Mike Stud Takes Fans Behind The Scenes in New TV Show

by Jacquari Harris
| June 9, 2016 10:07 pm CDT

Mike Stud / JMG Magazine

Mike Stud & Friends

With social media being a worldwide platform where people can share, like and offer their opinions on the next best thing, videos can become viral for a variety of reasons. There’s James Wright, who channeled his inner Patti Labelle after tasting the legendary singer’s sweet potato pie. Then there was Susan Boyle from Britain’s Got Talent who mesmerized the world with her vocal talent. And then there was a “stud” who piqued the interest of college kids everywhere when he released his debut anthem “College Humor.”

Former Duke baseball player turned rapper Mike Stud became a dorm room/internet sensation while in college when he released “College Humor” in 2010. The song was accompanied by a YouTube music video that captured Mike’s vision of his life in college with parties, girls and Mike just being Mike.  He followed “College Humor” with a string of hip-hop tracks that, to date, have reached 60 million views on YouTube and three No. 1 hip-hop albums on iTunes.

With his audience growing, touring and tenacity for video views, Mike landed a deal with the Esquire Network that airs this month on June 21. This Is Mike Stud is an eight-episode docu-series that follows Stud and his friends on a journey to become superstars, including all of the fun, debauchery and hard work it takes to get there.

mikestudpromoMike recently spoke with me about the show and what led to its creation.

JMG: I know you turned to music after suffering an injury that kept you sidelined while you were playing baseball. What was it about hip-hop that made you want to become an artist?
Mike Stud: To be honest, that’s all I listened to. I was just kinda the guy that would always freestyle with the team on the bus or at parties. I was pretty good at it. I like to write and I love Lil Wayne. He’s my favorite rapper. So, when I did write, I would write funny punch lines where everything was a joke and light-hearted. All of it makes sense because of all of the elements of hip-hop I gravitated to as a kid. So, when I wanted to dabble in music, is was a no-brainer that it was going to be hip-hop.

How did the opportunity of having your own docu-series happen?
It’s kind of another crazy thing. I’m an independent (artist), so we do touring a different way, and the show is highlighting that, and that’s one of the reasons I have the show. They’re following that story and showing what it’s like to be doing it with your friends and to be doing it without the label and doing it out of pocket. We had a handful of networks and production companies that approached us, but we were choosey with who we did this project with.

I didn’t want to be on MTV or VH1. I didn’t want to have a corny reality show. We waited and waited and we did it with Esquire Network and a production company. I’m just so excited. It’s a docu-series, it’s not reality TV. There’s not one fucking scripted line on the entire season. We made an effort to make the show cooler than anything that’s on TV.

Watch “This Is Mike Stud” Promo Video