The Mayor unites rap with comedy
Multi-talented Daveed Diggs brings Hamilton experience to ABC hybrid music-comedy
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.— Of all the “multihyphenates” in TV at the moment, there may none quite as hyphenated as Daveed Diggs. Actor-writer-rapper-producer-musician-playwright-Broadway and voice-over star.
The hyphens march on, but until now, one has been missing — showrunner. That arrives this fall with The Mayor, a new ABC comedy he’s coproducing with Jeremy Bronson, a veteran Late Night writer.
What’s so unusual about this, however, is that Diggs — who achieved Broadway superstardom with Hamilton — isn’t just an executive producer, which can often mean that the person holding the title makes certain the trains, so to speak, run on time. He’s also writing all the rap songs for this unique hybrid-music-comedy (another hyphen!) series. He could, and likely will, assume an onscreen role at some point, too (he’s already a semiregular on Black-ish.)
The Mayor is about an aspiring rap star in a West Coast city — not unlike Diggs’ hometown of Oakland, Calif. — who runs for mayor on a lark and ... well, the title is a hint, but victory was entirely unexpected. It stars Brandon Michael Hall, a breakout himself on the funny TBS freshman comedy Search Party, and Yvette Nicole Brown ( Community), who plays his character’s mom, and Lea Michele ( Glee) his chief of staff.
Rap’s the operative word here. Commercial prime time TV has largely ignored the most influential music form since the birth of rock ’n’ roll, but The Mayor will embrace it, and perhaps embrace some of Diggs’ own particularly unique experimental work in the genre. His Clipping band members William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes will help write the show’s soundtrack.
And what a wild and woolly track this could be: Clipping’s musical style is a headlong rush of words and sonic embellishments that clang, rattle and roar. It’s Philip Glass-meetsPublic Enemy. Is America ready for this? That’s getting ahead of the bigger question: Is a prime time sitcom?
There is, of course, a deep social component to hip-hop, and Clipping is far from an exception. As such, The Mayor will address issues in rhyme and words — including police brutality. “All those sorts of topics will find their way into stories,” Bronson said. How often and how sharply remains to be seen, although neither Clipping nor Diggs are shrinking violets.
Asked how he got involved in the show, Diggs, 35, said “Jeremy had this idea (and) my brain started going crazy. I don’t know much about the inner workings of politics, but listening to how local politics works, my brain focused on how specifically regional rap is, and how it changes from community to community. This idea of a show about local politics including rap music became this interesting challenge.”
Recalling those aforementioned hyphens, Diggs said he wasn’t about to abandon the many other opportunities afforded him after the sensational Hamilton run (he played the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson).
“It’s just putting a puzzle together and wondering if you can make time to do all the things you love and I love to do a lot of things, and get to participate in all of them.”
But he adds that it all eventually gets back to the music.