TBS Introduces ‘Drop the Mic’

From James Corden and his team, Drop the Mic comes this week, pitting celebrities against each other in a fun rap battle. At the Summer TCA’s this year to represent the show were Method Man (Host), Hailey Baldwin, (Host), James Corden (Executive Producer), Ben Winston (Executive Producer), Jensen Karp (Executive Producer), and Michael Bloom (Senior Vice President, Unscripted Series and Specials, TBS & TNT)

Michael Bloom introduced the concept of the show, along with a list of the great celebrities that will be featured on Drop the Mic.

“Each week the show will pit celebrities against each other head to head in a credible rap battle royal. We have a number of episodes left to shoot this September, but we already have some phenomenal pairings. We had a great shoot in the spring. The first-season lineup looks like Jesse Tyler Ferguson versus Chrissy Metz, Gina Rodriguez versus Rob Gronkowski, Usher versus Anthony Anderson, Tony Hale versus Timothy Simons, Randall Park versus James Van Der Beek, Rascal Flatts versus Boyz II Men, and, of course, James took on his nemesis, Nicole Richie.”

So just how good are these celebrity non-rappers at the battle royal? Executive producer Jensen Karp assured the audience, “They are really good.”

“So what we do is we sort of put them together with battle experts and writers and stuff and work with them so it’s not just us handing — everyone is really collaborative. And at the end of the day, we have a few hours to work with them and learn it and get them out there, but it’s really a lot of them, which is really shocking.”

Method Man was asked about his early influences. ““The Electric Company.” Just being honest. “The Electric Company,” “Sesame Street,” things like that. I would learn these jingles and genuinely got a love for music. Plus, my parents played music in the house, you know. I didn’t get up on Grandmaster Flash and all of those dudes until way later on. My real first hip-hop song that I learned every word to was Run D.M.C., “Sucker M.C.’s.””

Maybe Drop the Mic will inspire some new rappers!

And who would be the creative team’s dream Drop the Mic battle? The winner was quickly named. Judi Dench. Added James Corden, “I’d love to see a Judi Dench versus Maggie Smith, just dame on dame –“

Given the roots of a rap battle, will viewers find the show to be mean or rude?

James Corden assured it was anything but. “I think the opposite. I don’t think it is a mean-spirited thing in the sense of if you watch, like, a roast on television, it is really just a monologue of hits and bobs where someone sort of sits and takes it. The beauty of this is the atmosphere in the room. The atmosphere in the room, the attitude of our two brilliant hosts is one of absolute joy and fun, and if you come at it with joy and fun and someone has got an opportunity to respond to stuff, it never ever has felt like that when we’ve done it on The Late Late Show.”

“Especially if the two people are friends, that makes it even better because there’s no holds barred then. So it’s never mean-spirited at all,” added Method Man.

The fun begins as Drop the Mic premieres October 26th on TBS. Check your local listings.