With the recent successes of Black Panther, Sorry to Bother You and Blindspotting, Oakland is having its Hollywood moment. And now, Nick Cannon, the actor and host of MTV’s Wild ‘N Out, has his sights set on putting the Bay Area on the silver screen. He recently told TMZ that he’s working on a crime drama called The Yay Area that he describes as “The Sopranos-meets-The Wire.”
“When you think about the culture of Northern California, it’s never been expressed from our voice,” he tells TMZ. “When everything has so much richness, from the Black Panther Party movement to the culture of hip-hop with E-40 and Too Short—and then really, when you think about Silicon Valley, when you think about everything that goes on from the drug trade to biker gangs to how all the different cultures that come together—is something I have yet to see on television.”
Still unsure what the show will be about? Us too. But it reportedly starts filming this fall.
Cannon says he’s partnering with E-40 and Too Short to give the show an authentic feel. We’ve reached out to Cannon and E-40’s reps for comment and will update when we hear back.
