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Introducing Kym, the new scripted comedy series that follows the character of Kym Wilson: a single, middle-aged, stand-up comedian and actress who battles the reality of trying to maintain a career in entertainment, while raising a son at the same time. And just when life hits the fan, suddenly an old romance creeps back into her life. Which begs the question, can Kym hold everything together?

Kym is an audible-only series, boasting an all-star roster of talent including Sherri Shepherd, David A. Arnold, Jess Hilarious, Jenifer Lewis, Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo, with original music composed by the legendary Wyclef Jean. 

Sheen had the pleasure of speaking with Kym and Lena Waithe, the latter of whom is best known for her director roles in Queen & Slim and The Chi. 

Talk about the process in creating an audible series, versus visual. What were the challenges or perks?

Kym: I mean, this the legend maker. I got in trouble all the time. [laughs] 

Lena: It’s tricky because I do think I lean on what you can see a lot because that’s what I’m used to doing. But this one, we had to make sure that there were certain sounds and certain things and really make sure the dialogue was really flowy so that way people could flow along with it and not get bored. So far, so good. 

KYM: That is true, because Lena would come in and direct and say “no Kym, just say the line.” I’m like no, I gotta punch it! It’s audio. “No Kym, just say the line.” So I had to lean on her to understand that it’s for the ear. It’s not visual. 

Wyclef Jean is such a legend, why was he the perfect guy to compose the music?

LENA: Because he’s a friend. He likes to call himself my Haitian Quincy Jones. He also scores The Chi. We met before when I did his podcast. He did this thing where he took a scene from Queen & Slim and scored it himself. That was his way of sort of telling me, he said, “I really want to get into this.” Iit was really cool. 

Obviously, I love everything about Queen & Slim and the way it is, but it was a really cool interpretation for him to play with. So I said “do you want to score The Chi?” We needed a new composer anyway. He’s like, “yeah, let’s do it.” When this opportunity came about and we needed someone to score, I asked Wyclef to do it. He jumped in and killed it like he does everything else. 

Kym: Yeah he killed it. When Lena told me Wyclef, I really couldn’t believe it. I’m like, “No! You’re kidding?!” Then the choices that he made, I would never have thought, but it was perfect. The music is perfect in and out of the scenes, just perfect perfect perfect.