When Emmanuel Ikubese first saw the show MTV Shuga, he was a university student and an aspiring actor. Like many fans, he was hooked. There's a lot to like about the show: There's future Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o in her breakout role, playing a go-getter juggling school, work and multiple lovers. There's drama, intrigue and, in the first two seasons set in Nairobi, glimpses of a vibrant nightlife: banging beats, fly fashion and sexy dancing. But for Ikubese, there was something else. "I was watching it and I was like, 'Man, this show is so deep,'" he says. The show portrays several characters coping with the AIDS epidemic. "I don't know why, but I had never been tested at that point," Ikubese says. "It's just something nobody talked about." So he got tested (results were negative) and encouraged his friends to, as well.

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