Issa Rae Shares Story Behind “I’m Rooting for Everybody Black” Meme

Rae also makes it clear that she’s not too fond of being labeled as “insecure” despite being the main character of her brainchild Insecure.

Issa Rae has always had a thing for hip-hop, she mainly expresses her obsession with Drake in her writing on HBO’s Insecure. In a new video interview with Genius, she shares a few moments in recent rap songs where she’s either directly referenced in lyrics or mentioned via a euphemism.

One line in particular highlights a moment during a red carpet interview at the 2017 Emmys when Rae shared the viral quote that turned into a meme: “I’m rooting for everybody black.” On the track “Sue Me” by Wale, he raps “Sue me I’m rootin’ for everybody that’s black. That’s everybody from sports to college class to rap.”

When speaking on the viral moment, Rae reminisced by sharing “I mean I made it a headline, he made it a hot song, thank you, Wale, this is amazing.” She also said she was basically forced to go to the Emmys that year.

She went on to say:

“Me being on the red carpet [was like] ‘what question you got? Ok cool. In short, I had no idea that a quick red carpet interview I did would have the impact that it’s had and I’m being honest, I’m glad that I went that day.”

During another point of the clip, Issa mentioned that Chinese websites were making T-shirts with quotes that shared “I’m rooting for everybody black.” She then hilariously went into detail and said that people she knew were actually buying the shirts.

Another highlight of the video included Rae mentioning that she thinks her role on HBO’s Insecure has inspired rappers to label her as insecure, which she finds a bit annoying. She hopes that roles like her new character Mae in The Photograph will inspire new lyrics. “I started noticing a common theme, and I was like oh, I fucked up,” Rae said. “At this point, I’m only doing new projects so I don’t get name-checked as insecure.”

Watch Issa’s entire Genius interview below.