Eminem launching rap battle league
Hip-hop star Eminem is setting up a competitive rap battle league and accompanying reality TV show to raise the profile of the lyrical face-offs.
The Stan hitmaker helped launched his career in rapping tournaments, in which two competitors go head-to-head firing rapid improvised lyrics at each other.
He has now set up a league table called Total Slaughter, aimed at
publicising emerging rappers, and the inaugural event is set to
take place in July (14) in New York City.
Eminem tells Rolling Stone, "I came up battling at the same time I
was making records and learning my way around the studio. It's a
little bit different in terms of the kinds of tools you need, but
the competitiveness is the same. The times I didn't win gave me
just as much light in the past as when I did. It's all about your
performance."
Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's manager and partner in Total Slaughter,
adds, "What we look at this opportunity as, is a way to do for
battle rapping what UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) did for
MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). That's really the model we're basing it
on. It's this great thing that a lot of people love, but it's very
splintered, and it's very niche, and it's not really brought into
the right production levels that it can or should be."
The first event will feature rappers including Joe Budden, Murda
Mook and Loaded Lux.
A TV show will accompany the competition, showing aspiring rappers
sharing a house and competing for a place at the events.