Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Power Book III: Raising Kanan, or simply Raising Kanan is an American crime drama television series created by Sascha Penn that premiered on July 18, 2021 on Starz. It is a prequel and second spin-off to Power.

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. On March 27, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season.

Premise
Set in the 1990s, Raising Kanan chronicles the early years of Kanan Stark (the character first played by executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), as he gets into the drug game.

Main

 * Mekai Curtis as Kanan Stark, Raq's son
 * Patina Miller as Raquel "Raq" Thomas, Kanan's mother; one of two major drug lords of Queens
 * London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Jukebox's father and Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Lou's older brother
 * Malcolm Mays as Louis "Lou-Lou" Thomas, Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Marvin's younger brother
 * Joey Bada$ as Kadeem "Unique" Mathis, Raq's rival drug lord and later love interest
 * Shanley Caswell as Shannon Burke (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
 * Hailey Kilgore 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 as Malcolm Howard, NYPD Detective and Kanan's biological father (seasons 1–3)
 * Antonio Ortiz as Shawn 'Famous' Figueroa, Kanan's best friend and aspiring rapper (season 2–present, recurring season 1)
 * Grantham Coleman as Ronnie Mathis, Unique’s stoic and ruthless older brother, who was recently released from prison (season 3)

Recurring

 * AnnaLynne McCord as Toni Deep (seasons 1–2)
 * Natalee Linez as Jessica Figueroa, Famous' manager and sister and Lou's ex-girlfriend (seasons 1–2)
 * 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 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, Lou’s attorney
 * Lebrodrick Benson as CJ
 * Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Azumadeen "Deen" Tippet (seasons 1–3), distributor of the drugs to Unique and Raq.
 * LeToya Luckett 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 as Renée Timmons (season 2)
 * Danny Mastrogiorgio as Jimmy (season 2)
 * Paulina Singer as Zisa, Lou's new aspiring singer (season 2)
 * Michael Rispoli as Sal Boselli, Mafia Don of NJ (seasons 2–3)
 * Paloma Guzman as Detective Regina Foyle
 * KJ Smith 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 as Stefano Marchetti (season 3; guest season 2)
 * Wendell Pierce as Ishmael "Snaps" Henry (season 3)
 * Erika Woods as Stephanie 'Pop' Henry (season 3)
 * Liv Symone as Iesha (season 3) Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta
 * Aliyah Turner as Krystal (season 3), Kanan's latest lover and mother of his unborn child and Jukebox's former bandmate in the group Butta
 * Sibongile Mlambo as Imani Okoye (season 4)
 * Paul Ben-Victor as Phil Russo (season 4)

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. On March 27, 2024, Starz renewed the series for a fifth season.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.3/10, based on 6 critic reviews.