Biography - Issa Rae

Who is Issa Rae?

Issa Rae is an actress, writer, director, and producer by profession, and American by nationality. Since rising to fame with the YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl, she has starred in Insecure which earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations.

Issa Rae – Age, Parents, Siblings

Issa Rae’s birth took place on January 12, 1985, in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was born Jo-Issa Rae Diop to her Senegalese father Dr. Abdoulaye Diop, a pediatrician and neonatologist, and her African-American mother Delyna Diop, a teacher.

She is not the only child of her parents and has 4 siblings- brothers Amadou Diop, Malick Diop, Lamine 'Enimal' Diop, and sister Elize Diop.

Education, Ethnicity

For education, Issa Rae attended King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science where she started acting. She went on to study at Stanford University and graduated from the same with a Bachelor of Arts degree in African and African-American Studies.

Her ethnicity is multi-ethnic (Senegalese,  African-American).

Issa Rae – Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Divorce

After years of dating, Issa Rae got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Louis Diame, a businessman in March 2019. The couple is very private in their relationship and is yet to share details of their wedding. They married on July 25, 2021. She and her husband are in no rush to get pregnant and have children.

Currently, she does not have any children and as she has never been married, divorce is out of context.

Issa Rae – Career

Early Career

While a college student she made music videos, and wrote and directed plays. There she met Tracy Oliver,  who helped produce Awkward Black Girl as well as starred as Nina. The pair started taking Awkward Black Girl seriously after the web series took off in 2011.

The web series Awkward Black Girl which premiered on YouTube in 2011 went viral through blog posts, and social media resulting in mainstream media coverage and attention. After receiving $56,269 in donations, they went on to release the rest of the season. 

Issa Rae collaborated with singer, rapper, and songwriter Pharrell on his YouTube channel iamOTHER to premiere season two of Awkward Black Girl.

In 2013 Issa Rae worked with actor, writer, and comedian Larry Wilmore to create the comedy-drama TV series  Insecure, which was eventually picked up by HBO in early 2015 and released in 2016. The show has been running for three successful seasons.

Films, Series

In addition, she has worked with films The Hate U Give (2018), Hair Love (2019), The Photograph (2020), The Lovebirds (2020) and TV series True Friendship Society (2013), The Choir (2013-2015), BoJack Horseman (2018), A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019).

Others

Issa Rae’s memoir titled The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl was released in 2015. The book became a New York Times best-seller. 

Moreover, Rae has used her platform to raise awareness about police violence and brutality against Black Americans. She also helped raise $700,000 for the Sterling Family Trust after Alton Sterling was shot dead by the police.

Co-stars

On Insecure, Issa Rae starred alongside Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Amanda Seales, Natasha Rothwell, and Y'lan Noel.

Issa Rae – Awards, Nominations

For her work with Insecure, Issa Rae has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards (2017, 2018) and the Primetime Emmy Award (2018).

Issa Rae – Net worth, Salary

Her net worth is estimated at around $8 million while the figure on her annual salary has not been shared with the public.

Issa Rae – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media handles including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, Issa Rae is active with more than a million followers and counting. She also has an official website-  issarae.com and a YouTube channel with over 461k subscribers.