By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr., Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — 2 Chainz wants to capitalize off the NFL’s huge “Thursday Night Football” platform to feature some of the world’s most popular musical performers on Amazon Music’s live concert series.
The Grammy winner is the host of “Amazon Music Live,” a weekly live show that streams on Prime Video after “Thursday Night Football.” It is filmed each week in front of a live audience in Los Angeles. The concert series, which debuted in late October with guest Lil Baby, has also featured Megan Thee Stallion and Kane Brown. Last month, 2 Chainz took the stage with Lil Wayne, who performed some of his hits, including his verse on DJ Khaled’s “God Did.”
Rapper A$AP Rocky will hit the stage Thursday, and Brazilian singer Anitta is expected to perform next week.
“This is a huge benefit for artists who are able to access one of the biggest platforms on TV, with ‘Thursday Night Football’ having so many viewers, coming on after the game,” 2 Chainz said about the concert series.
“You’re going to be in certain living rooms that you may or may not be privileged to be in,” 2 Chainz said. “I think it helps the overall bigger picture as far as sports and music fusing together.”
In each episode, 2 Chainz interviews the featured artist. He usually reads the questions off a teleprompter, but he sometimes throws in his own topics as well.
2 Chainz credits Vice TV’s “Most Expensivest″ for readying him for the challenge of the concert series. He hosts the reality series that explores the most expensive items such as food, jewelry and drinks. The rapper said he just wrapped filming his fourth season.
“That show, I think, has grown me and prepared me for roles like this, where I’m on the other side of the desk,” he said. “With hosting, I’m still holding a microphone. So, it’s still very much a part of the DNA that I’m accustomed to. … like being on stage and rocking out.”
2 Chainz said Amazon reached out to him and his team about a “new vision” of marrying the worlds of football and music. The idea was birthed after Amazon and the NFL entered into an 11-year agreement to air the prime-time professional football games on the streaming service.
The rapper said a strong relationship was already built between him and Amazon Music after partnering to rollout a couple of his albums.
“They needed an Iconic, legendary, handsome, intelligent host to fuse it all together,” he said. “You know, ultimately, I’m the man for the job.”
