Tag: battle rap

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FM Interviews: JayBlac Talks Ultimate Rap League, Streaming On Caffeine, And What Battling Means To The Culture

FM Interviews: Jay Blac Talks Urban Rap Battle League, Streaming On Caffeine, And What Battling Means To The Culture
Jay Blac. Image source: Caffeine TV.

JayBlac, a Philadelphia rap battle host and commentator with a deep appreciation for all things hip-hop, is inextricably linked to the art of battle rapping. Battling was an early fascination for him. He and his friends would watch rappers battle each other. They would then take what they learned and practice on each other.

Speaking on his own exposure to the art, Jay said he and his closest friends “got pretty crazy” and “did damage to each other.” With this particular connection to the sport, it’s easy to see what led to his relationship with The Ultimate Rap League. Last month, URL hosted their live Kings vs. Queens 4 event via Caffeine, an interactive streaming platform with over 20 million users. The streaming giant is home to sports and gaming content, but one of its biggest draws comes from a partnership with URL. 

JayBlac, one of Caffeine’s most prominent battle hosts, sat down with FM to talk about the event, as well as the many sides of battle culture—the good, bad, and the ugly. 

Diversity And Visibility On The Scene

Sometimes there’s a bit of a clash between progress and authenticity, especially when it comes to hip-hop. But Jay believes the field is pretty diverse. “You have battle rapping all different countries. Any race you want to see battling, you have it,” he said. “Even in the UK. You come from a certain background or religion; trust me, they have it. You’ve got Jews, you have Christians, you have a certain type of walk of life that you experience, and you kind of want to root for your side of the team.” 

And in terms of gender, the Kings vs Queens event proves women can hold their own. “Throughout this culture, the men and women are divided in terms of battle rap,” Jay said. He explained that you might have men vs. men, women vs. women, or a mixed battle, And though many people come to see the men only, they end up finding that there are just as many talented women.

After this event, when it was all said and done, I think a lot of the ladies garnered way more respect. And some of those guys, it went down. 

Recognition On The Battlefield

However, battling still isn’t the most mainstream part of hip-hop. With battle rap being a little more of an “invisible” side to hip-hop, it can be hard to get the appreciation you deserve. Jay thinks battlers are definitely appreciated, just to a certain extent.

“We appreciate what the leagues do for us,” he said, “We do get our names out there for the most part.” However, “I feel like they’re not appreciated who they want to be appreciated by.” He mentioned artists like Jay-Z, Drake, and Joe Budden will chime in occasionally. However, it’s not as often as some MCs would like. He compared the reaction to battle rap to basketball, saying people have no problem shouting out their favorite player. Though he doesn’t want to tell anyone to do it, he admitted it’d be cool to see people do that with their favorite MCs.

Rest in peace, Pat Stay, but once he passed, he got a lot of love from huge celebrities. That would have been dope if y’all did it while he was here.

No Holds Barred

Some of hip-hop’s greatest rappers started off battling, and Jay believes those individuals have an advantage. “DMX, Biggie, Jay-Z did it, Kendrick Lamar—they’re not scared of anything…they know when to take shots back at people.” He added that battling experience “gives them a competitive edge to perform better than anyone else out there.” 

As for artists looking to get into battle, Jay says the art form isn’t for the weak.

Have very tough skin. This is not Lollipop Land; this is not Disney World. You will get spoken to. This culture is savage. Get ready to be hit in the mouth verbally. Whether that be on Twitter or in the ring for a battle. There’s nothing soft about this. Be ready for war. Whether you want to be an MC or a fan. 

Highlights from Kings vs. Queens 4 are available online. The entire stream is available as well. JayBlac has a wide array of content. You can find his Caffeine content here and his YouTube content here.

URLTV KVQ4: Top 5 Bars

Written by Kimberly Stelly | Letterboxd | Instagram | Twitter 

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The Game Drops A Diss Track Aimed At Eminem

The Game Eminem Diss Came Out With The Album
The Game's new "Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind" album cover. Image source: YouTube.

The Game’s new album includes a 10-minute diss track aimed at the rap god Eminem. Today, August 12, 2022, the artist’s new album, “Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind,” came out. The 31-song LP revealed a track called “The Black Slim Shady,” which showcases The Game taking shots at Slim Shady. Produced by Big Duke, Hit-Boy, and Brian King Joseph, The Game goes after the Detroit native in several verses. He uses Eminem’s iconic flow while he delivers bar after bar, pointing at Eminem himself and those around him. The diss track comes just two months after The Game told the world he was better than Eminem.

“You depressed, you just maskin’ it/You pop an Adderall, a Vicodin and an Aspirin/But the math wasn’t mathin’ in,” The Game spits. “So Pass me the torch ’cause the torture in my mind/With the voice that defines rhymes were forced to blind me/Done see the owls in a white Rolls-Royce with five .9’s/When you was pretendin’ to be the white Royce da 5’9.”

At one point in the song, the Compton rapper even hints at him having kidnapped Hailie, Eminem’s daughter. The bar goes, “Dear Slim, Hailie’s with me, and she’s unharmed for now/(‘Dad, I’m really scared’).” Adding on even more insult, The Game downplays Eminem’s impact on hip-hop culture. He says, “Twenty-three years, still ain’t penetratin’ the culture/You are not top 5 in mine, B.I.G. or Pac’s eyes.” Listen to the whole track below. 

The Odd Nature of The Game’s Diss Track Towards Eminem

Some people find this diss track out of nowhere, especially considering that the two rappers have never had any considerable hostility towards each other. By the end of the composition, it seems as if The Game is just daring Eminem to respond in kind. The Game implied he wanted a battle with Eminem several times in the past. In March, The Game said he would be down to do a rap battle with Eminem on the Drink Champs podcast. Besides bragging rights, it’s unclear why The Game is going after Eminem so aggressively.

Several years ago, a rather famous video of The Game speaking on Eminem, giving him nothing but praise, circulated the internet. In the video, he said, “Even when I was going at 50 [cent], and me and [Dr.] Dre weren’t seeing eye to eye, I stayed away from the white dude.”

It seems that The Game has changed his mind and is ready for what Eminem may bring his way. Watch the full video of The Game speaking on Eminem many years ago below.

 

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Written by Patrick Rodriguez | Twitter

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GTX Bringing Clash of Kings: KXNG Crooked Vs. Dizaster

It has been confirmed that two battle rap titans will perform in a bout for the ages. KXNG Crooked and Dizaster, will engage in a lyrical battle. This is being said to be one of the biggest rap battles in history.

Dizaster and GTX

Earlier this year, battle rap fans got a boost when outlets announced that Dizaster, Lush One, and Drect were teaming up to launch GTX. GTX would be the new platform for battle rappers to demonstrate their prowess. While other platforms have existed to propel the art form, much of the art has taken a back seat to commercial and entrepreneurial interest. GTX is seen as the solution, returning the platform to its origins.

Debut Face Off: Dizaster v. Aczino

GTX came out the gate strong with its inaugural match-up. The feature bout was a head-to-head between Dizaster and Aczino. The support for the new GTX platform was bar none. A source reports that the match received over 1.2 million views within three weeks. That is a big splash for a new venture and speaks well of the level of support that is out there for battle rap.

Next Level Card: Dizaster v KXNG Crooked

Things are going to get that much hotter on GTX. The upcoming battle is being promoted as one for the history books. Dizaster will battle the rap legend KXNG Crooked. As noted,

“Still in the midst of a flourishing career, never in history has an industry figure of Crooked’s magnitude stepped into the battle rap space.”

And Dizaster is about to take him on.

KXNG Crooked’s Rational

Why would someone with so much cred step in the ring? Like a great heavyweight, as more and more contenders step into the sport, they step up to prove they still deserve the right to wield the belt. In KXNG’s words

“I can’t just go around saying I’m one of the best to ever put words together, right?”

And no one can argue that point.

So Why Dizaster?

Some wonder if he needs to prove anything in a battle with Dizaster. According to KXNG, it’s not so much about Dizaster. He was clear. He recognized Dizaster’s talent, but his competitor is a side note in his purpose. This bout was a lot more about him than his competitor.

“I’m really trying to prove it to myself and although Dizaster is a monstrous competitor, he’s just the middleman in this scenario.”

Of course, Dizaster has reasons for wanting to step into the ring with KXNG.

How is GTX a Cultural Win?

Regardless of who you are cheering on, the existence of such a platform is a win. As long as artists provide avenues to demonstrate their talent, other artists will be pushed to hone their skills. In this sense, GTX is a win for the culture. In words once spoken by Lush,

This is not only huge for battle rap culture but monumental for Hip Hop. We are here to break barriers and set new precedents with this battle, creating a platform for not only battle rappers but the best lyricists in the industry to test their skills and put on incredible performances that will be seminal moments in history.

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Written by Renae Richardson

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Drake’s ‘Til Death Do Us’ Part Sparks Culture Shift

Drake is arguably the most iconic rapper of his time. He is pushing his superstar status to a whole new level with his latest venture.  The OVO superstar has partnered with Ultimate Rap League (URL) and Caffeine TV to host Til Death Do Us Part, which is scheduled to take place in Long Beach, California on Oct. 30.

“I really put this event together because there’s so much time we spend debating, in sport, in competition, what if, you know? What would happen if this person had to go up against this person? You know, a lot of the time our debates stem from our dream matchups, and this event, fortunately for us in battle rap, is that debate coming to life.” – Drake

The Canadian born rapper, celebrated his birthday Oct., 23, uniquely with a wild west themed party. This star studded event was one of the hottest themed parties of the year. Additionally, his celebratory endeavors seemingly amplify his dedication to hip hop. Not to mention his Billboard charting success.

This battle rap event magnifies Drake’s birthday and URL’s 12th anniversary. Til Death Do Us Part, will feature dream matchups such as Loaded Lux and Geechi Gotti; Pat Stay and Real Sikh; Tay Roc and Nu Jerzy Twork. These names only scratch the surface of what fans can expect.

URL’s co-founder Troy “Smack White” Mitchell expects this event to be the biggest event in battle rap history.

 

In anticipation of this epic event, fans have began to create hilarious impersonations of the battle rappers. Twitter has erupted with fans who are taking on the challenge of creating creative bars to insinuate the upcoming participants style.

Drake’s live-streaming history

URL announced this partnership in February as the world’s largest battle rap competition. URL is it’s biggest platform to date and by partnering with live-streaming platform Caffeine led to a reported multi-year deal. Ultimately, this deal gave the rapper his own streaming channel. Caffeine’s ultimate goal is to rival Amazon’s Twitch and Google’s YouTube through partnerships with some of the biggest stars in the entertainment arena. Caffeine originally launched in November 2019 and was created by Apple designer Ben Keighran.

Drake is no stranger to the live stream game.  In 2018, he broke records during a Twitch live stream where he paired with Travis Scott, NFL wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and professional gamer Ninja for a Fortnight battle that harvested over 628,000 viewers.

Drakes plan to rewrite history is underway. He has left a lasting impression on a pivotal moment in rap history.  On the contrary, the actor turned rapper is no one track entertainer and he is bulldozing his way into hip hop history.

Written by Antoinette Ford

Instagram: missford2u_