ATLANTA — One day after he won three Grammy awards and was arrested at the awards show in Los Angeles, rapper Killer Mike said in a brief interview, “God has given me a lot to be thankful for in the last couple of days.”
As he spoke by phone with 11Alive News Monday morning, the rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, said that his 21-year-old son was due to get a new kidney as soon as Monday.
According to the Bitter Southerner blog, Render has four children. The oldest is Malik.
“He did not get to enjoy his last two years of high school because of kidney disease. He missed his prom. He missed all the normalcy that was life and now he gets a return,” Render said.
Render won Grammys in three categories. As he chatted Monday morning, he sounded buoyant.
“I won three Grammys for Atlanta. I’m the first rapper ever to sweep. And now I’ve got to go home and see my child get a kidney and a chance at living a normal life,” he said.
Asked about the arrest, which reportedly occurred after a confrontation with a security guard, Render mostly declined comment.
“There’s nothing else I’m talking about except winning those three Grammys,” Render said. “And I don’t know if a citizen’s arrest counts as an arrest.”
Render said he was making arrangements to leave Los Angeles to return to Atlanta, where he said his son’s mother was notified about the kidney availability early Monday.
As for that brief altercation around the show and its aftermath, Render said, “Whatever speed bump happened was small and minor – didn’t even take three hours out of my day."
For now, he's focusing on supporting his son, adding, "he and his kidney disease are finding a pathway out of it."