FX’s ‘Atlanta’ mentions the Rave in Milwaukee and its alleged ghost

Even “Atlanta” celebrated Milwaukee Day. 

The TV present, that’s. We will not converse for the town.

The most recent episode of the acclaimed FX sequence a few rising rapper, his supervisor and cousin, and other people of their orbit — which occurred to air on Thursday, April 14 (aka Milwaukee Day) — makes a Milwaukee reference, and a reference to the town’s allegedly haunted live performance venue, the Rave.

It occurs almost instantly within the episode titled “Most cancers Assault,” in a scene that begins on the 1:50 mark. Rapper Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) is backstage earlier than a present in Budapest together with his eccentric buddy Darius (LaKeith Stanfield).

“They are saying this place is like haunted,” Darius says. “There’s numerous creepy, unexplained occasions.” 

“Yo, so long as it isn’t one other Milwaukee man, I am cool,” Paper Boi says.

“You are speaking concerning the Rave,” Darius replies. “Instructed you that was a ghost I noticed.”

“(Expletive.) That was your reflection,” Paper Boi replies. 

It is doable the Season 3 episode’s author Jamal Olori was impressed by a real-life rap star’s alleged supernatural Milwaukee expertise, after Megan Thee Stallion (jokingly) documented her ghost-hunting exploits on the Pfister Resort in September.

However the Rave’s haunted status is well-known in music circles. Kesha, Twenty One Pilots, the 1975’s Matt Healy, Steve Aoki and the late Mac Miller are simply a few of the artists who’ve performed the venue and talked or wrote about its supernatural status. Miller, who died of an unintentional drug overdose in 2018, is likely one of the few stars who was permitted to autograph the venue’s allegedly haunted swimming pool.

The Rave even hosted haunted excursions in 2020 when COVID-19 shut down the dwell music business. 

It is also doable the Rave reference within the episode got here from “Atlanta” creator Donald Glover himself. Glover’s final Milwaukee efficiency, below his stage identify Infantile Gambino, was on the Rave’s Eagles Ballroom in 2014. 

It is the second nod to Milwaukee on nationwide TV this week. On Tuesday’s “The Late Present,” host Stephen Colbert made a joke about rising inflation that integrated a former low-cost Brew Metropolis beer in its punchline.

“Meaning no extra splurging on the grocery retailer. As a substitute of Milwaukee’s Finest, it’s going to should be Waukesha’s Ehhh,” Colbert quipped. “Which is, let’s face it, not that a lot worse.” 

The gag additionally popped up in a “Late Present” Fb publish.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Comply with him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Fb at fb.com/PietLevyMJS.