The story of FX’s “Snowfall” is moving from the drug game to the rap game.
“The Drop: A Snowfall Saga,” a continuation of the “Snowfall” universe, picks up with Wanda Bell and Leon Simmons, played by Gail Bean and Isaiah John, as they try to reinvent themselves in 1990s Los Angeles.
The new series trades the crack cocaine epidemic that drove “Snowfall” for the emergence of West Coast hip-hop, following characters navigating a rapidly changing Los Angeles where music is becoming a new source of power, money and opportunity.
The stars and producers gathered Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., for the series’ red carpet premiere, celebrating a story set during one of the most consequential periods in American music.
For John, Leon’s journey is about reckoning with his past.
“You know, I think he’s trying to right a lot of his wrongs,” John said at the premiere. “He’s trying to overcompensate in a way for all of the wrong he’s done in the past.”
Leon is searching for peace after everything he experienced in “Snowfall,” while Wanda is determined to find a new path forward.
“One thing that is consistent with Wanda is she’s very unorthodox,” Bean said. “From ‘Snowfall’ to ‘The Drop,’ she is still very unorthodox but she’s also very resilient.”
“She is definitely the definition of perseverance,” Bean added. “She’s gonna find a way.”
From the drug trade to the music industry
The shift in subject matter may seem dramatic, but John sees a direct connection between the worlds of “Snowfall” and “The Drop.”
“A lot of the gangsters on the streets, people that sold drugs, they didn’t have anywhere to put the money,” John said. “They started investing in artists, trying to get a return.”
“So it’s a natural exploration of what happened out in the West Coast during that time,” he said.
That intersection between street money and the emerging music industry provides the foundation for the new series, which explores what happens when a generation that came of age during the crack epidemic begins looking toward hip-hop as a way to build something different.
For Asante Blackk, who plays Lamar Kinsey, the reinvention is less about becoming someone new and more about finally having an outlet for something that was already inside him.
“He’s being who he always was but in a way that has a channel that he’s never had before,” Blackk said.
Lamar has an ear for music and sees the rise of hip-hop as an opportunity.
“Reinvention through what he loves,” Blackk said.
To get into the mindset of the character, Blackk said he listened to plenty of music from the era, including the ’70s soul records that inspired the sampling that became a defining element of hip-hop.
He also counts Kendrick Lamar, Nipsey Hussle and Joey Bada$$ among the artists he loves.
Tupac’s shadow over the story
No discussion of 1990s West Coast hip-hop would be complete without Tupac Shakur.
With Tupac’s name back in the news, the rapper’s lasting influence is particularly timely as “The Drop” revisits the era that helped make him an icon.
John said Tupac’s importance to West Coast rap is undeniable, even though the rapper was born in New York.
“Even though he wasn’t born on the West Coast, you can’t think of West Coast rap without thinking of Tupac,” John said.
“He’s such an icon, especially within this culture,” John added. “His life was short yet he did so much in a short period of time. I admire that.”
Bean’s connection to Tupac is even more personal.
“My love for Tupac is unmatched,” she said when asked which rapper she would bring into “The Drop.”
Bean said she would also want Snoop Dogg involved because “there ain’t no way you can honor West Coast rap without mentioning Snoop Dogg.”
“But Tupac is my number one,” she said.
John, meanwhile, chose another influential Los Angeles rapper when asked which artist he would bring into the series: Nipsey Hussle.
The choices underscore the show’s larger conversation about the artists who helped define West Coast hip-hop and the cultural legacy that continues decades later.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 1: Malcolm Spellman speaks during FX’s “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” red carpet launch event at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on September 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Morigi/PictureGroup for FX)
Keeping the music authentic
For executive producer Malcolm Spellman, authenticity was a priority from the beginning.
“Being from the culture, it was super important to be authentic,” Spellman said.
The production brought music industry figures including Skipp Townsend, Glasses Malone and Jimmy Chris into the writers’ room and onto the set to help ensure the world being depicted felt genuine.
And music isn’t simply background decoration in the series.
“The music,” Spellman said when asked what fans will be most surprised by.
“These scenes are written around the music,” he explained, noting that dialogue and song lyrics were incorporated into the scripts.
The series also finds room for humor amid the drama.
“Not that it’s a comedy in any way,” Spellman said, “but these characters just emerge in a way that real life does where sometimes the most tense or tragic situations become funny.”
For Spellman, the decision to revisit the “Snowfall” universe also comes at a moment when hip-hop itself is experiencing another major cultural shift.
“Hip-hop right now… it’s a great tectonic time,” he said.
That idea of transformation is at the heart of “The Drop.” The characters are trying to change their lives at the same time Los Angeles and the music industry around them are changing.
“The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FX and Hulu.