\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be like, \u2018Miami doesn\u2019t have those trees! Miami would never<\/em> have that curb!,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI think I was really annoying at a certain point. Not only do I care as a storyteller about getting it right, I love that city.\u201d<\/p>\n While sipping an almond macadamia latte outside a Downtown Los Angeles coffee shop, Singleton discussed the season\u2019s \u201call that glitters\u201d allegory. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.<\/p>\n If Season 1 was rooted in authentically representing Miami culture, what was the focus this time around?<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the things for the characters is that the [touring] environment really tests their sense of self \u2014 who they are, what they\u2019re willing to do, how far they want to go. You\u2019re close to the thing that you want, you can see it in front of you, but you\u2019re not quite there yet. It\u2019s watching how much they\u2019re willing to compromise for this goal, which I think is relevant for Shawna, Mia and Chastity. But Shawna, especially. We saw her start off as this person who was like, \u201cI don\u2019t even want people to look at me. It\u2019s only about the statement that I\u2019m making, and it\u2019s political and I want to rile people up and get them to pay attention to these issues.\u201d But with the desire to make it, now she\u2019s slowly letting that go and no longer standing up for that.<\/p>\n If you tell someone, \u201cI\u2019m going on tour,\u201d there\u2019s what that looks like on social media \u2014 how many likes you can get because people are now all of a sudden paying attention to you \u2014 then there\u2019s what that actually<\/em> looks like. Mia\u2019s stomach is growling. Shawna doesn\u2019t have tampons. That\u2019s what people don\u2019t see. The music industry is at a really interesting place right now because it really does feel like it\u2019s social-media driven, and you gotta fake it \u2019til you make it.<\/p>\n Did the touring narrative make this season more challenging to shoot?<\/strong><\/p>\n Season 1 was written before shooting; this time, there was overlap. Everything was happening at once and everything was happening here in Los Angeles. We\u2019re \u201con the road,\u201d but we recreated Portland and Oakland. I really felt like I was pulled in so many directions \u2014 scouting locations, going into the writers\u2019 room to work on Episode 6, then going back on set and shooting Episode 2. After last season I was like, \u201cI got this under my belt, I\u2019m gonna go into Season 2 so much more confident!\u201d But then the universe was like, \u201cOK, you accomplished that level, now do it in L.A., fake Miami, fake all of these different cities, do it all at once and do it in the freezing cold because it\u2019s January.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n