Music icon Method Man and supermodel Hailey Baldwin are ready to pick up the mic as the hosts of TBS's DROP THE MIC, the new comedic music series from executive producers James Corden, Ben Winston and Jensen Karp. The pair have been tapped to emcee the celebrity battle rap competition based on the enormously popular segment from the Emmy(R)-winning series The Late Late Show with James Corden. Drop the Mic, which is also co-executive-produced by Ed Thomas, will launch on Turner's TBS on Tuesday, May 2, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). The series is produced for TBS by CBS Television Studios and Fulwell 73.
Drop the Mic will pit four stars from the worlds of entertainment, music, sports and pop culture against each other in a rap battle royale packed with "I can't believe they just said that" moments. At the end of each head-to-head battle, the studio audience will vote to pick the winner.
"This is a one-of-a-kind entertainment opportunity," said Michael Bloom, senior vice president of unscripted & special event programming. "Drop The Mic is a funny, authentic, high-energy series that brings together hip-hop, comedy and pop culture in a way we've never seen before. Method, Hailey, James, Ben and their team will make sure our celebrity competitors bring their 'A' game to the stage."
"Method Man and Hailey Baldwin are the perfect hosts for our show," said executive producer Ben Winston. "Two talented, funny, great people on a show that we hope will get everyone talking - we can't wait to get started."
Method Man, or Cliff Smith, is an actor, Grammy winning hip-hop artist and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Currently Smith has recurring roles on three drama series: HBO's The Deuce, with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco; Vh1's The Breaks; and BET's Rebel, from filmmaker John Singleton.
Smith made his acting debut in the film One Eight Seven, with Samuel L. Jackson, followed by Cop Land, with Sylvester Stallone, and the urban drama Belly. His growing list of film credits goes on to include How High, Soul Plane, Garden State, The Wackness, The Sitter, Red Tails, Staten Island Summer, The Cobbler, Trainwreck, Keanu and Jim Jarmusch's Paterson. Recently he filmed two anticipated independent films, Future World, starring James Franco and Mila Jovovich, and Where's the Money?, introducing internet star King Bach and starring Terry Crews and Mike Epps.
Smith broke into television with a recurring role on acclaimed
HBO prison series Oz. He has since had recurring roles on another
HBO hit The Wire,
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION and Blue Bloods. In addition, he has guest-starred on such series as The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Burn Notice,
SCORPION and the
Netflix hit Luke Cage.
Behind the scenes, Smith created a television series for
FOX that became Method & Red, which aired in 2004. He followed up with his directorial debut, The Strip Game, a documentary on exotic dancers released by Lionsgate, which had enormous digital success. He continues to tour with Wu Tang and longtime rap partner Redman whenever he can.
Hailey Baldwin has quickly established herself as one of the most sought-after models of her generation and, with over 9.5 million followers on Instagram, is making a name for herself on and off the runway.
After receiving her big break courtesy of a LOVE magazine editorial feature photographed by Solve Sundsbo, she also appeared in the publication's annual advent calendar video series. Since then, she has appeared on the runways for such designers as Elie Saab, Dolce & Gabbana, Tory Burch, Prabal, Zadig and Voltaire, Sonia Rykiel, Off White, Julien McDonald and Jeremy Scott.
Additional print credits include Vogue (both American and international editions such as Italian and Japanese), W, Wonderland, iD, V Magazine, GQ, Paper, Interview and Self Service, among others. She has appeared on numerous covers, such as Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar (Spain, Australia and Turkey), the Sunday Times, Lui, Odda and Remix, and she has shot with acclaimed photographers, including Mario Testino, Willy Vanderpere, Santiago and Mauricio, Cass Bird and Karl Lagerfeld. Baldwin has starred in campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply, H&M, Guess and Sass and Bide.
In addition to her runway and editorial work, Baldwin has collaborated on collections with Model Co Cosmetics and Public Desire Shoes, and is currently a spokesperson for Loreal Professional.
