Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Sascha Penn
Based on	Power created by Courtney A. Kemp
Starring	Mekai Curtis Patina Miller London Brown Malcolm Mays Joey Bada$$ Shanley Caswell Hailey Kilgore Toby Sandeman Lovie Simone Omar Epps Antonio Ortiz Grantham Coleman
Narrated by	50 Cent
Opening theme	"Part of the Game" by 50 Cent and NLE Choppa
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	31
Production
Executive producers	Courtney A. Kemp 50 Cent Sasha Penn Rob Hardy Kevin Fox Danielle De Jesus Chris Salek Mark Canton Shana Stein Bart Wenrich
Producers	Anita Gibson Frank L. Fleming Dorothy Canton Tim Christenson David Prace
Running time	50–60 minutes
Production companies	Ballpoint Productions End of Episode, Inc. G-Unit Film & Television Inc. Atmosphere Television CBS Studios Lionsgate Television
Original release
Network	Starz
Release	July 18, 2021 (2021-7-18) – present
Related
Power Power Book II: Ghost Power Book IV: Force

Power Book III: Raising Kanan, or simply Raising Kanan is an American crime drama television series created by Sascha Penn that premiered on July 18, 2021, on Starz. ^[1] It is a standalone prequel and second spin-off to Power .

The third season premiered on December 1, 2023. ^[2] In November 2023, ahead of the third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on March 7, 2025. ^{[3] [4]} On March 27, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season. ^[5]

Premise

Set in the 1990s, Raising Kanan chronicles the early years of Kanan Stark (the character first played by executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), as he gets into the drug game as he helps his mom's growing drug business.

Cast and characters

Main

• Mekai Curtis as Kanan Stark, Raq's son ^[6]
• Patina Miller as Raquel "Raq" Thomas, Kanan's mother; one of two major drug lords of Queens ^[7]
• London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Jukebox's father and Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Lou's older brother ^[8]
• Malcolm Mays as Louis "Lou-Lou" Thomas, Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Marvin's younger brother ^[8]
• Joey Bada$$ as Kadeem "Unique" Mathis, Raq's rival drug lord and later love interest
• Shanley Caswell as Shannon Burke (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Hailey Kilgore as LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas, Kanan's cousin and Marvin's daughter ^[9]
• Toby Sandeman as Symphony Bosket, Raq's boyfriend (season 1; recurring season 2) ^[8]
• Lovie Simone as Davina Harrison, Kanan's girlfriend (season 1) ^[10]
• Omar Epps as Malcolm Howard, NYPD Detective and Kanan's biological father ^[11] (seasons 1–3; guest season 4)
• Antonio Ortiz as Shawn 'Famous' Figueroa, Kanan's best friend and aspiring rapper (season 2–present, recurring season 1)
• Grantham Coleman as Ronnie Mathis, Unique's stoic and ruthless older brother, who was recently released from prison (season 3) ^[12]

Recurring

• AnnaLynne McCord as Toni Deep (seasons 1–2)
• Natalee Linez as Jessica Figueroa, Famous' manager and sister and Lou's ex-girlfriend (seasons 1–2; guest season 4) ^[13]
• Ade Chike Torbert as Scrappy (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), one of Raq's most trusted soldiers ^[14]
• Annabelle Zasowski as Nicole Bingham, Jukebox's girlfriend (season 1) ^[13]
• Quincy Brown as Crown Camacho (seasons 1–2), record label owner/producer of Bulletproof Records ^[15]
• John Clay III as Worrell (seasons 1–2), Unique's right-hand man
• Terence Archie as Andre Barnes, Lou's attorney
• Lebrodrick Benson as CJ
• Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Azumadeen "Deen" Tippet (seasons 1–3), distributor of the drugs to Unique and Raq. ^[16]
• Dorothi Fox as Deen's grandmother (seasons 1–3) ^[17]
• LeToya Luckett as Kenya Pierce, Jukebox's mother and Marvin's ex who left the family to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles (season 2) ^[18]
• Omar Dorsey as Cartier "Duns" Fareed (season 2) ^[18]
• Krystal Joy Brown as Renée Timmons (season 2) ^[18]
• Danny Mastrogiorgio as Jimmy (season 2)
• Paulina Singer as Zisa, Lou's new aspiring singer (season 2) ^[18]
• Michael Rispoli as Sal Boselli, Mafia Don of NJ (seasons 2–3) ^[19]
• Paloma Guzman as Detective Regina Foyle ^[19]
• KJ Smith as Palomar, Corinne's mother & Kanan's ex-lover (season 2)
• Josephine Lawrence as Corinne, Palomar's daughter & Kanan's love interest (season 2)
• Chyna Layne as Andrea, Howard's ex-lover (season 2)
• Tony Danza as Stefano Marchetti (season 3; guest season 2) ^[20]
• Wendell Pierce as Ishmael "Snaps" Henry (season 3) ^[21]
• Erika Woods as Stephanie 'Pop' Henry (season 3) ^[21]
• Liv Symone as Iesha (season 3) Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta ^[22]
• Aliyah Turner as Krystal (season 3), Kanan's latest lover and mother of his unborn child and Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta
• Lev Gorn as Detective Arthur Ogden (season 3)
• Sibongile Mlambo as Imani Okoye (season 4) ^[23]
• Paul Ben-Victor as Phil Russo (season 4) ^[23]

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	10		July 18, 2021 (2021-7-18)	September 26, 2021 (2021-9-26)
2	10		August 14, 2022 (2022-8-14)	October 23, 2022 (2022-10-23)
3	10		December 1, 2023 (2023-12-1)	February 9, 2024 (2024-2-9)
4	TBA		March 7, 2025 (2025-3-7)	TBA

Season 1 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
1	1	"Back in the Day"	Rob Hardy	Sascha Penn	July 18, 2021 (2021-7-18)	0.438 [24]
2	2	"Reaping and Sowing"	Mario Van Peebles	Bashir Gavriel & Sascha Penn	July 25, 2021 (2021-7-25)	0.392 [25]
3	3	"Stick and Move"	Lisa Leone	Josef Sawyer	August 1, 2021 (2021-8-1)	0.307 [26]
4	4	"Don't Sleep"	Hernan Otaño	Santa Sierra	August 8, 2021 (2021-8-8)	0.378 [27]
5	5	"Choose Your Battles"	Eif Rivera	Mike Flynn	August 15, 2021 (2021-8-15)	0.386 [28]
6	6	"Level Up"	Kieron Hawkes	Dylan C. Brown	August 29, 2021 (2021-8-29)	0.348 [29]
7	7	"Stay in Your Lane"	Lisa Leone	Nina Manni	September 5, 2021 (2021-9-5)	0.270 [30]
8	8	"The Cost of Business"	Hernan Otaño	Tash Gray	September 12, 2021 (2021-9-12)	0.418 [31]
9	9	"Loyal to the End"	Bart Wenrich	Matt K. Turner	September 19, 2021 (2021-9-19)	0.486 [32]
10	10	"Paid in Full"	Rob Hardy	Kevin Fox	September 26, 2021 (2021-9-26)	0.458 [33]

Season 2 (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
11	1	"The More Things Change"	Mario Van Peebles	Sascha Penn	August 14, 2022 (2022-8-14)	0.345 [34]
12	2	"Mind Your Business"	Eif Rivera	Santa Sierra	August 21, 2022 (2022-8-21)	0.269 [35]
13	3	"Sleeping Dogs"	Shana Stein	Nina Manni	August 28, 2022 (2022-8-28)	0.232 [36]
14	4	"Pay the Toll"	Monty DeGraff	Dylan C. Brown	September 4, 2022 (2022-9-4)	0.211 [37]
15	5	"What Happens in the Catskills"	Hernán Otaño	Tash Gray	September 11, 2022 (2022-9-11)	0.206 [38]
16	6	"It's a Business, Man"	Bart Wenrich	Mike Flynn	September 18, 2022 (2022-9-18)	0.213 [39]
17	7	"No Love Lost"	Joy T. Lane	Josef Sawyer	October 2, 2022 (2022-10-2)	0.220 [40]
18	8	"A House Is Not a Home"	Stacey Muhammad & Monty DeGraff	Matt K. Turner	October 9, 2022 (2022-10-9)	0.235 [41]
19	9	"Anti-Trust"	Erica Watson	Kevin Fox	October 16, 2022 (2022-10-16)	0.210 [42]
20	10	"If Y'Dont Know, Now Y'Know"	Rob Hardy	Sascha Penn & Naja Rayne	October 23, 2022 (2022-10-23)	0.273 [43]

Season 3 (2023–24)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
21	1	"Home Sweet Home"	Rob Hardy	Sascha Penn	December 1, 2023 (2023-12-1)	0.199 [44]
22	2	"Flipmode"	Brendan Walsh	Dylan C. Brown	December 8, 2023 (2023-12-8)	0.190 [44]
23	3	"Open for Business"	Bobby Kennedy	Michael M. Chang	December 15, 2023 (2023-12-15)	0.215 [44]
24	4	"In Sheep's Clothing"	Monty DeGraff	Santa Sierra	December 22, 2023 (2023-12-22)	0.233 [44]
25	5	"Brothers and Keepers"	Joy T. Lane	Naja Rayne	December 29, 2023 (2023-12-29)	0.236 [44]
26	6	"Into the Darkness"	Cierra 'Shooter' Glaude	Nina Manni	January 12, 2024 (2024-1-12)	0.217 [44]
27	7	"Where All Are Guilty"	Sascha Penn	Brian Walker	January 19, 2024 (2024-1-19)	0.256 [44]
28	8	"Reckonings"	Dawn Wilkinson, Monty DeGraff & Sascha Penn	Tash Gray	January 26, 2024 (2024-1-26)	0.202 [44]
29	9	"Home to Roost"	Monty DeGraff	Kevin Fox	February 2, 2024 (2024-2-02)	0.321 [44]
30	10	"Made You Look"	Eif Rivera	Sascha Penn & Albert Minnis	February 9, 2024 (2024-2-09)	0.239 [44]

Season 4 (2025)

No. overall	No. in season	Title  [45]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date  [46]	US viewers (millions)
31	1	"Gangstas Don't Die"	Mario Van Peebles	Sascha Penn & Albert Minnis	March 7, 2025 (2025-3-7)	TBD

Production

The series was first announced in February 2020. ^[47] On July 12, 2021, Starz renewed the series for a second season ahead of its premiere. ^[48] The second season premiered on August 14, 2022. ^[49] On August 11, 2022, ahead of its second season premiere, Starz renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on December 1, 2023. ^[50] On November 28, 2023, ahead of its third season premiere, Starz renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on March 7, 2025. ^{[3] [51]} On March 27, 2024, Starz renewed the series for a fifth season. ^[52]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.3/10, based on 6 critic reviews. ^[53]

References

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External links

• Official website
• Power Book III: Raising Kanan at IMDb