'The Chi' Season 5: How basketball star Iman Shumpert scored first acting gig on Kanye West music video 'Fade'
Showtime’s most successful and iconic series ‘The Chi’ made its screen comeback in June 2022. Undoubtedly, ‘The Chi’ has created its own fan base across the globe for its brilliant depiction of race, exploring the complexities of life in the South Side of Chicago. The show, currently on its fifth season, stars the celebrated basketball player Iman Shumpert essaying the character of Rob Lafayette.
Shumpert joined the cast last season as Tiffany's (Hannaha Hall) love interest. Emmy award-winning director Lena Waithe has done outstanding work in helping Shumpert showcase the emotional side of Lafayette, who, on the surface, seems to be your regular old 'player'.
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What was Shumpert's first acting gig?
According to a 2022 Vibe.com interview, Shumpert first decided to take up acting a few years back. Shumpert’s first-ever onscreen appearance was a short cameo in rapper Kanye West’s 2016 music video, ‘Fade’. He starred in the video with his wife Teyana Taylor.
Shumpert has loved music from childhood
In the same interview, Shumpert opened up about his love for music. “I rapped since I was young. I did spoken-word poetry. It’s crazy, my relationship with music. I don’t even think I could have had the relationship I had with basketball without music. It’s weird, but it was the only way to rest my mind. It was like, 'Okay, I’m gonna do music now, and I could rest my body from playing basketball'. Otherwise, I would be outside dribbling until my pops wouldn’t let me anymore. My whole life’s been surrounded by music. I’ve been writing raps in notebooks since I was in like third grade. I’m talking about performing,” he said.
What was Shumpert’s first experience as a musician?
Giving an insight into his earliest experiences that made his love for music more profound, Shumpert added, “My uncle and ’em had this bar. You know, the little juke joint, little juke bar, or whatever. The illegal gambling spots and sh*t. They used to go down there and we’d have family cookout-type vibes. They’d go down there and go crazy with the alcohol and we used to go down there. They had this little stage for a band that never showed up and me and my cousins used to sit there and rap our songs, but back then, we didn’t know how to get no instrumentals. So, we’d literally play our song with our lyrics on it and everything. and I’m just yelling over the sh*t. Just performing for a bunch of drunk old people. I wish they had a glass of Avión.”
What does Shumpert think about being in a music video?
In a 2016 Vogue magazine interview, Shumpert's wife Teyana Taylor talked about seeing her husband react to being in a Kanye West music video. “The crazy thing is that before we even got together, he always loved Kanye. So when he found out that Kanye wanted to do this video, he was excited, but at the same time, Iman is Iman, so he was like, 'Oh god, what is Kanye going to have us do in this video?' Before he even knew that we were about to do any shower scenes, he was already like, 'I know Kanye is probably going to have us doing some crazy shit'.”
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Taylor added, “He just kept saying how happy he was for me. He kept asking if I was ready because he said, once this video drops, once it’s out there, it’s about to go down. He was dying though. He was asking, 'Are my man buns going to be on the camera?' But everything was all love and laughs and jokes. Most importantly, he’s my biggest supporter. I’m pretty sure there was no telling what was going through his mind at the shoot as he had to stand in front of a whole cast of people in a shower. He’s a very private person. But even if he was uncomfortable with certain things, I would’ve never known. That’s what you call a supporter — [like] this moment is about my wife and that’s all that matters.”
New episodes of 'The Chi' Season 5 drop every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST. Audiences and fans can watch episodes of the Showtime original series on Fubo TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Sling TV with a premium subscription. The drama series is available for purchase on YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple TV, and Vudu.