From OnlyFans to FaceTime Sex, ‘Rap Sh!t’ Isn’t Afraid to Turn Up the Heat

Issa Rae‘s new HBO Max comedy Rap Sh!t will seduce and scheme its way into your heart in no time.

The series follows aspiring rapper Shawna Clark (Aida Osman) and her estranged high school friend Mia Knight (KaMillion) who team up to form a rap group in hopes of making it big. From clever characters and a thought-provoking portrayal of the music industry to a unique inclusion of social media and technology, there’s a lot to love about the Miami-based comedy. But Rap Sh!t isn’t just a quality TV show, it’s also sexy as hell.

Between shots of strip clubs and music videos teeming with twerking, Rap Sh!t never shies away from showing skin. But the ways in which the series harnesses the power of technology to showcase sexiness — via OnlyFans, FaceTime sex, or a quick iPhone camera check in a club bathroom — set it apart from typical sensual series.

Rap Sh!t‘s OnlyFans Inclusion

Mia isn’t just an aspiring rapper, she’s a single mom who works several jobs to pay the bills and care for her daughter, Melissa. In the pilot, we learn she’s a makeup artist by day who runs an OnlyFans with the handle ghettodominatrix305 account by night. We see her go live on the site for 15 minutes, propping her phone on a stand in the middle of a ring light and dancing for users in her bedroom. She wears heels and lingerie, responds to commenters, and racks up some serious tips before signing off. In Episode 2, we ever see her sitting on her bed in lingerie to take a solo video call from a man in New York named Warren.

It’s rare to see an OnlyFans storyline on television, but Rap Sh!t strives to portray the thorny platform authentically, capturing quick judgements like “it’s basically porn” while also highlighting the reality that making profit from consensual digital sex work can empower people. In Mia’s case, she also uses the social media following she’s gained from OnlyFans to cash in on her music. Another win.

While Mia is confident and comfortable in her skin, Shawna is more reserved and concerned with how others would perceive her if she started showing more of herself on camera. Though Shawna has gone viral in the past for her online raps, she’s always worn a mask in her videos “so people focus on my lyricism not what I look like.” At drinks one night, Shawna tells Mia she’s not about to expose herself online to be taken seriously, and she says her “art is not for the male gaze.”

“What’s so wrong with having people look at you?” Mia asks. “Is that what you think is going on? We’re in the middle of a Bad Bitch Renaissance…Loosen up, have some fun, just see where it goes.”

Mia’s defense of showing skin and people owning their bodies ultimately helps Shawn feel more empowered by her body, and results in Episode 2’s FaceTime sex.

Making Virtual Sex Sexy

Since Shawna is a struggling artist, she works a day job at a hotel while her boyfriend Cliff (Devon Terrell) is at law school in New York. Like many long-distance relationships, the lack of physical intimacy starts to present some challenges. Cliff suggests they give virtual sex a try, but Shawna’s hesitant and one night while she’s casually casually changing her shirt on camera, Cliff assumes she’s initiating. He takes his sweatshirt off and says, “Oh wait, are we getting started? I made a playlist,” but Shawna asks him if they can do it another night.

“I’m not in the mood. I feel stupid,” she explains.”You think I don’t?” Cliff asks. “I’m not proud to be having virtual sex, but we haven’t seen each other in four months.” Instead of getting it on, they get in a fight. But after hearing Mia’s “Bad Bitch Renaissance” speech and considering how and why she uses OnlyFans, Shawna’s perspective changes.

Episode 2 ends with Shawna FaceTiming Cliff, but when he picks up the call she’s out of frame. Music starts playing and Shawna walks in front of the camera naked, except for her infamous face mask. A surprised Cliff asks if she’s going to rap for him, and she replies, “No, but I am gonna perform for you.”

She starts moving her body, he takes his shirt off, and she takes her mask off before pausing the show to get real. “I’m a little nervous,” she admits. “You’re so sexy,” Cliff assures her. “I fucking miss you.” Shawna says she misses him too, and the FaceTime sex commences. As Kelela’s “S.O.S” plays in the background, we see Shawna in bed touching herself. She and Cliff both masturbate while watching each other through phone screens, and though the scene only lasts a few seconds it successfully makes virtual sex seem more sexy than awkward. A split screen shows Shawna and Cliff exchanging “I love yous” and sharing a heart to heart, which only heightens the scene’s intimacy.

It’s unclear if the Shawna we met in the pilot would have been able to come to this place of proudly owning her sexuality without Mia’s positive example, but Rap Sh!t successfully encourages her and viewers to keep an open mind about on-screen nudity. Mia unapologetically celebrates her body and inspires others like Shawna to do the same. The moments of self-love can be as big as finally taking the FaceTime sex plunge or as small as the scene in Episode 4 when Shawna takes a few moments in the bathroom of a club to admire herself in the her phone screen and show a bit more skin. But Rap Sh!t isn’t here for body or sex shaming and it leads by example, never hesitating to turn up the heat.