Issa Rae Brings ‘Insecure’ Anniversary Tour to 13 Cities This Fall

“Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour,” a 13-date fall run led by Issa Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny, with Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis and Natasha Rothwell scheduled for select appearances opens Sept. 10 in Philadelphia and closes Oct. 8 in Inglewood, California.

Ten years after Issa Dee first worked through her problems by rapping to herself in a bathroom mirror, Issa Rae is taking the stories, arguments and lingering questions of “Insecure” on the road.

Rae announced “Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour” on Tuesday, a 13-city run that will reunite her with showrunner Prentice Penny for live conversations about the HBO comedy that made awkwardness, friendship and the everyday lives of Black millennials worthy of prestige television.

 

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The tour opens Sept. 10 at The Met in Philadelphia and travels through National Harbor, Maryland; Detroit; Boston; Brooklyn; Montclair, New Jersey; Las Vegas; Oakland; Chicago; Atlanta; Irving, Texas; and Houston. It closes Oct. 8 at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California — the city whose neighborhoods, businesses and changing identity were central to the series.

Yvonne Orji, who played Molly Carter; Jay Ellis, who played Lawrence Walker; and Natasha Rothwell, who played Kelli Prenny, are scheduled to appear on select dates. Organizers have not announced which cast members will participate in each city, so ticket buyers should not assume the full group will appear at every stop.

The live shows are expected to feature behind-the-scenes stories, candid conversations and reflections on the series’ most memorable moments and cultural impact.

Rae announced the tour with a video built around a reunion of the cast’s group chat. After Rae proposes the idea, Ellis, Orji and Rothwell quickly sign on.

“It’s ‘Insecure,’ but we’re very secure now,” Orji says near the end of the clip.

“Come see us on tour,” Rae adds.

 

Created by Rae and Larry Wilmore, “Insecure” premiered on HBO in October 2016 and ran for five seasons before ending in December 2021. The comedy followed Issa Dee and Molly as they negotiated friendship, relationships, work, ambition and the consequences of decisions that often looked much clearer after they had already made them.

The show’s appeal came partly from what it refused to do. Its Black characters did not exist solely to explain racism, carry a social message or serve as flawless examples of representation. They could be selfish, funny, petty, accomplished, confused, loyal and painfully wrong — sometimes within the same episode.

“Insecure” also treated South Los Angeles as more than a backdrop. Restaurants, apartments, neighborhood businesses, art spaces and community events became part of the story as Issa tried to build a career without abandoning the place that shaped her.

Music was just as important.

The series used contemporary hip-hop and R&B as an extension of its characters’ inner lives, placing established artists alongside records that many viewers were hearing for the first time. Solange consulted on the first season’s music, while longtime music supervisor Kier Lehman helped build later soundtracks that included SZA, Jazmine Sullivan, Miguel, Jorja Smith, Leikeli47, Thundercat, The Internet, Dreezy and others.

Songs did more than fill transitions. They carried scenes after the dialogue stopped, helped define Issa and Molly’s emotional distance and gave each season a musical identity that fans discussed alongside the show’s romances and betrayals.

 

The anniversary tour extends a reunion that began in May with “Blocc Party: An Insecure Podcast.” The weekly rewatch series features Rae and Penny revisiting individual episodes, telling stories from the writers’ room and bringing in members of the cast and crew.

A Citi cardholder presale begins Wednesday at noon local time. General ticket sales begin Thursday at noon local time through Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Most listed performances begin at 8 p.m., and several venues identify the events as restricted to guests 18 and older.

The complete tour schedule:

• Sept. 10 — The Met, Philadelphia
• Sept. 11 — The Theater at MGM National Harbor, National Harbor, Md.
• Sept. 13 — The Fillmore Detroit, Detroit
• Sept. 16 — MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston
• Sept. 17 — Brooklyn Paramount, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Sept. 18 — The Wellmont Theater, Montclair, N.J.
• Sept. 25 — The Palazzo Theatre, Las Vegas
• Sept. 26 — Fox Theater, Oakland, Calif.
• Oct. 1 — The Chicago Theatre, Chicago
• Oct. 2 — Tabernacle, Atlanta
• Oct. 3 — The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, Texas
• Oct. 4 — Bayou Music Center, Houston
• Oct. 8 — YouTube Theater, Inglewood, Calif.

“Insecure” ended with its characters growing into lives that once seemed out of reach. A decade after the premiere, Rae is reopening the group chat.

T.I. Lands One More Billboard Top 10 With ‘Kill the King’

The cover art for T.I.’s “Kill the King,” which the Atlanta rapper has described as his final album. The project debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, giving him his 13th top-10 entry on the ranking.

T.I. is leaving the album business with one more Billboard top 10.
“Kill the King,” which the Atlanta rapper has repeatedly described as his final album, debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart dated July 11. It marks his 13th career top-10 entry on the chart.

The album earned 22,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the June 26-July 2 tracking period, according to Luminate. It also opened at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart and No. 30 on the Billboard 200.

Those numbers fall well short of the blockbuster launches T.I. delivered at his commercial peak, when “King,” “T.I. vs. T.I.P.” and “Paper Trail” each reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

But the latest debut carries a different kind of weight.

Released 25 years after “I’m Serious” introduced T.I. nationally, “Kill the King” extends a chart run that survived shifts from CDs to downloads to streaming — and from Atlanta fighting for rap-industry respect to becoming one of the genre’s dominant centers.

The 18-song album arrived June 26 through Grand Hustle and EMPIRE, nearly six years after 2020’s “The L.I.B.R.A.” It includes the Pharrell Williams-produced “Let Em Know,” which reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. The single also topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in March.

“Let Em Know” became T.I.’s first top-40 Hot 100 entry since 2014, giving his farewell campaign a legitimate current hit rather than leaving it to depend entirely on nostalgia.

T.I., born Clifford Harris Jr., told People that he had already been living a largely retired life since the pandemic. He said he completed one last album because disappearing without formally closing that chapter would have felt unfinished.

“I’ve gotten everything I prayed for from the game,” he said.

The title completes an idea T.I. has carried for years.

After he began publicly calling himself the “King of the South,” Outkast’s Big Boi warned him that claiming the crown would place a target on his back. Big Boi compared the music business to chess, where the objective is to kill the king. T.I. said he knew then that the phrase would eventually become the title of his final album.

The crown once invited arguments that helped fuel T.I.’s ascent. During the 2000s, he helped move Atlanta trap music into the pop mainstream without sanding away its Southern identity. “Whatever You Like” and the Rihanna-assisted “Live Your Life” both reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, while “What You Know” earned him a Grammy Award and became one of the defining records of his career.

“Kill the King” does not recreate the enormous first-week totals of that era, nor does its No. 30 Billboard 200 opening suggest that it has. Its more meaningful achievement is continuity: another R&B/hip-hop top 10 for a rapper whose first album arrived before streaming, social media and Atlanta’s complete takeover of rap’s center of gravity.

T.I. may no longer be interested in defending the title that made him a target. Billboard’s latest chart still gives the King of the South one more number for the résumé.

Jay-Z Caps Three-Night Yankee Stadium Run With Beyoncé, Rihanna, Usher and More

Jay-Z performs Sunday during the “Extra Innings” finale of his three-night run at Yankee Stadium in New York. The show began shortly after midnight following a security breach that temporarily halted entry to the stadium. (Photo/Roc Nation via Instagram)

Jay-Z’s final Yankee Stadium concert began with locked gates and thousands of fans waiting outside. It ended shortly before 3 a.m. Monday with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Usher and collaborators from across his career helping him close a record-setting three-night run.

A security breach outside the Bronx ballpark forced officials to temporarily stop anyone from entering or leaving Sunday night. A police source told WABC that a large group pushed and shoved its way through security checkpoints, prompting a full lockdown while authorities regained control.

Gates began reopening around 10 p.m. under heightened security and what sources described as a slow, methodical screening process. The concert had been scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., but Jay-Z did not take the stage until about 12:20 a.m. No arrests were reported.

Jay-Z apologized after taking the stage and said he chose not to begin while so many people remained outside, fearing that starting the music could cause a dangerous rush toward the entrances.

@abc7ny There was chaos at Jay-Z's third and final Yankee Stadium concert after a security breach delayed the show. #nyc #jayz #jayzyankeestadium #yankeestadium #concert #entertainment #music ♬ original sound - ABC7NY

“I had to make sure everyone was OK,” he told the crowd.

The Yankees, Roc Nation and Live Nation later issued a joint statement thanking the New York Police Department and Yankee Stadium security personnel for putting attendee safety ahead of other considerations.

Once the show finally started, “Extra Innings” became the broadest of Jay-Z’s three Yankee Stadium concerts. Unlike the first two nights, which centered on specific albums, Sunday’s finale moved freely through his catalog and the relationships that have followed him from Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects to the top of the music business.

Teyana Taylor joined him for “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” the opening song from his 1996 debut album, “Reasonable Doubt.” Jermaine Dupri appeared for “Money Ain’t a Thang,” while Jeezy performed “Seen It All” and “Go Crazy.”

🎤The show must go on! Jay-Z explains the delay behind tonights show at Yankee Stadium - says there were 10,000 people outside and had to close the doors pic.twitter.com/eqIhYdoaIr

— HipHopKlipz36 (@hiphopklipz36) July 13, 2026

Usher joined Jay-Z for “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” “Throwback” and “Part II (On the Run).” The-Dream appeared during “No Church in the Wild,” and Swizz Beatz accompanied Jay-Z through a stretch that included “On to the Next One.”

Rihanna delivered one of the night’s loudest moments when she emerged for “Run This Town,” then remained onstage for “Bitch Better Have My Money.” Pharrell Williams returned for a five-song run before Clipse joined them for “Grindin’.”

Beyoncé appeared later during a medley of “Drunk in Love,” “Tom Ford” and “Partition.” Fat Joe and Jadakiss helped bring the marathon show toward its close with “New York.”

The finale completed a weekend organized around two albums that marked different stages of Jay-Z’s rise.

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Friday’s opening concert celebrated the 30th anniversary of “Reasonable Doubt.” Beyoncé handled Mary J. Blige’s part on “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” Blue Ivy Carter played piano before “Feelin’ It,” and Nas, Jaz-O, Memphis Bleek and Alicia Keys joined Jay-Z during the night.

Saturday belonged to “The Blueprint,” released 25 years ago. Slick Rick joined Jay-Z for “The Ruler’s Back,” Eminem appeared for “Renegade,” and Pharrell performed five songs with him.

The show also established a Yankee Stadium concert record, selling 45,832 tickets and breaking the mark Jay-Z had set one night earlier.

The guests mattered because they were more than famous names added to a stadium bill.

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Jaz-O represented Jay-Z’s years before “Reasonable Doubt,” when the veteran rapper served as an early mentor. Nas stood beside the man he once battled in one of hip-hop’s most consequential feuds. Eminem’s appearance revived “Renegade,” a performance that has fueled rap arguments since “The Blueprint” arrived in 2001.

Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel connected the concerts to Roc-A-Fella’s peak. Dupri, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz and The-Dream represented different phases of Jay-Z’s evolution from street-level New York storyteller to crossover hitmaker. Beyoncé and Blue Ivy placed his family inside the story rather than alongside it.

The staging left room for those connections to carry the shows.

Creative director Willo Perron designed a largely bare stage backed by a massive outfield screen showing archival images from Jay-Z’s life and career. A 10-person band and an 18-piece string section supported the performances without overwhelming them.

“I think the statement piece in a Jay-Z show is Jay-Z,” Perron told Wired.

The Yankee Stadium run was originally announced as two concerts. Organizers added “Extra Innings” after the “Reasonable Doubt” and “Blueprint” shows quickly sold out.

Jay-Z will continue the “Jay-Z 30” anniversary celebration with stadium concerts Sept. 4 in London, Sept. 10 in Paris and Oct. 23 in Inglewood, California. Those shows are tied specifically to the 30th anniversary of “Reasonable Doubt,” not the full three-night New York format.

The final night nearly became a story about a security failure and a four-hour wait. Instead, after the gates reopened and the music finally started, Jay-Z finished a weekend that put his debut, his commercial peak, his family, his former rival and three decades of collaborators in the same ballpark.

The delay lasted four hours. The history took three nights.