Everything You Need to Know About ‘Top Boy’

Image via Netflix

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.