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Grammy award-winning singer and actress Mary J Blige, who slays in a black and white striped dress joins show creator and producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, series stars Michael Rainey Jr, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Gianni Paolo, Woody McClain, Lovell Adams-Gray, LaToya Tonodeo, Alix Lapri, Larenz Tate, Caroline Chikezie, Naturi Naughton, Shane Johnson, Talia Robinson, LightSkinKeisha, and new cast members Golden Brooks and Sydney Winbush at a star studded premiere and after party last night in New York city for the series fourth and final season. Radio/TV personality Jazmyn Summers was there for Radio One to bring you the tea.
Power Book II: Ghost , one of the most gripping shows on television, is the first spinoff from the “Power,” universe and has been a never-ending thrill ride since its debut in 2020 setting ratings records for the network with the season three premiere episode, pulling in more than 5.8 million viewers across several platforms
In the series, Michael Rainey stars as Tariq St. Patrick who’s navigating life after his father’s (James “Ghost” St. Patrick) death. For three seasons, Tariq has been running a drug operation, while going to an elite college, managing his love life, and trying to avoid the pitfalls that caused his father’s demise. Eventually, Tariq becomes involved with the Tejada family, a crime family with strong ties to the underworld which adds to his struggles.
Method Man who plays Davis MacLean, a high-powered criminal defense attorney, speaks about the highly-anticipated series premiere and he and Rainey’s connection as natives of Staten Island, New York.
“We do have a Staten Island history. I used to see Michael at my son’s football games every now and then. He was a very quiet, observant dude. I was like, ‘Yeah, he looks like an actor.’ That’s what actors do. They sit around and observe everything,” Meth added. “Not in a nosy kind of way. It’s more or less like they’re computing sh*t, analyzing it, and adding it to their database.”
Rainey, who has played the character for nearly half his life, starting when he was 12 years old on “Power,” says when he first learned he was getting his own spinoff, he “didn’t believe” it.
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“I’m like, ‘First of all, nobody likes my character. How do you think a show based around a character that everyone hates will be successful?'” he recalls thinking. Four years later, it’s “bittersweet” to say goodbye, but “I feel like things just have to come to an end,” Rainey Jr. reveals.
Does he become his father, the original Ghost, or forge his own path. From the naïve young man in the series debut to the first episode of season four we see him evolving into an apex predator.
“The way we’re going to roll it out, it’s just going to be action-packed. They’re going to be super excited every episode, it’s just insane,” he dishes.
Tariq and his best friend, Brayden (Gianni Paolo) have “huge targets” on their backs, he says.
“They’ve been betrayed pretty heavily and this season is literally Tariq and Brayden against the world,” he shares ,”Obviously they’re going to bump heads, in the midst of everything, they’re two different people, they have two different mindsets, but at the end of the day, they’re still there for each other. They still got each other’s back.”
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Fiddy tells the crowd that he and Starz are good now after publicly blasting the network last year and seemingly threatening to leave. He’s preparing several new series focusing on the origins of Ghost and Tommy “You asked, I answered. Young Ghost and Tommy coming your way,” Jackson wrote on Instagram.
The music and television mogul is planning a massive expansion with the opening of G Unit Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana, now the second-largest Black-owned production studio in the world after Tyler Perry’s studio.
Source: Sean Bell / Sean Bell
“I talked to Tyler on my way here,” 50 Cent discloses at the premiere “Tyler is no joke. He’ll f### you up if you think he ‘Madea.’ He don’t talk to me like that. I don’t know if he’s tougher when he’s talking to me, but it just feels like I can learn some things from him. I’ll be out in Atlanta shortly to look at his facility so I cannot make some mistakes that I could potentially make.”
Developing G-Unit Studios “is not just a business decision; it’s a commitment to fostering talent, creating opportunities, and building a community that thrives through creativity and innovation,” he adds.
Finally, Jackson boasts that while the groundbreaking “Power Universe” is a team effort, “When you think about this. Think about 50 Cent ‘cuz I did the whole sh*t.”
Coinciding with the 10th Anniversary of Power’s debut on Starz, the series will premiere in two parts. Part one drops tonight Friday, June 7, and part two launches in September.
You can follow Jazmyn Summers on @jaztalk1 on Instagram, and Facebook. And please don’t forget to subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube. Photos by Sean Bell.
