Even though Janine and Gregory have a will-they/won’t-they situation going on, Janine does have a boyfriend. She’s been in a long-term relationship, in fact, with an amateur rapper named Tariq, played on the show by Zack Fox. Janine’s colleagues discover that Tariq is the only man Janine has ever been in love with, leading to much teasing, but also leading her to question the relationship. Tariq talks a big game about his rap career, but he lacks the same initiative Janine has. Fox evidently agrees with the other characters’ impression of his, tweeting simply, “tariq a dumba** lol.”
Fox is a comedian and rapper in real life, too, having released singles like “Stick!” and “Fafo,” which he discussed for Genius. He joked that a video he was sent of SZA dancing to his song is the real reason why he makes music. “It’s not for the accolades, not for the Grammys,” he mused. “It’s for a**. Because you know, you think about critical acclaim… that s*** don’t twerk.”
Fox first rose to fame thanks to his viral twitter account, @bootymath, where he tweeted random, quippy thoughts to a sizable audience. “I’m just trying to make cool s*** for people to look at and make people laugh,” he told Creative Loafing.
