Killer Mike Sets The Stage

Atlanta rapper Killer Mike – committed socialist, aspiring politician, advisor to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and, of course, half of Run the Jewels – is working up a proposed new reality series for Netflix. The concept for The Stage, as it’s currently called, is basically Making the Band fouled up with the bluntness of modern rap culture and the divisions exacerbated by Black Lives Matter and other antagonistic identity groups. The pilot, which has been filming primarily at Stankonia Studios in recent weeks, has Mike (Michael Render) corralling a predictably “diverse” batch of aspiring musicians, rappers and songwriters from various races, sexes and political points of view as they butt heads while attempting to write and record a collaborative original song. The gang will be performing whatever they’ve cooked up during a brief opening set during the sold out Run the Jewels show at the Georgia Theatre in Athens on Feb. 8th, and also film a music video for their “We Are the World”-esque concoction at some point.