Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jazmine Sullivan Co-Star On Essence’s Split-Cover Summer Issue

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jazmine Sullivan are stressing the importance of telling Black stories.

For Essence magazine’s split-cover summer issue, the Emmy-winning actor and Grammy-winning singer co-star on its two covers dedicated to the “Summer Screen Kings” and “ESSENCE Festival of Culture”, respectively.

Sullivan, who uses her platform in music as a way to tell Black women’s stories, chats with “Insecure” co-creator/writer/producer Issa Rae about joining the “ESSENCE Festival of Culture”.

“Before now, I had really just been concerned about expressing myself and getting my story out there—and people have connected to that,” Sullivan said. “But for this project, it was important for me to share the stories of the women I love and hold dear to my heart. I feel like they are just as banging and dynamic as me. And I want to give space and opportunity to women, period.”

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On making space for other Black women, Sullivan says, “I feel like we get caught up in thinking there’s ‘only one’ of us: There can only be one R&B superstar; there can only be one rap girl at a time. That’s not true. God was not stingy when He was giving out gifts. And you’re not the only person. There are many other women, especially Black women, who can do what you do. And let’s all create spaces for each other to get out there and do that.”

For Abdul-Mateen II, an impressive run on “Watchmen” and a starring role in the Oscar-nominated film “The Trial Of The Chicago 7″ have inspired him to get behind the camera.

“I wasn’t itching to be a star or anything like that. I wasn’t thinking about movies or television. I just started following my curiosity. I got here by staying curious, by staying humble, and also knowing that there’s so much more that I want to do… I think I’ve done a lot on other people’s terms,” he explained. “I’ve been able to step into projects that were already written before my name was attached, and I’m so thankful that I was able to step in and support those projects.”

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He added, “But now I’m at a place where I’m looking to come into rooms with my own ideas, and develop those ideas and tell my own stories. I think that’s the next chapter.”

Abdul-Mateen II teased what’s next, aside from an all-new role in “Matrix 4″.

“We need more romance… We have an adventure. We have action. We’ve got a lot of stories about trauma because trauma is very present in our world right now,” he said. “But we also need love. We need more straight-up, old-school romance. I don’t mind putting my hand up and stepping into that place to say, ‘I’ll be your man, girl.’ I don’t mind that at all…”

Read more from Abdul-Mateen II and Sullivan at Essence.com.