Issa Rae calls Music Business ‘the Worst Industry I Have Come Across,’ Riddled with ‘Crooks and Criminals’

Issa Rae, whose five-season run with HBO’s “Insecure” came to a close with a finale this weekend, has dipped more than a toe into the music business. She’s started her own record label, Raedio, and is producing a new show about aspiring rappers, using her existing career to help launch music ones. But rather than come off as thrilled about branching out into another industry, Rae is making it sound like she’s entered a den of vipers.

Asked if the music biz is “a place where good ideas flourish,” Rae answered: “Absolutely not. It’s probably the worst industry I’ve ever come across,” she told the Los Angeles Times’ Mikael Wood in a Q&A about her personal and professional experiences with music.

“I thought Hollywood was crazy,” Rae continued. “The music industry, it has to start all over again. There are lots of conflicts of interest. Archaic mentalities. Villains and criminals! It’s an addiction industry, and I really feel for artists who need to get into it. … It was something shocking” to discover, she said.

Read more in Variety.com.