Shawna gets good advice from Jill and Bebe about the fiasco, which Shawna isn’t too bothered by. Crystal, from Spotify, isn’t too bothered about the incident either. It is an inherent part of the rap culture and an everyday thing. The real issue is the break-up with Cliff, who has since been trying to contact Shawna to mend things. But the emerging rapper shoots own his attention and says they’re finished. Mia tries to call Shawna to talk about the Ronnie thing but Shawna doesn’t attend her phone. She instead asks Maurice to come to the beach with her where she is meeting up with friends. Mia is desperately looking for people to comfort her. But with every rock she looks under, she finds other people angry about something and dealing with their own stuff. Her mother falls in the same league. Mia had originally planned to leave Melissa with her for the day to clear her head but seeing how she is screaming at everything, Mia takes her back. Chastity, who was missing from the last episode, is told by Deja that Mia and Shawna do not really consider her their manager. But Chastity isn’t one to give up. At the beach, Shawna tries to move on from Cliff by spending time with friends and even uploading stories on Instagram to compensate for appearances. She gets an urge to do something spontaneous and spots a rental jet ski. Maurice goes with her but she loses her phone as the ski goes off balance. There is a lot of flirting going on between the two and it seems like the heat from episode 3 (from the club) might materialize into something. Chastity brokers a deal with one of his customers to let the duo perform at the club but he refuses to give her a fee. Mia is visited by Lamont, who is surprised to find his daughter Melissa opening the door. Lamont shows great maturity in handling Mia’s anger for not having anyone stand up for her. He behaves like a true father and partner and spends the day at Mia’s house cooking food and taking care of things in the house. Melissa feels happy in a complete home for the first time. Shawna and Maurice do hook up using the master key to get into one of the nicest rooms in the neighborhood. Maurice buys her a new phone, to “keep in touch”. While having dinner, Shawna sees Ronnie’s live stream and asks to be in it. She joins and teaches him a great lesson: never leach off of anybody who will talk back. She stands up for Mia and calls Ronnie out for being a parasite, an attention-thirsty influencer looking to draw traffic to his account. Mia sees Shawna standing up for her and is inspired. She asks Lamont to send her some beats and writes a song. Shawna goes to her house and tells Mia that she hooked up with Maurice. We then get an explanation of why Mia was kicked out of the apartment by her OF client. It was not because Mia had refused to go with him the other night but because he had brought a friend along for a session. Mia was not taking it and that is why she was kicked out. Mia shows Shawna the song she wrote and it is a bomb. Shawna is extremely taken by it and they improvise lyrics to complete it. Chastity calls Mia and all three have dinner at her house, where Shawna confirms that Chastity can be their manager if the booking indeed is real. Shawna agrees to take the expenditure of styling, a red carpet, and costumes for the booking. And to complete her promise, she asks Maurice to scheme another credit card fraud. At the same time, she gets a message from Cliff saying “she was right about Fatima”.
The Episode Review
Two contrasting stories for Mia and Shawna set them apart in this episode. But their shared will to change the landscape for female rappers in their universe unites them with a blunt force. Issa Rae has constantly maintained her desire to portray these women as strong, emotional beings capable of making mistakes but also learning from them. The group is on the cusp of greatness and needs to go through the final stretch without slowing down. The theme for the episode was some of the writers’ penny for the world of social media. Shawna and Mia find themselves on the wrong side of the duality of this modern creation. On one hand, it has the power to make you an overnight success. On the other, it can take away everything from you – and more – in one fell swoop. Negative publicity is generally seen as gold in the industry but for Mia, it became all too personal. The girls hadn’t experienced something like this before but when they did, they emerged stronger. Mia also saw what a future with a family would look like. Lamont’s character has come a long way since we first saw him. The absent father has suddenly shouldered familial responsibilities and keeps showcasing his immense talent with the beats. The new song is even peppier, proving they have the mettle to go all the way. The Spotify deal remains their most cherished ambition and Chastity’s efforts might just send them through. Shawna taking charge of her own life was a demanding request from the audience. Her journey from episode 1 to this episode has been transformational. She no longer wants to hide behind the curtain and isn’t afraid to face the music. Her standing up for Mia against Rooney wasn’t even a possibility a few episodes back. Rap Shit! has lived up to its expectation by providing a highly entertaining and observant representation of the rap culture in Miami.
