Drake reviving British series Top Boy for Netflix

The Top Boy revival is finally happening for Drake. The rapper is set to bring back the British drama as a Netflix original series, as revealed Wednesday in the latest cover story from The Hollywood Reporter.

Top Boy, which ended in 2013 after two seasons on Channel 4 in the U.K., starred Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson as Dushane and Sully, two drug dealers in east London. The actors will reprise their roles for the new 10-part third season as Dushane returns from exile to reclaim his throne and Sully gets out of prison. Waiting for them is Jamie, a young and ruthless new dealer.

The first two seasons are currently available to stream on Netflix.

Drizzy is set to executive-produce the new Top Boy for a 2019 premiere with Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, and series creator Ronan Bennett, who is also penning the script. Drake posted an image of the gang together on social media, writing, “The team made it happen.”

Speaking with THR, Drake, who’s been trying to make this project happen for a few years, noted how the “human element” of the original show drew him in. “I started just looking them up. Like, who are these people?” he said. “Are these actors I should know? Are they just famous over there?”

Walters revealed during an interview in 2015 with Not for the Radio that Drake offered to fund a third season.

“Eventually [Drake and Future] got in contact and asked, ‘What’s happening with series 3?’” he said. “I told them Channel 4 had canceled it. They said, ‘That’s sad, but we’re going to do something about it.’ Furthermore Drake was like, ‘You need to break America.’ He wanted to help.”

“We were going into meetings,” Walters added. “Top Boy is the sort of brand we knew would sell to Netflix, Amazon. The numbers speak for themselves. So we had that power and the production company still owned the rights, and Drake made an offer and they turned it down. I don’t know what is going on with it, but I heard they are talking about a Top Boy Chicago.”

Walters brought up the possibility of a continuation in various interviews, including one with The Mirror, and Drake posted an image from the series in 2016. “Top Boy will rise again,” he wrote.

Later that year, rapper Skepta revealed in a chat on Beats 1 radio (via The Fader) that he’s been speaking “on the creative direction wave with Drake about the series.”

Now, it’s finally becoming a reality.