show like that. So, I always wanted to pull Black people in this superhero genre. I want it to be grounded and exactly what I would do if I got powers.

I like that you mentioned that. Because the characters are all so relatable. There's always a time and a place for more of that fantasy element. But I do like that Supacell balances everyday life.

Yeah, we always thought it was more of a drama sci-fi than a sci-fi drama because the powers are kinda like a sprinkle on top. You could watch them go about their normal everyday lives with powers and it will still be interesting.

Were there any other shows or comic book series that you got inspiration from?

I got inspiration from all the older superpower stuff I've seen. But I would say the biggest references to the show was Heroes. I love Heroes. There’s also a show called Misfits. I just liked it because it was the first time I saw a show set in London with powers. Where it was normal people as heroes. So between those two, I made my own version.

Rapman PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

I'm a huge Marvel fan. So my favorite superhero is Spider-Man since I was a kid. Who were some of your favorite superheroes growing up?

I love Batman. I love the Hulk. I love Superman. I did like Spider-Man, but he was always like a little kid. But Superman, Hulk and Batman, they were my guys. I always enjoyed The Flash as well, in every version of the film. I always enjoyed the character because he was always funny and carefree. But with the powers, he wasn't as serious as the rest of them.

It sounds like you're more of a DC fan.

I prefer the Marvel movies 100%; it’s not even a competition. But when I was growing up, you really didn't see Marvel movies. The old-school Batman came on back in the day on TV, and the Batman movies with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. And then Marvel came in so many years later, so I just knew so much more about Batman. And I still love them all.

Yu already have experience working with TV and film. Blue Story was massive. But do you remember what year you started to think about Supacell?

So we were actually doing promo for Blue Story. We did some BBC promo for the film. A bit of the promo was me and the cast asking each other questions. And one of the cast members asked me if I was going to stay in the hood genre or if I’m going to do something else. So I said, ‘No, I want to tell a sci-fi story.’ I just started talking about Supercell. It's actually on camera as well, you can see it on my Instagram page.

It just came into my head, and I started talking about it. It's always been in the back of my head. It was the first time I ever spoke about it, and that was in 2019. Then, in 2020, I just started developing it when we went into lockdown. I just had time.

You used ARRI camera technology to properly highlight our skin tone, which I think is important.

We were so specific about making sure Black skin tones were showing around the screen because a lot of shows out there were not lit properly. So what we’ve done with the help of the camera, and the lighting from our DP and my gaffer, we were able to light [properly]. For example, shows are predominately white casts and there’s that one Black cast member, but the lighting is set for white people. So the Black person has to just fall into it and hope for the best, hope that it matches that person’s skin complexion. It was the complete opposite with us. We did the camera lighting specifically for dark skin tones. Because we had a majority Black cast, we just put that as a priority. We didn’t want anyone on screen to be looking washed out and not like their beautiful selves. So with the high-end camera, a lot of the lighting plays a massive part, even the hair and makeup. So it was all one piece.

I loved hearing all the dancehall music with the house party scene in the first episode and then the club scene with Sabrina and her sister. I’d love to talk about infusing the authentic London life within the show itself.

That was always important because I watch a lot of shows, for example, when you leave the U.K., how many shows have you seen a Black cast that is authentic to London? I watched him and I think when African Americans or Africans or anyone sees this, it’s not the true definition of London for me. So it was very important that everyone got to see what London culture was like on a day-to-day basis and what music we listen to. what food we're eating. If you want to know what South London is like, you can watch Supercell. It is a true reality. Take away the superpowers and you have got an everyday level of London. You can meet a person like taser, you should be careful. You can meet someone like Michael who’s a lovely guy. That's all real people. Also Afrobeats, UK hip-hop and bashment music are a massive part of the UK. We have our own scene and culture here, so he has a big deal that the rest of the world gets to see London for its true reality.

Is there a certain character you relate to the most?

They’re all part of me at different stages. When I was younger, I was very much in that Tazer world—but not as bad as Tazer. As I got older, I had kids and I became like Andre who’s just trying to keep his teenagers on the right path. Before I got the opportunity to do what I do now, I was about to become a van driver because all of my friends started getting van-driving jobs. I figured that was about to be my route until things started happening for me.

Cast members Tosin Cole and Adelayo Adedayo on set. PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

You also have a background in hip-hop. Do you approach music and writing and producing for TV and film differently? Do they pull different sides of your creative mind?

When I'm just doing a regular song, it’s very different because I'm just trying to find out what's gonna get people moving. But when I was doing the story songs, which I started doing mainly, it was the same process. Before I even write one word or one lyric, I need to know what is the story we're trying to tell. Who is the person the character that we're going to be following? I construct the story and write it down on paper or rap over a beat.

With music, I didn't have a big enough paint board to really paint. It wasn't enough. Blue Story was originally a YouTube trilogy before it became a film. I always felt it needed to be longer to get the story out. So I think I was always heading this way. But I wasn't actually looking to come in this direction. I didn't wake up and say, ‘I want to be a filmmaker.’

I was a storyteller who loved storytelling songs, from Biggie to Jay Z to Nas to Tupac. They were always my favorite songs on the album: the storytelling songs that didn’t have to music videos. So when I started rapping, I wanted to do those storytelling songs to give them film visuals to make the stories come to life. Eventually, you want to do it on a bigger scale. The storytelling took the biggest direction so that you could go in and I suppose that was TV and film.

I mean, the biggest of them all with Netflix.

Exactly. That's still crazy. I got my own Netflix show.

That's huge. Black people are dominating these platforms. It's so inspiring.

I still pinch myself. I was literally uploading videos on YouTube just for London. I wasn’t even trying to think if JAY Z was going to contact me. I'm just thinking of our people who are gonna love this. You just never know who's watching. Now Roc Nation is watching. Hollywood's watching. Netflix starts watching and then eventually, you just end up working with these places that you didn't even feel were attainable for yourself. So I'm very appreciative and very blessed.