Hip hop star Mike Stud starred as a high school baseball and basketball star in Rhode Island. / Getty
Rarely do guests on the Celeb Chop-Up downplay their skills in athletics “back in the day”; however it’s even more rare that said guests have tangible proof to backup their claims, which, by the way, reek of overhype.
Rapper Mike Stud doesn’t have to say anything; he can let his Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year hardware do all the talking.
“I was pretty good; I’d say,” said Stud, whose single Closer recently became the most added song to rhythmic radio. “I won the Gatorade award for the state and was a top five finalist for the national award. I was pretty good.”
And pretty modest; especially for a guy who went on to become an All-American at Duke, where he still holds the lowest ERA in the school’s history.
I caught up with Mike Stud to chop-it-up about everything from how he dominated the diamond to his new album to under which circumstance he’d choose to hop in the ring with Iron Mike Tyson.
Jason Jordan: I always like to gauge the sports backgrounds and experiences of all of my guests on the Chop-Up; rumor has it that you were a monster high school baseball player?
Mike Stud: (Laughs) Yeah I was pretty good man; I won Gatorade Player of the Year in Rhode Island and went on to be a freshman All American at Duke. I played at St. Raphael Academy. I pitched and I had really good hitting numbers as well.
JJ: Hooper too I hear?
MS: Yeah, growing up I was always better at basketball, but I kinda plateaued with my height. I’m 6-2 and I played small forward; kinda in and out of the post. I was a little limited. I had a good high school basketball career, but I didn’t have the same offers for basketball that I had for baseball. I could’ve played both sports at Princeton and Harvard. I decided to stick with baseball; I was looking at the bigger picture. Then after a big freshman year I got injured my next year.
JJ: Did you ever think about potentially walking on to the basketball team at Duke?
MS: (Laughs) Oh yeah! We messed around with that idea a little; I was really good friends with all the basketball guys and they would always tell me I should walk-on. Gerald Henderson is a good friend of mine and he always used to say that. If I had walked on I would’ve never played, but it still would’ve been cool because it’s Duke, ya know.
JJ: Give me your shining moment on the court.
MS: Probably the second round of the playoffs my junior year; I had 30 points and 22 rebounds. It was crazy! That same game I hit a buzzer beater to win the game. I got picked for all state in basketball.
JJ: Clutch!
MS: Yessir!
JJ: Should we go ahead and hand the Blue Devils the national title trophy in hoops?
MS: (Laughs) I think so! I think we just give it to them! I know in college basketball anything can happen, but Duke’s always a safe bet to make a run.
JJ: Let’s take it random; what do yellow traffic lights mean to you?
MS: To be honest, speed up!
JJ: Which fast food restaurant has the best burgers?
MS: I just moved out to L.A. so I’m gonna have to go with In-N-Out!
JJ: Give me your worst pre-fame job.
MS: Being an intern at Georgetown in the sports office. I was like the mailroom guy. It sucked.
JJ: If you’d 100 percent get away with it which crime would you commit?
MS: (Laughs) Ooh, well as long as I’m getting away with it, I’d probably steal Jay Z’s bank account info.
JJ: What movie absolutely deserves a sequel?
MS: Ooh good question. I’d love to see a sequel to Old School.
JJ: Who would win a UFC tournament involving only rappers?
MS: (Laughs) Oh wow, I’d have to say maybe Nelly or 50 Cent. If I had to choose one I’d say 50 in his prime.
JJ: What’s the most overused slang word?
MS: Definitely, “Bae.” I hate it.
JJ: Would you rather have the power to be invisible or the power to read minds?
MS: I would say read minds. Knowing what people are thinking would probably be the strongest tool. Not only that; being invisible wouldn’t be cohesive with being a normal person. You’d just be appearing out of nowhere. That’d be weird.
JJ: Choose one: 12 rounds against Mike Tyson in his prime or five rounds against Anderson Silva in his prime?
MS: (Laughs) I’d pick Tyson only because I just want to go ahead and take the quick knockout. I just feel like that’s the smartest move for me because Tyson would make it quick for me; he’d knock me out and that’d be that.
JJ: What sitcom intro song do you know every word to?
MS: Family Guy! I’m not a big TV guy, but I love that.
JJ: Blindfolded can you tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke?
MS: Oh definitely. I drink diet Coke, but I can definitely tell.
JJ: What random fact can you reel off to me right now?
MS: (Laughs) Wow, great question! Lemme think… I know that the state name of Rhode Island is abbreviated from its original name of State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. At one point it was the smallest state with the biggest name.
JJ: Impressive! Give me your top five rappers of all time?
MS: To me it’s Jay Z, Biggie, Tupac, Drake and Kanye. I got into music a little later and so my biggest influences are more current than most.
JJ: Talk or text?
MS: Text! I only talk to my mom and dad on the phone I think.
JJ: Do you clear out your inbox or hoard messages?
MS: I don’t even mean to hoard it, but I end up doing it.
JJ: You’ve got your new album Closer, which is doing really well; talk about that and what fans can expect from you the rest of the year and beyond.
MS: The album turned in to something that we all felt was special. We made the whole thing in about three months and, in music, that’s really quick. We just had a great chemistry and things went really well. People thought I was signed to a label, but I’m not. I did a distribution deal with Lyor Cohen; he got involved six days before my album dropped and that’s been going well. Everything’s starting to happen right now and it’s an exciting time. Last week my single Closer became the most added song to rhythmic radio. We’re all really excited and we feel like we’ve got a serious chance to do some great things with radio this year. I just finished a tour and I’ve got another one starting in November. I’m back in the studio now and we’re working to get back to getting my fans some free music.
Follow Jason Jordan on Twitter: @JayJayUSATODAY
