As a general rule, adopting the name “Stud” as a Hip Hop handle would be little more than chest-thumping braggadocio. But for Mike Seander, aka Mike Stud, it’s more or less a factual declaration. The Rhode Island native lettered in both baseball and basketball in high school. As a senior, Seander averaged 21 points and seven rebounds per game on the court, but his baseball skills were even more impressive — he earned a 9-2 record and an ERA of 0.91 with 107 strikeouts, and was named the state’s Gatorade and Louisville Slugger Player of the Year. He also received an athletic scholarship to Duke University, where, as a true freshman, Seander notched a 1.61 ERA in nine saves, respectively the lowest and second-highest marks in school history. Seander missed his junior year season after having Tommy John surgery, then, after graduating from Duke, used his final year of college eligibility at Georgetown, where he pitched for the Hoyas and earned a sports management degree.
During Seander’s recuperation from elbow surgery, he began to dabble in music to occupy himself, a direction he continued to pursue when he enrolled at Georgetown. In late 2010, Seander unveiled his Mike Stud alter ego with the release of the video “College Humor,” intended as a joke for his baseball teammates. The self-made/recorded song/video has subsequently logged nearly two million views on YouTube.
In 2011, Stud and West Coast rapper Loggy (former Cal State wide receiver Alex Lagemann) collaborated on “In This Life,” the story of their individual paths from athletics to music. Over the past five years, Stud has released three studio albums (including his 2013 debut Relief and 2014 sophomore album Closer) and a half-dozen mixtapes; his latest mix, last year’s This Isn’t the Album, was a teaser for his just-released third album, the atmospheric and profane These Days. No matter how chill it sounds, Mike Stud brings the heat.
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