The Drop: A Snowfall Saga<\/a>,\u201d pivoting from exploring the effect of crack in the 1980s to depicting the rise of hip-hop in Los Angeles during the 1990s. (The series will also stream on Hulu.)<\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788259999_280_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
In \u201cThe Drop: A Snowfall Saga,\u201d Wanda Bell (Gail Bean) is intent on making it in the rap game, enlisting her cousin Lamar Kinsey (Asante Blackk) for help.<\/p>\n
(Ray Mickshaw \/ FX)<\/p>\n
In the new series, Wanda moves to center stage as she becomes laser-focused on making it big in the music business, convinced that the fledgling rap genre can revolutionize American culture. She is also channeling her strong will to get beyond her addiction to crack, which plagued her in \u201cSnowfall.\u201d <\/p>\n
She enlists her young cousin Lamar Kinsey (Asante Blackk), a young music prodigy raised by strict religious grandparents, as her vehicle to stardom. Lamar is also trying to deal with his identity as a Black man living in a community overrun by warring gangs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is a love letter to Los Angeles, and also to West Coast rap,\u201d Bean said in a recent interview. \u201cIt\u2019s also most importantly an homage to John. The legacy of \u2018Snowfall\u2019 and other Black shows on FX like \u2018Atlanta\u2019 is important, and a responsibility we don\u2019t take lightly. We understand the weight of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is thrilled that \u201cThe Drop\u201d is exploring a vitally creative era: \u201cThe \u201990s was a great time. We\u2019re looking at what it was like for rappers coming up. It was fun, sometimes reckless. They had no idea where it was going. But there was an awareness and responsibility knowing all these eyes were on you. The talent was within them, and the community was rooting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788260002_503_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these Black artists are getting to tell stories in a way that is entertaining and benefiting us in cultural ways,\u201d says Blackk of the recent wave of Black-oriented series.<\/p>\n
(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Blackk defined \u201cThe Drop\u201d as a central component in what he calls a renaissance of new Black-oriented series including the reboot of \u201cA Different World\u201d on Netflix, the drama \u201cNemesis,\u201d also on Netflix, and Starz\u2019s \u201cPower\u201d universe.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these Black artists are getting to tell stories in a way that is entertaining and benefiting us in cultural ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Munching on French fries in a West Hollywood restaurant, the two displayed a palpable warmth toward each other that mirrored their onscreen relationship. Bean gushed about Blackk\u2019s Emmy-nominated performance in Netflix\u2019s \u201cWhen They See Us.\u201d She blushed as Blackk complimented her smile (\u201cYou\u2019ve got some pearly whites\u201d).<\/p>\n
A \u201cSnowfall\u201d sequel has been percolating since the final season, when Bean was informed by producers about plans for a spinoff featuring her and John. \u201cWe were told not to say anything,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were ecstatic. And then a year passed. And then two years passed. I think they wanted people to have a blank slate in going into \u2018The Drop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
When \u201cThe Drop\u201d kicks off, Wanda and Leon are no longer a couple, but are on friendly terms. Details about the ending of their relationship will be unveiled during the season.<\/p>\n
Executive producer and showrunner Malcolm Spellman, whose previous credits include \u201cEmpire\u201d and \u201cBel-Air,\u201d said the show\u2019s new perspective was a natural: \u201cCrack came with a soundtrack and a culture that blended into hip-hop. So it felt very organic in terms of exploring that phenomena.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Drop\u201d retains much of the rawness and explosive energy of \u201cSnowfall.\u201d Much of the show is shot on location, the soundtrack is crammed with rap and the violence is explosive and bloody.<\/p>\n
With the exit of Idris, building the series around Wanda also seemed logical, Spellman said: \u201cThat relationship was already established, so it was a matter of thinking of the right angle and dimension to demonstrate that this show deserves a life of its own. And with Wanda, we wanted to show the phoenix rising out of the fires of crack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wanda\u2019s addiction was a key \u201cSnowfall\u201d storyline. Bean underwent a dramatic physical transformation with furiously unkempt hair and horribly stained teeth. She hit rock bottom during the fourth season when she was shot and wounded in a drive-by shooting soon after trying to sell a rotted tooth from her mouth in order to get drug money.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788260003_804_.jpeg\")
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Wanda\u2019s addiction was a key \u201cSnowfall\u201d storyline. \u201cPlaying her helped me see people who are addicted in a completely different way,\u201d Bean says.<\/p>\n
(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I thought playing Wanda would be fun,\u201d Bean said. \u201cI\u2019m from Stone Mountain, Ga., so I didn\u2019t know anything about the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles. And I didn\u2019t know Wanda would be introduced to drugs and actually get addicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cPlaying her helped me see people who are addicted in a completely different way. I have family members who were already on drugs and were addicts when I met them. So I only knew that side of them instead of seeing the humanity of what they were before. They will never get back. That\u2019s what beautiful about Wanda. She\u2019s able to have that redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she also encounters pitfalls that threaten to derail her ambitions. Wanda\u2019s obsessive drive to succeed ignites her darker side and self-destructive tendencies that led to her drug addiction. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s burning for Wanda is the chance for her to show that she is a formidable and brilliant human being,\u201d Spellman said. \u201cBut once you get sober, you don\u2019t forget all of the dirty tricks you learned. In order to make it in music, she will have to resort to the destructive skill set she learned in the streets, and that starts to compromise her most essential relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blackk said he is thrilled to explore the dynamic between Wanda and Lamar: \u201cThey are a volatile combination, and a lot more similar than they realize.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamar will also have face considerable challenges. \u201cHe grew up in the cauldron and chaos of the crack era, but he\u2019s a nerd and a square,\u201d Spellman said. \u201cLamar has the ego and inclination to know he is a gifted musician, but there is immense pressure in his hood to conform to the Black male identity that is being formed with hip-hop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bean said she hopes fans of \u201cSnowfall\u201d will allow the new show to succeed on its own terms. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope fans give us the room and grace to grow,\u201d she said. \u201cOne thing ends so that another can begin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Franklin Saint, the young antihero at the center of FX\u2019s blood-soaked \u201cSnowfall,\u201d evolved from crafty entrepreneur to lethal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1036751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[414807,1582,276,414808,18593,54051,414809,12560,414806,2961,124818,414810,224,2444,5337,4659,151234,4370,414805,414804],"class_list":["post-1036750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-asante-blackk","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-crack-epidemic","tag-damson-idris","tag-drop","tag-drug-game","tag-fx","tag-gail-bean","tag-la","tag-lamar","tag-leon-simmons","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-netflix","tag-producer","tag-show","tag-snowfall-saga","tag-wanda-bell"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117195417882365213","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1036751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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