Everything You Need to Know About ‘Top Boy’
Now that Drake's successfully brought the UK sensation 'Top Boy' to Netflix, here's a quick primer on one 2019's most talked-about series.
Image via Netflix
The surprise revival of Ronan Bennett’s Top Boy on Netflix via Drake has made fans of the popular drama excited beyond belief. Critically acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, the Channel 4 standout starred Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson as drug dealing partners turned sometimes rivals, Dushane and Sully.
During its two-series run, Top Boy was billed as the U.K.’s answer to The Wire, as it offered an in-depth (albeit darkly realistic) look at the rivalries that exist between the drug gangs operating out of the fictional Summerhouse Estates. Characters such as Dushane and Sully became cultural references for British MCs like Larry Buxxx and Skepta, and here in the U.S., the show served as a marker for how connected the Black Experience truly is these days.
When Channel 4 opted not to continue on with another installment of the series back in 2014, it seemed as if all hope was lost. “Screenwriters learn to roll with the blows,” Bennett wrote for The Guardian in August that year. “You shrug. You move on to the next thing. But Top Boy was special to me. It was intensely personal. It was hard to let go. We discussed trying to make a movie. There was talk of doing it as a musical. But in the end, we accepted that was that. Time to move on.”
Thankfully, guys like Drake and SpringHill Production’s Maverick Carter refused the memo, and quickly got to work with saving the show from the TV graveyard. With Drake’s passionate pitch about why the show needed to return, plus the fact that there is nothing else like it on the air, it was smart money for Netflix to bring Top Boy back for a new season. Much to the delight of fans around the globe, Top Boy’s return means a broader audience gets to see what we’ve been loving for years now.
Here’s everything you need to know about Top Boy, so you don’t look stupid while chattin’ up your mates.
'Top Boy' has been on the air since 2011
The recipe that director Yann Demange (White Boy Rick) and series creator Ronan Bennett used might’ve been inspired by The Wire and Breaking Bad, but they were able to take the best ideas from those two shows and make something that felt distinctly British. The grittiness of Top Boy’s visuals, the pockets of slang that—at the time—had begun to permeate American hip-hop culture, and the authenticity of the storylines made the show one of the more accurate and bleak reflections of London’s underbelly. The four-episode arc for its first season especially made it hard for U.S. audiences to find a connect, resulting in enterprising folks (like yours truly) finding unique ways to be an early consumer of Top Boy’s rising product in the game.
Dushane and Sully are like a badass version of Avon and Stringer
The first two seasons have converging storylines involving other captivating characters, but Top Boy’s main ting revolves around two hungry drug dealers, Dushane and Sully. The luck these two brothers-in-arms receive courtesy of a Cockney drug connect leads to a race against time as they must find out who stole their work and Tekashi’d them to the police.
Dushane and Sully have a love-hate relationship that becomes more entrenched as the series goes on. Their respective situations in Season 2 bring the two old friends back together for a brief moment, with Sully agreeing to help Dushane successfully retrieve his drugs from the Albanians. In turn, the Albanians attempt to end his life, forcing Dushane into leaving London for the kush-filled hills of Jamaica.
'Top Boy' had the highest-earning box office star of 2018 on the corner
Before becoming a household name around the world as Shuri in Marvel’s blockbuster Black Panther, Letitia Wright was reppin’ for North London as a corner girl on the first season of Top Boy. The Tottenham born-and-raised actor played Chantelle, a true-to-the-streets drug dealer who worked inside Summerhouse Estates alongside Dris (Shone Romulus). Her character didn’t return for the next season, but Wright went on to have success in other TV roles such as Humans and Black Mirror. “I was scared it would box me in,” Wright said in a February 2018 interview with TimeOut London. “It was one of the bravest decisions I’ve ever made.”
Now, she is sitting atop the game as the highest-earning box office star from 2018, and it seems the only way to get Chantelle back on the block is to convince Drake to upgrade her character’s story. “My character would have to be someone positive,” she said in the same piece, “I can’t go back on my word and play a character that at the time I didn’t really find three-dimensional.”
There is a new character vying for the drug kingpin throne
The new season synopsis of Top Boy promises that Dushane and Sully will clique up to make their dramatic return to the top of the estates, but awaiting them will be a formidable force. Jamie, played by Micheal Ward (Blue Story), is a young, hungry and ruthless gang leader whose ambitions “leave no place for Dushane and Sully,” according to Netflix.
With an interesting backstory himself, the character of Jamie presents an interesting juxtaposition of what happens when events out of your control force you into a life you wouldn’t wish on another. His journey for the top dog spot eventually will place him directly in opposition of Dushane, but the road to get there will be paved with blood and dead bodies if anybody gets in Jamie’s way.
Little Simz might be the real “boss” to watch
Casual TV watchers may have missed the memo, but Top Boy isn’t Simbi Ajikawo’s (better known as Little Simz) acting debut. The Grey Area rap superstar has been at ease in front of the camera since entering the game in 2010—having been featured on shows like Spirit Warriors and 2013’s Youngers.
As Shelly, Simz plays a character with a conscious who appears to be a reality check for Dushane and his efforts at getting back the drug kingpin crown. Easily her highest-profile role to date, Simz’s presence and energy leaps off the screen, making her one-to-watch for those looking to call out the next great acting stars for 2020.
Top Boy is streaming now on Netflix.