ATLANTA — Just weeks after winning three Grammy awards, Atlanta’s own Michael Render – a.k.a. Killer Mike -- visited the Channel 2 Action News studios on Thursday for His first local interview since his big night.
The Grammy award-winning artist and entrepreneur sat down with Channel 2′s Karyn Greer to talk Grammys, politics and his new business ventures in Atlanta.
Killer Mike is Atlanta through and through. The Frederick Douglass High School grad told Greer that he attended Morehouse College but left to pursue his musical career -- perhaps the one regret in this thing he calls life.
Just three weeks after sweeping the rap category of the 2024 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Render said the day is still very special, one he will never forget.
“Everyone said the same thing, ‘It feels like we won.’ And I said, ‘Cause we did,’” Render said.
And after he accepted that last award for best rap album, the night took a quick turn from jubilation to mass confusion backstage.
“Enthusiastic winners, overzealous security, and just a hodgepodge of a mess. That soon passed and everything’s good. I got a chance to just sit there and be thankful and thank God for the opportunity,” Render said.
RELATED STORIES:
- Rapper Killer Mike to perform at halftime of Hawks’ MLK Day game
- Killer Mike, T.I. get loan to boost job opportunities near reopened historic restaurant
- Atlanta rappers Killer Mike, T.I., move forward with plans to revive historic Bankhead Seafood
Killer Mike said his Grammy weekend did not end there. He received news the next morning that would change his family’s life. His son, who had been on dialysis for three years, finally had some good news.
“The next morning, I got a call at like 7:20-something in the morning, and it was Pony Boy, my youngest son, and his mother saying, ‘You guys gotta get back to Atlanta, now.’ I said, ‘What’s going on?’ She’s like, ‘We just got the call. He has a kidney waiting for him.’”
Render told Greer that Pony Boy is now doing great.
The now-four-time Grammy award winner, entrepreneur, and political activist said his humble beginnings growing up in Atlanta’s Collier Heights made him the confident and successful man he is today.
“The next thing that’s rolling out is Bankhead Seafood,” Render said.
As for any political aspirations for Killer Mike:
“If I can work with people on both sides of the aisles and make sure the kids have an opportunity to better developed through education, through nutrition, through housing, (I will),” Render said.
Render said he wants to complete his education and get his degree from Morehouse College. And while we don’t know yet what form his run for political office is just yet, he told Greer that it’ll be at least 10 years before that happens because he has too much music he wants to complete.
RELATED NEWS:
This browser does not support the video element.