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KOTD Links with Twitch for $50,000 Tournament…But Not Without Controversy

KOTD 2020 Grand Prix
By: Kershaw St. JawnsonCategory: Features

KOTD has a new partnership with Twitch with the 2020 Grand Prix battle!

Battle rap is an international sport. No longer is the verbal duel a contest held in New York barbershops or West Philly corners. It has transcended and evolved from what you saw Eminem get busy in the movie 8 Mile. Now, leagues are thriving in Russia, Australia, South Africa, and the Philippines.

And just as Drake, Canada’s favorite son, has dubbed the sport one of his favorite past times … King of The Dot (KOTD) has emerged as one of the top leagues to ever-present the artform to the world.

To etch their name in the larger market, they have partnered with Twitch to bring battle rap (for free) to fans far and wide. Their first effort is called the 2020 Grand Prix 32-person elimination-style battle rap tournament, culminating with a whopping $50,000 as the grand prize. B

efore you dust it off as just another tournament, for this year there has been a lot of battle rap royal rumbles all over the world, this one plans to tap into the culture in a way that will maximize opportunities and regional pride across the entire hemisphere. OH S##T! This is gonna be big.

There will be four divisions, hosted by influencers that have proven themselves as experts in this arena. The first of the contest aired on Sunday, September 20th focusing on the West Coast.

The West Division of the competition held its battle in Los Angeles and was hosted by Lush One.

The competition was fierce as Dizaster went up against Frak, Madflex competed against the ever gifted The Saurus, Caustic and Aktive had an interesting match-up, and all eyes were on RX as she, a very fresh face to the sport, tangled with Saynt. This bracket of competition was a good start to what seems to be an exciting series, but it was not without scrutiny.

The first battle was RX vs. Saynt. RX has good bars but was not ready to go before a prepared Saynt (who showed no mercy on her because she was female). “I thought we were family. How you gonna try to body-shame me? That’s lame, b**ch. Talking about the pancakes but called me up trying to get the Bisquick!”

RX spat shaking the virtual room with her really clever bars, but Saynt was different.

The second battle of the night was between The Saurus and Madflex. Madflex showed up for his opponent, but The Saurus was extraordinary. Madflex had a great line, “s### just got darker than you thought like Jesus’ face,” but with each haymaker, Saurus answered him with a well crafted round. Great back and forth and very, very close.

Aktive and Caustic were up next for the third battle. Aktive beat Caustic, but the contest was not as exciting as the first two battles.

The most controversial battle of the night was the Dizaster and the Frak battle. The consensus was that Frak won and that Dizaster should not have advanced. Many had Diz with the first round and the last two going to Frak.

While fans felt both of the rappers shared lyrical ability that was out of this world, there was something very unsettling about Diz’ vile, unnecessarily bullyish, and homophobic performance. It was weird and seemed out of context. The culture was unhappy, so much battle rap media outlet like Battle Rap Stats changed their names to “Frak Stats.”

https://twitter.com/Rosa_reee/status/1307830288567934977?s=20

“i rock wit Diz heavy! but NO!”

“Bruhhh I didn’t even know u can call a TIE in a Battle, then one of the dudes said “I Mean they do it in Boxing. MF THIS AINT BOXING LMAOOO.”

“FRAK BODYYYYY”

Battle rapper and blogger Jimz called for fans to cancel Twitch because of this upset.

But not soooo fast. Twitch was beautiful to watch and fans really enjoyed their experience. In addition to it being a new and fresh way to view battle rap content, another reason no one should check out is because the tournament has even better battles coming up in their other regions. The judging was off, but King of The Dot has vowed to address the issues on Monday, September 21 on Twitch.

With the over 10,000 viewers tuning in on their premiere showing, KOTD has a respectable re-entry into the space and is set to return next week Sunday with the Southern region featuring The OG Drect as the host. This lineup is likely to be the most exhilarating card of the tournament.

Mr. Three of Them Things, Chef Trez, goes up against a dangerous Lotta Zay. While Houston’s Scotty throws down against So Severe. The Oscar-nominated Ooops will see if he is really superman as he battles Clone. And to round out the night, Brixx and Hays The Family Man (formerly Syahboy) will go head to head.