Open Mike Eagle on Life Beyond the Mainstream

Open Mike Eagle on Life Beyond the Mainstream

From Who's with Me? with W. Kamau Bell by Pushkin Industries

August 5, 2026 · 1h 27m · Season 1 · Episode 12

About this episode

W. Kamau Bell interviews Open Mike Eagle about their shared experiences as outsiders in the entertainment industry and the impact of capitalism on alternative rap.

The interview opens, as always, with Kamau giving Open Mike Eagle his flowers. Open Mike Eagle is someone Kamau feels a lot of kinship with, both men being somewhat outsiders in their given crafts.   After, they shift to recalling how they met during the production of Kamau’s TV show Totally Biased, and the chaotic period when the show expanded to five nights a week.   Both describe their shared “over there” feeling, being spiritually outside mainstream entertainment spaces even when physically in LA or New York, and how that shapes their careers.   Mike recounts growing up on Chicago’s South Side, raised largely by grandparents, kept indoors because of neighborhood violence, and absorbing hours of MTV and The Comedy Channel, which helped form his alt-Black sensibility.   He explains discovering Chicago’s underground hip hop scene, breakdancing, graffiti, DJing, freestyling, and building a sense of self through that meritocratic culture. Initially scared of rap as a child, hearing Eazy-E with his mom, he later finds his lane in “art rap,” naming his first album Unapologetic Art Rap.   They discuss…

People in this episode

Host: W. Kamau Bell

Guest: Open Mike Eagle

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Comedy Central

Books & works: Totally Biased, The New Negroes, Unapologetic Art Rap

Places: Chicago, South Side, LA, New York

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