''Power Book III: Raising Kanan'', or simply ''Raising Kanan'' is an American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series created by Sascha Penn that premiered on July 18, 2021, on

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

. It is a standalone prequel and second spin-off to ''

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

''. The third season premiered on December 1, 2023. In November 2023, ahead of the third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on March 7, 2025. On March 27, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth and final season.

Premise

Set in the 1990s, ''Raising Kanan'' chronicles the early years of

Kanan Stark ''Power'' is an American crime drama-thriller television series created and produced by Courtney A. Kemp in collaboration with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. It aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014 to February 9, 2020. Upon release, ''Po ...

(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

, Raq's son *

Patina Miller Patina Renea Miller (born November 6, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Miller's breakout role was as originating the role of disco diva wannabe Deloris Van Cartier in the 2009 West End and 2011 Broadway productions of '' Sister Act'' fo ...

as Raquel "Raq" Thomas, Kanan's mother; one of two major drug lords of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

* London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Jukebox's father and Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Lou's older brother *

Malcolm Mays Malcolm Michael Mays (born February 14, 1990) is an American actor, musician, and filmmaker. At the age of seventeen, Mays co-directed and produced his own short film, aided by producer Todd Black, Gary Martin of Sony Pictures and others. Mays is ...

as Louis "Lou-Lou" Thomas, Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Marvin's younger brother *

Joey Bada$$ Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper and actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he formed the regional hip-hop group Pro Era in 2011, with whom he ...

as Kadeem "Unique" Mathis, Raq's rival drug lord and later love interest *

Shanley Caswell Shanley Caswell (born December 3, 1991) is an American actress. She has guest starred in television series such as '' CSI: NY'', ''Bones'', ''iCarly'' and '' The Middle''. She is best known for her starring roles in '' Detention'' (2011) as Ril ...

as Shannon Burke (seasons 1–2; guest season 3) *

Hailey Kilgore Hailey Frances Kilgore is an American actress and singer. Her breakthrough role was as Ti Moune in the Broadway revival of coming-of-age one-act stage musical '' Once on This Island'', a performance for which the 19-year-old was nominated for ...

as LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas, Kanan's cousin and Marvin's daughter * Toby Sandeman as Symphony Bosket, Raq's boyfriend (season 1; recurring season 2) * Lovie Simone as Davina Harrison, Kanan's girlfriend (season 1) *

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Epps's film roles include ''Juice (1992 film), Juice'', ''Higher Learning'', ''The Wood'', ''In Too Deep (1999 film), In Too Deep'', and ''Love & Basketball''. His ...

as Malcolm Howard, NYPD Detective and Kanan's biological father (seasons 1–3; guest season 4) * Antonio Ortiz as Shawn 'Famous' Figueroa, Kanan's best friend and aspiring rapper (seasons 2–3, recurring season 1) *

Grantham Coleman Grantham Coleman is an American actor. He studied drama at The Juilliard School, graduating in 2011. Career Stage Coleman made one of his first professional appearances on stage in 2012, playing Romeo in a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' at ...

as Ronnie Mathis, Unique's stoic and ruthless older brother, who was recently released from prison (season 3; guest season 4)

Recurring

AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord (born July 16, 1987) is an American actress. Known for playing vixen-type roles, she first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming List of Nip/Tuck characters, Eden Lord on ''Nip/Tuck'', and as the pampered Loren Wakefield on ...

as Toni Deep (seasons 1–2) * Natalee Linez as Jessica Figueroa, Famous' manager and sister and Lou's ex-girlfriend (seasons 1–2 & 4) * Ade Chike Torbert as Scrappy (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), one of Raq's most trusted soldiers * Annabelle Zasowski as Nicole Bingham, Jukebox's girlfriend (season 1) *

Quincy Brown Quincy Taylor Brown (born June 4, 1991) is an American actor, dancer, model and singer who performs under the show name Quincy. He released his lead vocal first song in 2012. He had a co-starring role on the television musical drama ''Star'' ...

as Crown Camacho (seasons 1–2), record label owner/producer of Bulletproof Records * John Clay III as Worrell (seasons 1–2), Unique's right-hand man * Terence Archie as Andre Barnes,The Thomas family's attorney (1-4) * Lebrodrick Benson as CJ *

Lawrence Gilliard Jr. Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (born September 22, 1971) is an American actor who has appeared in films, television series, and theatre. He portrayed D'Angelo Barksdale on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', a role which earned him critical acclaim. He is ...

as Azumadeen "Deen" Tippet (seasons 1–3), distributor of the drugs to Unique and Raq. *

Dorothi Fox Dorothi Fox (born January 8, 1930) is an American actress who has starred in television, film and on stage. Born in New York City, she started her career in African-American theatre before moving to the big screen in the 1970s appearing in blaxpl ...

as Deen's grandmother (seasons 1–3) *

LeToya Luckett LeToya Luckett-Coles (born March 11, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a mem ...

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) * Omar Dorsey as Cartier "Duns" Fareed (season 2) *

Krystal Joy Brown Krystal Joy Brown is an American actress. She made her Broadway debut playing various roles in the musical revival of ''Hair'' (2009). She has since played Ornella Sturdevant in the musical ''Leap of Faith'' (2012), Josephine Bloom in ''Big Fish ...

as Renée Timmons (season 2) * Danny Mastrogiorgio as Jimmy (season 2) *

Paulina Singer Paulina Singer aka Zuzusilk, is an American actress, singer, music producer, writer and dancer, known for her roles as Ziza on Season II of Power: Raising Kanan, as Jessie Tyler on Freeform's teen drama series '' Dead of Summer'', Pink in the m ...

as Zisa, Lou's new aspiring singer (season 2) *

Michael Rispoli Michael Rispoli (born November 27, 1960) is an American character actor. He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos,'' but was ultimately cast as Jackie Aprile Sr., Jackie Aprile, a recurring ch ...

as Sal Boselli, Mafia Don of NJ (seasons 2–3) * Paloma Guzman as Detective Regina Foyle *

KJ Smith Khaneshia Smith Black (née Smith) , (born 6 May 1985) known professionally as KJ Smith, is an American actress, known for her role as Andrea "Andi" Barnes in the comedy-drama, ''Sistas''. Early life Smith was born on 6 May 1985, in Tallahas ...

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 Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor and retired professional boxer. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983) and ''Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992 ...

as Stefano Marchetti (season 3–present; guest season 2) *

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor of stage and screen. He first Breakthrough role, gained recognition portraying ...

as Ishmael "Snaps" Henry (season 3–present) * Erika Woods as Stephanie 'Pop' Henry (season 3–present) * Liv Symone as Iesha (season 3; guest season 4) Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta * Aliyah Turner as Krystal (seasons 3–4), Kanan's latest lover and mother of his unborn child and Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta *

Lev Gorn Lev Gorn (; born 1971) is a Russian-born American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his role as KGB officer Arkady Ivanovich Zotov in ''The Americans''. Later, he had a recurring role as Mikhail Vassily Tal in '' The Enemy W ...

as Detective Arthur Ogden (season 3) * Sibongile Mlambo as Imani Okoye (season 4) *

Paul Ben-Victor Paul Ben-Victor (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Greek mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', Alan Gray in '' Entourage'' (2005–2008), and Ray in '' Body Parts'' (1991). Early lif ...

as Phil Russo (season 4)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Season 3 (2023–24)

Season 4 (2025)

Production

The series was first announced in February 2020. On July 12, 2021, Starz renewed the series for a second season ahead of its premiere. The second season premiered on August 14, 2022. On August 11, 2022, ahead of its second season premiere, Starz renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on December 1, 2023. On November 28, 2023, ahead of its third season premiere, Starz renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on March 7, 2025. On March 27, 2024, Starz renewed the series for a fifth season. In May 2025, the fifth season was confirmed to be its last.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.3/10, based on 6 critic reviews.

References

External links

* * {{Starz Shows 2020s American drama television series 2020s American black television series 2021 American television series debuts American television spinoffs American English-language television shows Starz original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Lionsgate Television Television series by G-Unit Films and Television Inc.