The Hip-Hop star, who campaigned heavily earlier this year for former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, admits he was amused by the unlikely honor, which came as quite a surprise. “I am grateful that my name can be a part of this lasting legacy for the City of Atlanta”.
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Atlanta’s tunnel boring machine has been named “Driller Mike”, after rapper and activist Killer Mike.
FILE -In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 photo, Hip Hop artist and activist Killer Mike speaks during a rally with Democratic presidential candidate Sen.
On Wednesday, the City of Atlanta unveiled the 400-foot-long tunnel-boring machine, which will eventually drill out a 5 mile underground reservoir that’s expected to hold 2.4 billion gallons of water – enough to sustain 1.2 million people for a month, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The residents of his hometown selected “Driller Mike” as the name of an $11.6 million tunnel-boring machine. The tunnel will connect the former Bellwood Quarry to the Chattahoochee River and Hemphill Water Treatment Plant.
“I use my voice to advocate for those who feel voiceless”, said Killer Mike during today’s event.
Killer Mike, who won a Grammy in 1993 for the song “The Whole World”, said he was more than amused when he first heard the name Driller Mike. “Cities don’t associate themselves with rappers”, Killer Mike told the Associated Press.
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“The reinvention of this quarry as a reservoir and as a surrounding park is one of the most creative land reclamation projects going on in the city of Atlanta”, Mayor Kasim Reed said at the ceremony. “That’s why we made this $300 million investment”.
