Hey, yeah it's funny - I always struggle to explain why it's so watchable but it became my #1 TV priority in the second season. Season 2 is amazing, really. I think I was paying more attention by ep 4 of S1, and up until then it was like you say: an above-average show.

The tone of it (three guys trying to live true by themselves while surrounded by pressure to conform/sell out and variably surreal/banal situations) is just kind of unique, one of those shows where you start to realise it's scratching an itch you didn't know you had until you started watching. I really feel for Earn, Paper Boi and Darius (and Van, too) - all of them just want to do their thing and get by. Somehow it's Darius that seems to make it work consistently haha!

And FWIW I'm a white guy from small-town England, so you don't need to be a black American to get it, or whatever. I may miss some of the relateable moments for that demographic but I still love the show.