'Atlanta' Star Brian Tyree Henry on Paper Boi's Journey

The FX series Atlanta is labeled a comedy, but that’s a simplification. The show is actually undefinable—an indelible and engagingly weird universe that seemed to emerge fully formed from the minds of co-creators (and brothers) Donald and Stephen Glover. Its tone— laid-back and dry-witted, with occasional helpings of Lynchian eccentricity (like, for example, an invisible car)—manages to evoke both a physical place and a state of mind. Mostly, though, Atlanta is about black writers and actors telling their story their way.

Season 2 premieres on Thursday, and the main characters—aspiring rap manager Earn Marks (Donald Glover); his cousin, rising rapper and drug dealer Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles (Brian Tyree Henry); and Paper Boi’s odd roommate, Darius (Lakeith Stanfield)—continue to navigate Atlanta, a city where violence erupts quickly, the gap between rich and poor seems to widen daily and “lemon pepper wet” wings are the balm.

The cast took a yearlong break between seasons (the first