Power started as a crime thriller about the struggles of James "Ghost" St. Patrick, a ruthless drug dealer who wants to start a legitimate business by starting a club. The show's overwhelming success over its six-season run has spawned various spin-offs, including Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force. The third series is a prequel to the original Power and shows the rise to power of Kanan Stark (50 Cent in the original Power) and the events that led to Ghost's rise to power.

The prequel shows Kanan (played by Mekai Curtis) amid the drug business of the 1990s, delving into themes of crime, social inequality, and an empathetic underdog story. While Kanan's fate was not in peril, since he appeared in the later original series, still had plenty of surprising twists and turns, making it a must-watch television series. Such recurring sentiments would propel fans toward several more dramas that humanize their protagonists more instead of just glamorizing their exploits.

10 Better Call Saul (2015–22)

The Prequel To Breaking Bad

Saul Goodman was one of the best characters of Breaking Bad, so the lawyer got his spin-off prequel series. Garnering positive reviews from critics and dedicated fans of the original show, the legal thriller deals with an ex-con who acquires a new identity as a small-time attorney embroiled in all sorts of criminal and personal journeys. The character transitions it shows and how it eventually connects with Breaking Bad make Better Call Saul a benchmark for TV prequels, especially in the crime genre.

Better Call Saul has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hence, fans of a prequel like Raising Kanan should watch this show, which some consider the gold standard of modern television. In both cases, the best part of the series is seeing how what is happening on Better Call Saul better explains relationships and events that happened on Breaking Bad, giving new meaning to those moments. The same thing happened with Kanan in Raising Kanan and how these events played into his eventual downfall in the original Power series.

9 Snowfall (2017–present)

A TV Show About Los Angeles's First Crack Epidemic

As the city of Los Angeles gets embroiled in a massive crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s, a family decides to cash in on the crisis. It is well-established in history now that corrupt authority figures played a considerable role in peddling the drugs, especially in Black-dominated neighborhoods. The narrative incorporates this angle as a CIA operative s the crime family's business.

For all the emotional drama it shows in a drug-addicted decade, Snowfall serves as a worthy prequel to Raising Kanan, which itself deals with the aftereffects of the drug epidemic in the 1990s. It is also a very similar story. In Snowfall, Franklin Saint begins working as a drug dealer, with his main goal being to protect his neighborhood from a city that doesn't care about them. Kanan's story is very similar, and in both cases, the men saw people against them every step of the way.

8 Dopesick (2021)

A Series Focusing On The Real-Life Opioid Epidemic

Dopesick is a quintessential miniseries when it comes to understanding the opioid epidemic and how big pharmaceutical companies in America have furthered it. The Hulu original TV show also covers the adverse negative impact these so-called "legal drugs" can have on the general population. With Michael Keaton in the lead role, it is horrifying to see how a corporation can destroy families and entire communities and have the legal means to shield itself from the fallout.

In Raising Kanan, viewers see a young and hopeless teenager make his money and find his identity in the world of illegal drugs. But ultimately, he is a part of a morally and financially corrupt system that includes drugs pushed by companies like Dopesick's Purdue Pharma. In this sense, the Michael Keaton-starrer makes for an increasingly relevant watch, although in Kanan's case, he had to play things much closer to the vest to survive in this world compared to CEOs and Big Pharma owners.

7 Top Boy (2011–present)

A 20-Year-Old Wants To Be The New 'Top Boy'

Set in the housing estates of East London, Top Boy blends socio-political drama, crime thriller themes, and some deadpan sarcasm to tell the tale of a 20-year-old drug dealer who wishes to be the "top boy" of his neighborhood. Another parallel story deals with a gifted teenager from the same region who must grow up on his own as he comes from a troubled household. In more ways than one, Top Boy's protagonists are reminiscent of the everyday hustle of a character like Kanan.

That also seems parallel to Kanan, as all he wanted to do was to be a legitimate business owner, but he kept finding the drug business pulling him back in.

Audiences get a glimpse of the dangers that plague them, along with an occasional hint of hope as they ultimately try to pursue a normal life. That also seems parallel to Kanan, as all he wanted to do was to be a legitimate business owner, but he kept finding the drug business pulling him back in. Once Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson) set their eyes on the drug dealing and gang hips, there was also no turning back for them.

6 Godfather Of Harlem (2019–present)

The Story Of Real-Life Crime Boss Bumpy Johnson

Based on the life of the crime boss Bumpy Johnson, Godfather of Harlem, set in the 1960s, provides for one of Forest Whitaker's best performances as he owns the role with an intimidating charm. As he clashes against the Genovese crime family after serving a 10-year prison sentence, the mob war can tear the whole city apart. And if this weren’t enough, Johnson also had close ties with rising political leader Malcolm X, intensifying the drama.

Raising Kanan attempts to be a criminal origin story that doesn’t glamorize the life of violence and drugs that the protagonist is forced to choose. In this sense, Bumpy Johnson’s morally ambiguous journey would provide for fascinating conversation and must be watched by fans of Power. In both, Kanan and Bumpy are older drug dealers, now living a different life than the one they rose in, and their past will never truly allow them any peace as they are too ingrained in the criminal lifestyle.

5 How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (2019–present)

A Young Man Becomes A Successful Internet Drug Dealer

The title itself is enough to draw in audiences for a good, fast-paced binge. The German-language Netflix comedy series starts off with a high school outcast impressing his former girlfriend by selling drugs (ecstasy) on the internet. This eventually turns into a profitable venture for him to the point that he becomes one of Europe's biggest drug dealers. However, when he reaches this high level of success, he learns there are consequences to large-scale drug trafficking.

The mix of dark comedy and coming-of-age tropes in How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) would make it a lighthearted segue from other drug-centric shows that often deal with heavier themes. While Power Book III: Rise of Kanan is a very dark and dangerous drama series, the two shows share a sense of showing the dangers of drug dealing but from very different points of view. The person whose story this was based on was sentenced to seven years in prison in real life.

4 BMF (2021–present)

Two Brothers Rise To Become Big-Time Drug Dealers

BMF (aka Black Mafia Family) is the tale of two brothers as they rise from nothing to start an elaborate drug and money-laundering organization that spans across several territories in America. Apart from covering the BMF’s rise to power (a real-life collective on whose history the show is loosely inspired by), the show also covers the social and financial crisis in the streets of Detroit in the 1980s.

Much like Raising Kanan and the other shows in the Power franchise, BMF highlights the essence of what it calls “thug capitalism” as a means to get closer to the American Dream. Another reason for fans of Raising Kanan to check it out is that 50 Cent also serves as executive producer. There have been three seasons so far, with a fourth on the way, and while it is not as well known as Power, it remains a critically acclaimed series about drugs and their place in communities.

3 We Own This City (2022)

A Spiritual Successor To The Wire

A spiritual successor to We Own This City yet again sets the action in Baltimore, a city that still continues to be haunted by institutional crime and the drug trade. Incorporating several parallel perspectives of different characters within the justice system, the miniseries weaves a complicated story of morality and crime. This series doesn't focus on the criminals as much as it does on the downfall of the police department's Gun Trace Task Force.

Shows like Raising Kanan and We Own This City are very different in of their plot, but with enough heavy-minded themes, both shows succeed at presenting how seemingly innocent people get transformed by the systems in which they are forced to exist, for better or for worse. The shows both live in areas where corruption runs rampant, even through the law enforcement agencies themselves, and it seems the innocents on the streets are the ones who pay the highest price.

2 Animal Kingdom (2016–22)

A Young Man Is Sucked Into The Family Business

After his mother dies, a 17-year-old named J starts living with his grandmother (Smurf), only to discover that she is the matriarch of a criminal clan, which includes his cousins as the main . As J ambitiously climbs up the family ladder, a struggle for loyalty and power commences and the family has to figure out who they can trust and who they will follow when other criminal organizations and the police start to disrupt their business operations.

The family dynamics and emphasis on loyalty and brotherhood in the Australian series is what would instantly draw fans of Raising Kanan. Even though these are clichéd elements in the pantheon of crime dramas, Animal Kingdom reinvents them pretty well with some dark humor and good old family drama. Both shows have people rising the ranks of the criminal organization, and both show that family is among the things that no one should trust when power and money are on the line.

1 Narcos (2015–17)

The Story Of Pablo Escobar

When it comes to shows on the history of the drug trade, Narcos is an easy recommendation. Delving deep into the illegal drug trade in Colombia, the show charts the rise of infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and his interactions with his trade rivals and Drug Enforcement istration agents. Wagner Moura stars as Pablo Escobar while Pedro Pascal stars as the DEA agent given the task of bringing down Escobar and, later, the Cali Cartel on Narcos.

Narcos might not have its share of likable characters, but for the sheer knowledge that it provides, it demands a viewing.

Of course, Raising Kanan’s characters have their reasons for capitalizing on drugs, but they evoke a certain level of empathy. Narcos might not have its share of likable characters, but for the sheer knowledge that it provides, it demands a viewing. Since it is based on a real-life and deadly crime lord, it has a little more levity, and Narcos does a good job of setting up his downfall, which makes it a nice counterpoint to watching a show where the bad guy is the central character in Kanan.