The visuals for ‘Errbody’ has collected more than 15 million views on YouTube since its release. The Grammy-nominated Quality Control recording artist partnered with Vevo to present a behind-the-scenes look at the song’s MV.
The city of Atlanta served as the mini-film’s setting. The treatment included landing a real helicopter in the middle of Lil Baby’s neighborhood. He is also seen driving a vintage Chevelle SS and a Dodge Charger Hellcat.
Plus, Lil Baby got the chance to live out his dreams of being an action movie star like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wesley Snipes, or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He is quoted saying, “I fought a guy, dragged another by his legs out the house, and threw a knife at another guy, it was a real thrill.”
The rapper later added, “I would describe the song as Baby in rare form. A lot of my tracks are melodies and on this one, I went non-stop.” Directors Edgar Estevez, Daps, and Christian Breslauer also provided commentary for “The Making of ‘Errbody'” episode of Vevo Footnotes.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not able to win his second championship ring at Super Bowl LV on Sunday. However, the NFL player did appear in a State Farm ad with one of the biggest entertainers on the planet.
Mahomes, along with fellow former Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, was featured in the commercial, but it was another famous face that stole the show. Hip Hop megastar Drake popped up in the viral spot that aired during the first half of the game.
Ant-Man actor/Kansas City Chiefs superfan Paul Rudd made a cameo in the 30-second State Farm ad as well. The night was filled with celebrities making appearances in Super Bowl LV commercials for various companies.
R&B divas took the main stage at Sunday’s Super Bowl LV. Before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9, H.E.R. and Jazmine Sullivan showed off their singing pipes for the world.
H.E.R. sang “America the Beautiful” for the Super Bowl LV Pregame Show. Plus, Heaux Tales singer Jazmine Sullivan was joined by Country musician Eric Church for a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Later in the night, another R&B star performed during the Halftime Show. The Weeknd was tapped by the NFL to be the mid-game entertainment which featured some of the Canadian’s chart-topping hits. Watch Jazmine Sullivan and H.E.R.’s respective performances below.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at last night’s Super Bowl LV. Before the game ended with a 31–9 score, The Weeknd entertained the television audience.
The Weeknd’s halftime performance included the R&B/Pop superstar running through some of the biggest hits of his career, such as “Blinding Lights,” “I Can’t Feel My Face, and “Earned It.” Watch the full Super Bowl LV halftime show below.
Despite the global pandemic, battle rap as a culture has thrived.
The year saw some of the culture’s favorite artists thrive, while it also saw so many fall off … miserably. AllHipHop.com has had a front seat to some of the biggest (and some of the smallest) events of the year. As a media platform that celebrates our fans, we’ve tapped them, some battle rap influencers, owners, media outlets, and also emcees to come up with a fun list of the most exceptional talent of the year. We are calling it our “Battle Rap Superlatives” list.
(Fiirst Ladii Flamez, Real Sihk, Yoshi G, Saynt)
According to their collective votes, here is what we were able to deduce … K Shine, B Dot, and Chilla Jones are probably the most incredible emcees the culture has ever seen. Everyone is in agreement that Eazy the Block Captain and Viixen the Assassin are stars, and Tay Roc and DNA are still competitive in an era where folk throw talent away for the newest hot jawn on the scene.
We see that Gates of the Garden is a breeding ground for talent, that there are a whole lot of battle rap media outlets out there covering the culture, and that no matter what you think … Yoshi G, Casey Jay, and Fiirst Ladii Flames are probably going to have the year of their lives in 2021.
Fan Top 10 Favorite/ Preference Battle Rappers of the Year (Female and Male)
The first category, “Fan Top 10 Favorite Battle Rappers of the Year (Female and Male)” allowed fans to say who they simply like the most. A co-ed preference list, this top ten seeks to give space for people to be honest about those lyricists that speak to them, make them scream at the YouTube or App because they are so fire or always has a vibe that makes you want to root for them.
K Shine in a BAPE Flag inspired jacket.
K Shine
B Dot
Chilla Jones
Daylyt
Ill Will
Geechi Gotti
Tay Roc
Holmzie the God
Viixen
Eazy the Block Captain tied with DNA
Top Female Battle Rappers of the Year
The second category, “Top Female Battle Rappers of the Year” is self-explanatory and looks at the women who have come into the year — ripping the roof off of it without breaking one of their pretty and perfectly manicured nails. Congrats to many of them, who have been grinding for some years, have finally proven to the world that this is a sport of brains, not brawn.
Consider the names on the list that took down some of battle rap’s biggest names with a smile.
Viixen the Assassin (Instagram)
Viixen the Assassin
Casey Jay
O’fficial
40 BARRS
Fiirst Ladii Flamez
Yoshi G
Coffee
Lady Caution
RX
Ms. Hustle
Top Male Battle Rappers of the Year
This list, “Top Male Battle Rappers of the Year,” was the tightest of all of the lists. So close were the votes, ten additional votes could have shifted the top three slots. No one is shocked at the top five, as fans have been saying all along that these names are the most elite battlers of the year.
B Dot could be called the heir to the Lux throne and participated in some of the biggest battles of the year. While Chilla Jones, the 2020 Champion of the Year, made us recognize that his ability to translate in different contexts, varying rapping skill sets and his agency (that allows him to be him all the time) is to be saluted. And at the same time, K Shine remains the most dangerous artist of this era — harnessing an atomic gift of wordsmithing and entertainment that is actually more magical than people care to admit.
B Dot, K Shine, and Chilla Jones are the top three battlers of the year. Each amassed over 65% of the votes. If the votes were open, either of these men, could have claimed the number one sport.
B Dot
Chilla Jones
K Shine
Ill Will
Geechi Gotti
DNA
Bill Collector
Eazy the Block Captain
Danny Myers
Kid Chaos
Top Emerging Talent of the Year
What keeps battle rap exciting? New Talent!
Check out the new faces and voices that have “emerged” this year as some of the top emcees in the world. Like all of the other lists, the competition was stiff. Fans included female rappers right beside the guys, even including one tie between Fiirst Ladii Flamez and Quban.
Rapper NXT did receive honorable mention, receiving exactly 2 votes under the tie. His hustle has us looking and watching to see what really is next.
Jey the Nitewing
Jey the Nitewing
Saynt
Eazy the Block Captain
Viixen
Real Sikh
Kid Chaos
Yoshi
Fonz
Lu Castro
Fiirst Ladii Flamez and Quban tied
Top Battle Rap Event of the Year
2020 might have been the “Year of Clarity, Chaos, and Corona.” But in battle rap, this was the “Year of the Woman!” As fans look over the year, resoundingly Queen of the Ring’s impact on the year dwarfed every other major event. People enjoyed the entire card. People were excited about the card. Stars were birthed out of the card.
Indeed there were other great events of the year, AllHipHop.com has to “give it up to the ladies” for showing out.
QOTR/URL “KINGS vs QUEENS”
URL “NOME X”
URL “Ultimate Madness 1”
URL “Summer Madness 10”
URL “Rookies Vs. Vets 2”
The Riot “Da Vision”
KOTD “GRAND PRIX FINALS”
QOTR “Watch the Throne 4”
QOTR/URL “Royalty”
Rare Breed Entertainment “The Get back”
Top Battle Rap Media Outlets
This virtual season saw the rise of battle rap media outlets that were just as impactful to the community as the artists that they covered. Simply consider the conversation of “Low Tier” vs. “Top Tier” media and the conflusion (conflict and confusion) that it caused. At some point, we thought that some of the vloggers were gonna jump in the ring and go at each other.
For you ill-informed, battle rap media consists of a few different styles of coverage: Analysts, Reporters, Op-Editors/Vloggers, and Talk Shows. With the rise of Caffeine, Discourse, Clubhouse, Twitch, and YouTube, new voices have emerged and older voices have had to adapt. Check out our list based on our fans’ votes.
Jay Blac, the Champion Brand, and the URL Events Coverage team (Tsu Surf, Nunu Nellz, Hennyman, Anwar, and Reda)
HipHopIsReal with Knowledge tha God, featuring NooBarzz and TR4 French
Restore Order with Swave Sevah, Ike P, and Heavy Bag
Honorable Mentions are as follows: Angry Fan, Jimz to Gymz to Gemz, Three Letterman Breakfast with the Champ, What’s Goodz, Piper Boy, ARP, Battle Rap Stats, and the return of Chris Unbias.
TOP BATTLE RAP LEAGUES OF THE YEAR (SMALL, MEDIUM & LARGE)
Shout out to all of the leagues that have kept their heads up during the pandemic. It was through their hard work and constant innovation and ability to adapt and flip on the dime, that kept the industry (and culture) alive. Because so many leagues have been doing such great work, we divided them up by YouTube subscriptions, leaving that metric as a qualifying measuring stick. This allows more leagues to be celebrated and recognized for their hard work.
Top Small League of the Year (under 50,000 followers)
Gates of the Garden (Fumigate, Open the Gates 3, 4 & 5, Autumn Autopsy, Guarding the Gates )
Top Medium League of the Year
(between 50,001 and 500,000 followers)
TIED
Queen of the Ring (Royalty, Kings vs. Queens, Watch the Throne 4)
Rare Breed Entertainment (The Get Back, Social Distance, Social Distance 2, Mask On 1 & 2 )
Top Large League of the Year (above 500,001 followers)
The Ultimate Rap League
(Royalty, URL Private APP 2 & 3, Genesis, Only the Strong, Quarantined, Quarantined Sterilized 1 & 2, Ultimate Madness 1 & 2, NOME X, Rookies vs. Vets 2, Summer Madness 10, Kings vs. Queens, Murda Mook Card, Born Legacy 9, 10 & 11, Survivor Series Onyx, Smack Vol. 6)
Congrats to all those who the fans and battle rap influencers have tapped as the cream of the 2020 crop. Submit your list on our social and let us know who you got!
Toronto rap star Drake popped up during Super Bowl 55, during the commercial for State Farm.
The spot also features Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers, along with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
An enthusiastic “Cheesehead” delusionally believes he’s a stand in for Aaron Rodgers, while actor Paul Rudd thinks he’s the double for Mahomes.
Drake enters the funny spot commercial as the new replacement for Jake from State Farm (Kevin Mimms). They both attempt to utter the famous “like a good neighbor State Farm is there line” when Jake puts Drake in check.
“Stand-ins don’t have lines,” Jake tells Drake. “Oh, OK,” Drake replies as he takes a huge bite out of an apple. The video has gone over well with fans of the rap star, who is planning to release his album Certified Lover Boy sometime this year.
“The best commercial rude eating the apple while he talking,” said one fan, while another gave props to Drake for his comedic skills by noting: “Drake is underrated as a comedian.”
Take a look at the “Drake from State Farm” commercial below:
An unidentified female recorded Casanova dancing during a video visit, which was then disseminated on social media, quickly going viral.
Casanova was reprimanded over the video because recording or screenshotting images of inmates are strictly prohibited.
As a result, Casanova has lost his video visitation privileges.
“I’m happy to say we don’t have a lot of issues with video visits because inmates know it’s a privilege, not a right,” Westchester Correction Commissioner Joseph Spano told the Westchester Journal News.
The rapper is also facing internal charges for not wearing a mask in a picture next to another inmate.
Casanova will be locked up for the foreseeable future.
Rap star 50 Cent is accused of fumbling the ball during his pre-Super Bowl party in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The mayor of the city aimed at the rapper over a party he hosted at the Albert Whitted Airport on Friday night as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
Mayor Rick Kriseman slammed the rap star after photos surfaced of him performing without a mask, as well as images of people partying in the airport without proper face coverings.
This isn't how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl. It's not safe or smart. It's stupid. We're going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent. @TMZhttps://t.co/Vrvg8fTdBB
“This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl. It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid. We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent,” Mayor Rick Kriseman said.
According to Mayor Kriseman, the promoter of the event could face some serious fines for flagrantly violating the state’s mask rules.
Mayor Kriseman even said the company that managed the airport could come under investigation, but more details will be released next week according to the Tampa Bay Times.
50 is one of several celebrities in town for Super Bowl 55, where the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mayor Kriseman’s comments didn’t go over well with locals, who blasted him for calling out 50 Cent, when Tampa and Saint Petersburg has become a “free for all,” as one resident put it.
“I have noticed when I am doing essential runs, more and more people without masks. Businesses do nothing. Gas station is now probably 70% maskless. They use to not let you in. Now it’s a free for all,” one commenter said.
“Y’all have been actively encouraging people to travel here to party for #SuperBowl, what do you expect to happen? Can’t have it both ways!” another person wrote, citing the Mayor’s own words encouraging out-of-towners to come to Super Bowl 55.
The Mayor ultimately oversees the airport so really he and the City hosted 50's night out pic.twitter.com/cOQL9sW78u
Ride down Central and around downtown Friday and Saturday night, the bars are packed, sidewalks in front of bars packed, are you afraid to address this or don't you care? Guess you're lame duck period is to encourage bars and restaurants not to care, I used to SUPPORT u, no more!
Take a good look at the Super Bowl and fine those organizers as well. Fine the bars and outdoor eateries too. I drove five blocks down central St. Pete. and counted only five people that had a mask on. 50 cent didn't twist anyone's arm to get in there.
Beglad I don't live in your city cuz I sure as hell would not vote for you mayor based on these types of comments. Stop threatening private citizens with fines when city-sponsored events are doing the same thing in st. Pete and Tampa for the Super Bowl .
— Kevin's here!( Taylor's version) (@StevenS65397553) February 6, 2021
I agree that @50cent should have been more careful.. but what about Parc & Rec on 1st Ave south ?
You use this or any event relating to the superbowl to institute another lockdown, I will file a class action lawsuit for reckless endangerment. YOU promoted this. I am not taking the grunt for your actions. https://t.co/hpvpGbkSlT
If St. Pete wasn't prepared for the potential real world of Tampa Bay Super Bowl and it's randomness. Maybe it's advisors forget when and where we are in 2021. Embrace today.
St. Lunatic member Ali first dropped bombs with a local Missouri radio personality, framing Nelly as a narcissistic know it all.
But when the multi-platinum artist sat with the Wat Up Doe radio show, despite being weirdly interrupted by one of the hosts, he laid it all on the line, showing how he was not only the “star” of the group … but also the brains.
Here are seven-point that Nelly shared that many people did not know.
Point 1: The St. Lunatics was originally a high school group that consisted of three members, and Ali was not one of them. Ali was a manager and a rapper in another duo.
“There’s three people in this group that’s been a Lunatic since day one; Nelly, Kyjuan, and City [Spud],” Nelly shared. “We all went to school together. Alright? Cool. When we first started the Lunatics, Ali was not in this group. Stop me when I’m lying.”
Point 2: Ali joined the group after a Jive showcase when music executives asked to hear more music from the three teens. Ali had performed with another person and joined the Lunatics hoping to get closer to his dreams to be a rap star. The four agreed to work with a production company called D2, which required them to sign 100% of their publishing.
Nelly did not sign at first but was forced to do so or be kicked off the single they wanted to shop. The other members, including the ones who were his schoolmates, signed and Ali was the person pushing for them to do so. He also was the lead vocalist on the song.
Point 3. The music with Ali as the lead did not get any traction.
Point 4. After meeting Mase’s manager Cudda, the group started to work in New York in an effort to land the group a deal. According to Nelly, the music vet believed that the one with the most star potential was Nelly, not Ali.
Cudda got Nelly a deal, not the others.
Point 5. Despite getting the solo deal with Universal, Nelly negotiated in his contract that all of the members of the group get their own record contracts and in a radical reversal of power, the group gets to record together.
Point 6. Nelly’s solo project, Country Grammar, has sold close to 20 million copies since its release. Murphy Lee’s solo project, Murphy’s Law, went gold. Ali’s solo project, Boughetto, went double wood.
Point 7. Nelly bought back his publishing from D2 (the deal that Ali made him sign in order to stay in the group) for $75,000 before Country Grammar blew up. The others did not and still do not own their own publishing. Nelly implies that the reason why their names were not on the albums was that they didn’t want to give D2 money off the record.
Nelly further spoke to why he is in his position and others are not. One, he works harder and has never missed a studio session, interview, promotional date, photoshoot, performance, or meet and greet. He also noted that this was his work ethic since the beginning.
“When they said the Lunatics was doing all the legwork and talent shows and all of that, that was us. He didn’t do that,” The “Hot in Herrre” rapper informed. “When we was going around town making a name for ourselves, doing the car wash, performing at the talent shows at [colleges]—that was us, that wasn’t Ali. Ali did not perform with us. Either he thought he was too good or he didn’t perform with us. … Just factuals. Actual factuals.”
But Ali still maintains that his “actual factuals” are lies. He posted on his Instagram:
“Nelly Would Create the Lie .. then 20yrs later blame us, and try and embarrass us like it was our idea!! … I’m going clear my name and show you EVERY LIE that he put on us !!!….Oh yeah, Good afternoon and enjoy your day !!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9glp8npGV/
He even maintains that he started the group.
“The St. Lunatics was a group that I started …my goal wasn’t to be in the group…I just was their Teacher… Now 1 student has moved to HOLLYWOOD and chose a life style that doesn’t allow him to remember things as well as others!🤷🏽♂️
Nelly: “Ali was the manager; he wasn’t putting in all the leg work … Ali wasn’t performing with us !! I don’t know why “maybe he thought he was better than us” (see that part was the DEVIL )
Murphy Lee: “Ali started off as the manager…….He was still training us (teaching).. he didn’t want us to perform , he wasn’t ready to present the product.”
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CK6GtBhnJTN/
The former “Dancing with the Stars” third place-winner is not budging and says he has people that will co-sign him. So far … a lot of his story stands out in the wash.
Westside Gunn is taking his love for fashion to a new level with his art gallery called Buffalo Kids.
The rapper, also known as “FlyGod,” is opening the boutique inside of Buffalo’s most popular mall, Walden Galleria.
“I’ve Always dreamt of my Flagship store and I worked so hard for this, even the mall said they never seen anything like this.. everything designed by myself and team, a place where celebrities will frequently fly in just to experience Buffalo Culture,” Westside Gunn revealed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9rHQErTqK/
The Griselda boss revealed his art gallery will sell his Fashion Rebel streetwear brand, in addition to unreleased collaborations he created with some well-known designers.
The store will sell original art, magazines, kids’ clothes, and a new line of new arrow hats Westside Gunn designed himself.
“ppl will travel around the world to see this and I thank u in advance I’m so excited and grateful bc now u will see the brand how I always envisioned it I’ve been designing since 12yrs old and now I have a home for it All…,” Westside Gunn added.
An official date has yet to be revealed, but Buffalo Kids is slated to open its doors to the public next month, and will be located next to Starbucks and Footlocker.
Recently freed rapper Kodak Black was the man of the hour in Tampa, Florida during Super Bowl Weekend.
Kodak was honored during the annual Power Of Influence Awards for his commitment to the local community last night (February 5th) at a private event.
Over the past year, Kodak’s philanthropy included fundraisers for the local Jewish community, back to school giveaways for kids, and making Christmas by providing gifts for thousands of children.
In addition to the award, a slimmed-down Kodak was presented with a huge cake that was decorated with his picture.
The POIAs were founded by manager/filmmaker Jerry B. and powerhouse publicist and Elora Mason. This year’s honorees included Jeff Robinson, who manages Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Keyshia Cole), Dexter Jackson, Kodak’s lawyer Brad Cohen, Bigga Rankin, OG Ron C and others.
Past honorees include Lil Kim, Kevin Hart, Jermaine Dupri and others.
Amidst the governor’s social distancing requirements in New York state, the Universal Hip Hop Museum has been approved by the City of New York to start the construction of its multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility in the Bronx.
After receiving a $3.5 million grant, L&M Developments, the city, and founding director Rocky Bucano have decided to bring the project to the new Bronx Point development in the place where rap music all began.
Just as the culture socially revitalized the borough in the 70s and 80s, this new effort will revitalize it in 2021.
Diana Ayala, a New York City Council Member, said in a statement, “Bronx Point will bring much needed affordable housing and community space to the South Bronx, including waterfront access for a community that has for too long been cut off from the Harlem River and a permanent home for the Universal Hip Hop Museum.”
“I am thrilled to see this project move forward,” she continued. “I congratulate L+M Development Partners, Type A Projects, and their partners on this historic day for not only The Bronx but all of New York City.”
The museum will be more than an empty tomb of breakdance memorabilia and old rap demos.
It will be a fully immersive experience, showing treasured items with educational opportunities from those who laid the foundation for the number 1 most popular genre of music in the world.
The biggest and the most amazing groundbreaking ceremony fundraiser is being planned for the Spring, you do not want to miss out 👀 More information about how to watch/attend will be provided soon. Announcement of our Phase 2 capital campaign will be announced later this month 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Fjmy3eCy8S
“For years, we’ve wanted a permanent home in The Bronx—the birthplace of hip-hop—and we are proud to be a part of Bronx Point, which will be one of the great new destinations of the borough,” Kurtis Blow said in the statement.
“The Breaks” rapper serves as the Chairman Emeritus of the Universal Hip Hop Museum and has been passionate about this vision coming into fruition for years. As an architect of the culture, since its very humble beginnings, this is a dream come true.
“Hip-Hop grew from a seed that was planted at a house party on Sedgwick Avenue into a global movement, and our museum will celebrate that journey and the Bronx’s place in its history. For all those who rose with us and followed in our footsteps: this museum will be for you, forever. We can’t wait to open our doors and welcome visitors from around the borough, the city, and the world to Bronx Point and the new home of Hip-Hop!”
The Universal Hip Hop Museum is expected to be opened by 2023.
Tragically, the rapper, born Paul Harts died at the Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Earlier this week, the police arrested a man named Khalil Lahenra Robinson and charged him in 18veno’s murder.
Robinson, 20, has been hit with a voluntary manslaughter charge and could face anywhere from 2-20 years in prison for his alleged role in 18veno’s shooting death.
Robinson was denied bond.
18veno dropped his debut project, Pablo, in 2020. His influences included Yo Gotti, Jeezy, and Gucci Mane.
The ATG is a certified diamond in a music world full of cubic zirconia creators. This music maestro orchestrates cinematic soundscapes and sonic impulses that move the crowd.
Music industry insiders are describing The ATG’s production as captivating, dynamic and spellbinding. Equally important, The ATG is abstract and enigmatic with an unquenchable appetite for cutting edge sounds.
He is like a scientist when he gets into his studio, which he refers to as his lab. He creates, shapes and molds the music into his vision. When he works with artists, he coaches them to intertwine their soul with the beat so that their voice acts as a second instrument on the track. The ATG cites Dr. Dre, Mozart, and Hans Zimmer as some of his musical inspirations. His production style is cutting edge and versatile.
He is most notable for his exuberant, richly orchestrated, fusion of contemporary Hip Hop, Funk and film score verve with a touch of classical music.
The ATG has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. Moreover, he taught himself audio engineering and he has become a master at creating top notch mixes.
The ATG’s notable production credits include “Entourage” with Indian Classical vocalist Leslee Lewis and Omar Gooding, Devil’s Night “Dawn of the Nain Rouge,” “Strong Enough” from Swifty McVay of D12, and “You Are Not Alone” from the film ‘AM RADIO’ featuring actor/rapper/singer Omar Gooding singing on the song.
Music is an outburst of the soul. Music is what feelings sound like. It has the ability to convey that which cannot be expressed. Music is the universal language, and The ATG speaks it well.
His willingness to experiment and think outside of the box gives him an advantage over his peers. His production prowess and relentless work ethic put him in a league of his own. The ATG is confident that he has the necessary skills, ambition and perseverance to achieve his goal of making his brand one of the most recognized production companies in the entertainment industry.
He is riding high with his current hit single entitled “Paranoid” featuring GV Prakash, Omar Gooding and Sa-Roc. The track is explosive, and it was deftly produced by The ATG. The song is receiving kudos from commercial DJ’s across the nation.
2020 was supposed to be the year of clarity and vision, but no one could have ever seen the happenings of last year!
The year saw some of the battle rap culture’s biggest personalities crash and burn, while some of the most unexpected soar to new heights. Tragedy hit the culture — but at the same time success, social media, and just plain hard work lifted others to the top of this field.
As the global pandemic sought to throw everyone for a loop, the snapback was extraordinary, showing just how resilient competitive emceeing actually is.
Check out the Top 20 Impactful Moments or Events of the Year!
1. APP GANG:
The explosion of Caffeine, URL App, Twitch, iBattle App, and other battle rap streaming options during the coronavirus
It is undeniable that we are in the digital age where streaming is the most lucrative means of distributing content. Artists know it with their music and studios know it with their films. The rise of apps like Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, and Amazon Prime have busted the doors open for content creators giving their filmmakers access to new audiences (never before available) and it did not take long before the battle rap world was able to tap in.
But no one saw the 2020 COVID-13 pandemic coming forcing everyone inside and only allowing folk to consume entertainment from their devices. But when you are ahead of the curve, boomerangs don’t knock you off your square.
Going down on Saturday!! If you use this promo code: CVLT2021 you’ll get 50% off of the app, and catch the ppv.
Leagues like the Ultimate Rap League and iBattle saw their apps flourish during this season as other companies flocked to IG and YouTube to figure out how to get battles to their fanbase. All kids of “Quarantine” or “Sterilized” series were produced and fed the beast steadily grumbling for more. But it was the URL and their epic deal with Caffeine TV that shook not only battle rap, but the heavens.
Secured by Drake, the deal was a multi-million dollar contract that gave the first streaming rites of certain URL content to the platform. Caffeine would be the broadcasting producer (under the supervision of URL staffer JB) and push out the Livestream for free to fans. After which, URL gets to place on their paid subscription-based app for their fans to watch over and over. Their app now catalogs the battles by events and artist name.
Caffeine afforded the league COVID-19 screening and a bubble to make sure that the participants and select attendees were safe from the virus (similar to the NBA) and hosted (clockwork-like Soul Train) programming like Ultimate Madness 1 & 2 tournaments (winners took away $25K purses), NOME X, SUMMER MADNESS X, Genesis, Kings vs. Queens, Watch the Throne 4, the Mook vs. Tay Roc card and Volume 6.
For a brand that gets most of its traffic from gamers, Caffeine’s investment in battle rap has paid off … bigly.
Their investors have coughed up a whopping $113 million to market and produce entertainment content (mostly consisting of battle rap). This money goes to the various Caffeine distributed shows that battlers have, the filming of the productions, the marketing of battles, and also the Offset, Doja Cat, and other music celebrities who have signed equally lucrative deals with the platform.
King of the Dot also tapped into the streaming app game by doing their own deal with Twitch. This deal allowed them to offer up a $50,000 bag to the winner of their Grand Prix tournament.
All in all, COVID-19 stopped a lot of stuff but not the culture’s grind. It forced people to crawl back into their cubby holes and emerge with a new plan for success that includes enveloping technology.
2. DAYLYT’s Return
Probably the best battle rapper ever, Daylyt returned to warrior against Tay Roc, a dangerous Dracula at NOME X and he beat. No debate. He was otherworldly. With only one battle this year, he did what no other battle rapper did, transcend himself above the Mt. Rushmore contenders and sat on top of Mt. Olympus — Zeusing on all of them.
He did all while recording his new project with Top Dawg Entertainment with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Lance Skiiiwalker, SZA, and Schoolboy Q are more.
Let’s just let fans tell us how that one jawn impacted the culture.
No way you watching nome x. Daylyt had 3 of the most amazing rounds I’d ever seen.
There is, at this moment, not one rapper that is scarier than Quill …
3. Kings vs. Queens
One of the biggest moments of the year was Kings vs. Queens, which was the first full co-ed battle of top tier talent from the Queen of the Ring and the Ultimate Rap League. On October 17, both companies joined forces to shake up the year with a super card!
Of course, there have been other battles of the sexes.
In fact, “battles of the sexes” themed programs are very popular in the culture, but no other leagues have done it with the same level of exceptionalism as the combined efforts of QOTR & URL.
The card proved to the culture that gender does not determine who has the most elite.
Featuring the following battles, it was extraordinary to note that women beat the men 3 times out of 7. Boston rapper 40 B.A.R.R.S. beat New Jersey’s Tsu Surf, Bronx rapper E-Hart lost to Harlem’s K-Shine, Queens rapper C3 had a debatable with Arizona’s Rum Nitty (though the fans did vote for EFB Puncher and he claimed the W), Rhode Island’s Couture lost to her ex-Harlem’s Charlie Clips, the Big Easy’s O’fficial lost to New Jersey’s Arsonal, Milwaukee’s Vixen took the surprise win of the night over DNA, and Casey J vs. Swamp.
One of the highest (if not the highest) rated and viewed battle events of 2020, it spawned a myriad of co-ed battles — albeit those had a lot less cash in back on them and most certainly less classy. The card that most comes to mind is shamefully titled Nggas vs. Btches card from Bloody Scene coming up during Black History Month. #BIG@ZZGASFACE
N*ggas vs. B*tches
While some of the talent on the card are top tier (Danny Myers, Bonnie Godiva, JC, Coffee Brown, Chef Trez), it is a step down just by virtue of the name from the high regard and royalty that these African people should always maintain and regard themselves. By the way… something doesn’t smell right in the water.
KVQ2 is coming up on 2/13. This card promises to be bigger and better than the first. Aye Verb vs. Ms. Hustle, Viixen vs. Loso, Tay Roc vs. O’fficial, T-Top vs. Coffee, and JC vs. Fiirst Ladii Flamez.
4. Ill Will Historic 60
Never before in the history of professional competitive battle rap has one emcee completed a 6-0, back to back 3-0s, in one night.
But let’s be honest, when has the world seen an Ill Will?
The Pontiac phenom took two battles on the Born Legacy 9 Card in the same hour!
Ms. Miami was the first to see her demise. She stood before him and he easily beat her round after round. She wasn’t garbage either. She simply was not better than the guy who after getting her up out of there turned to his next opponent and said, “Get yo @ss up here!”
The opponent he summoned was the DMV upstart and new DOT MOBB member Your Honor. He racked him up too … the battle was problematic as he was not at his best.
As noted in the video, he actually accomplished a few things outside of the historic 6-0 in 1 hour … he made his own Kings vs. Queens and Rookies vs. Vets fulfillment on this particular Born Legacy card.
5. Death of LB
On Sunday, July 26th battle rapper LB da Boss, unfortunately, lost his life when a boat turned over into the 20 ft. body of warm water while on a fishing trip with friends on the Hopewell Lake in French Creek State Park.
The information came swiftly about the tragic fishing accident. Many were frantically looking for his missing body hoping that he had perhaps swum to another bank, but unfortunately, that was not the case. The Staten Island rapper’s body was later located and was unable to be revived. Friends and family mourned his death, but none as publicly as his friend Bill Collector and his home league, Gates of the Garden.
An incredible emcee, his life and legacy were captured by the league in this video.
Also in tribute to his life, Bill Collector tore up the Ultimate Madness 2 tournament. In his memory, the final battle featured two lyricists from GOTG. His spirit helped them soar to higher heights.
Known for jumping into battles and his ability to get under people’s skins — here is a fan favorite battle with the king. Peep him, clock the little girl, throw a jab at her, and Shorty’s fist gripped up at him. He created moments and will be sorely missed.
6. Tournaments: Ultimate Madness and Grand Prix
It seems that the most exciting programming of 2020 was due to the introduction of tournaments to the mix. One aspect that made the tourneys dope was that they had a huge bag associated with them. The Ultimate Rap League sponsored two competitions based on their UFF joints on BET’s 106 & Park, Ultimate Madness 1 & Ultimate Madness 2. The competitors fought tooth and nail on Caffeine TV, families even torn apart, for a prize of $25K.
Participants for UM1 are as follows: Kid Chaos, Lu Castro, Jey the Nitewing, Real Sikh, Gun Powder Patt, Ru Bando, Squeako, Your Honor, Fonz, J Krooger, Eazy the Block Captain, Don Marino, Brooklyn Hanz, Big Hann, Bad News, and Ace Amin. The winner was Fonz.
Participants for UM2 are as follows: Th3 Saga, Holmzie Da God, Glueazy, Emerson Kennedy, Danny Myers, Reepah Rell, Tink da Demon, Franchise, Loso, Nunn Nunn, Mr. Wavy, Steams, Mike P, Ryda, Young Cannon, and Bill Collector. The winner was Holmzie Da God.
The only English-speaking mega league with over 500K subscribers on YouTube other than URL is King of the Dot and they also did a tournament called Grand Prix on Twitch (one of the largest social video-live streaming platforms ever). Organix, who curated the North, partnered with D-Rect, who curated the South; Poison Pen, who curated the East; and Lush One, who curated the West, presented an exhilarating contest that was co-ed and regional.
Participants for the Grand Prix (South) are as follows: Chef Trez, Lotta Zay, Scotty, So Severe, Carter Deems, Clone, Brixx Belvy, and Hayes the Family Man.
Participants for the Grand Prix (West) are as follows: Dizaster, Frak, The Saurus, MadFlex, Caustic, Aktive, RX, and Saynt.
Participants for the Grand Prix (East) are as follows: Head I.C.E., Ty Law, Xcel, Eddy I, J Murda, Rich Dollaz, Bonnie Godiva, and Showoff.
Participants for the Grand Prix (North) are as follows: Real Deal, Times, Charron, Shotti P, Joey Gambello, Ciddy, Marv Won, and Gauge.
The winner of the tourney and the $50K was Saynt.
7. MURDA MOOK RETURN to URLTV
Murda Mook (Management)
Fans had been waiting for Murda Mook to return to the Ultimate Rap League for years. Battle rap fans knew what Mook looked like before they knew what Smack White looked like. The Harlem titan was notably one of the first faces consistently seen on SMACK DVDs.
His last solo battle on the “World’s Most Respected” rap league was in 2012 when he battled Iron Solomon. He did have a two-on-two with Calicoe against Brizz Rawsteen and T-Top, but it was first pushed back from the Summer Impact card (originally scheduled on August 10) to the infamous Summer Impact Reloaded a month later that ended in a brawl.
The tensions were initially high between Brizz and Mook, as the fight spawned from toxic masculinity and high levels of disrespect, but later fizzled out after a year of the two emcees swatting at each other and a battle between the two went sideways.
Tay Roc (Management) and Murda Mook (Management)
The replacement matchup was between Tay Roc and Murda Mook. A cohesive move as a) Brizz was Cave Gang and Tay Roc is the leader of that crew, b) Tay Roc and Mook have had energy since Roc left Mook’s crew DOT MOBB and c) Roc and Mook genuinely seem not to like each other but were close enough in proximity to have personal dirt on each other. The makings of a dope battle right?
When promotion of the battle was epic as Roc, whose alter-ego is Dracula, was painted out to be someone who deals in Dark Magic. The narrative helped fuel all kinds of conspiracy theories online and shaped the good and evil narrative attached to the Harlemite’s raison de se battre. It a pretty good battle, with simply the two of them on set going blow-for-blow.
The promotion gave life to the battle, redeemed Mook as a modern-day battler with him taking the “W,” and reminded people that Roc can actually rap rap even in front of one of the gods of battle rap.
8. RYDA Exposing Mike P’s GIRL
Ryda has been redefining himself as an emcee for approximately three years. The Goonie member has struggled to maintain the same momentum as other popular Goonies like Nu Jerzey Twork or Jakkboy Maine, but after Jakk took the massive “L” in 2019 and Twork dipped for NWX (and later was in a car accident that almost took his life), Ryda had to figure it out … and figure it out he did.
During the Ultimate Madness 2 Tournament, he was paired up with Long Island rapper Mike P. Mike P, a rising star in URL after his win over Th3 Saga in NOME X, just knew he was going to destroy Ryda. He might have even beat the old Ryda. But Ryda Ramone … the Silky One … if your girl’s in my contact … we’ve been in contact … That Ryda is spooky.
And it got very spooky for Mike P as Ryda was like Lex Luthor with a handful of kryptonite standing in front of Caffeine’s superman (cool brunette curl dangling in front of his conk included). Ryda, in his silk shirt, dropped a bomb about his past relationship with Mike’s girlfriend — something that everyone knew but Mike.
So impacted by this battle (and Bill Collector’s follow-up battle) that Mike P actually blocked everybody on social and essentially quit battle rap. Since then, this Ryda Ramone character has been cooking … and people are afraid that someone that they love has been in battle rap’s lover boy’s phone list.
Just for the record … in this judge battle … Mike P actually took home the “win.” But while homie won the battle, it was clear who was the champion of the war.
So impacted by this battle (and Bill Collector’s follow-up battle) that Mike P actually blocked everybody on social and essentially quit battle rap. Since then, this Ryda Ramone character has been cooking … and people are afraid that someone that they love has been in battle rap’s lover boy’s phone list.
Just for the record … in this judge battle … Mike P actually took home the “win.” But while homie won the battle, it was clear who was the champion of the war.
9. Norbes suing URL
One of the most industry-shaking occurrences is when Streetstar Norbes decided he was going to sue the Ultimate Rap League for $40 million. He alleges that he built the company and that they weaseled him out of ownership. In addition to suing the three owners of URL, Smack, Beasley, and Cheeko, he also leaked the legal filing.
This came after URL publicly severed their relationship with the influencer. While it has never been said why the company broke ties, it has been suspected that it had to do with his alleged sexual harassment of women, allegations of him promising battles to women for sex, alleged mismanagement of the URL brand for monetary gain, and/ or his (not alleged we all saw it) fight with Nu Jerzey Twork, where he embarrassingly went viral after popping his pants.
Considered the biggest legal dispute in battle rap history, the lawsuit alleges that Norbes was pushed out of the company once they signed their “lucrative deal” with Caffeine Inc. and Drake. The lengthy document lists all the cards and battle rap activations, dating back to 2010. He positions himself as an insider and boss but never details when he was listed as an owner. In fact, he talks about receiving money from third parties directly — versus moving like a boss and having money deposited directly in the company (that he owns) account.
Nevertheless, the waters were further troubled, when he did a Chris Unbias Untold Truth. On that documentary-styled episode, he said that Smack was like his father, jealous of him and that he didn’t like P.
10. Ahdi Boom
Ahdi Boom had been released from prison, after serving a five-year stint, to a great deal of fanfare. Everyone remembers the #FreeBoom campaigns that littered Facebook groups, RBE shout outs, and various battle rapper’s IG posts. In celebration of his return, battles were set up. Ahdi was home and would resume his place as a sought after fan favorite (the boy can rhyme).
However during his very first big battle back … on his home league Rare Breed Entertainment… with thousands of people watching … He was exposed.
Bigg K, a white rapper from Virginia, pulled out paperwork that stated that Boom, whose real name is David Green, was making a lot of thunder to the “peoples” and implicated himself and others in a crime. The Dog was labeled a snitch. It wasn’t that he called him a snitch (let’s face it a lot of people are called that in battles) it was that he had xeroxed hundreds of copies of the numerous paged document (from a government site) and highlighted the section where he explicated says Ahdi Boom kinda “snitches” about the details of this robbery. K then passed the paperwork out to everyone in the venue.
People who previously rooted for Boom … slowly left from his cheer section.
And despite several attempts to vindicate himself (and actually rapping better than Bigg K during the battle), he has been shunned from the culture. It got so bad that he took a virtual battle at a smaller league and homie did his entire round of spoken word in a jail cell … all he needed was a piece of cheese to really drive it all the way home.
Few battle rap events were as devastating and rippling as this one … Can we have a moment of silence? #RIPAhdiBoomsBattleRapCareer
11. Chris Unbias’ Return
The “Godfather of Battle Rap Media,” Chris Unbias has been off the scene for a minute now. Accused of raping a woman, the man most notable for his Untold Truth YouTube segment and his popular Facebook group, launched the careers of the industry’s most prominent influencers such as Angry Fan and Jay Blac (the man that many say is to battle rap media as Smack is to battle rap).
After beating his case, he repackaged his brand in efforts to compete with the more slick incarnations of the analyst/ vlogging space that he basically created. And while his look is not as polished, he blasted back on the scene with riveting content: his story and the first listen to former URL top dawg Streetcar Norbes’ side of the aforementioned lawsuit.
No one knows if Chris’s return will carry substantial weight in the culture a few more months down the line.
In a space that is so saturated with critical voices, the question has to be asked, “Can he compete in a fast-paced space where fans that drive the culture are so fickle and unloyal?”
Our guess is yes — he will get in the groove and his relationships with the battlers are still strong. We will be watching just in case his stock actually drops.
12. Charlie Clips and DNA Partners with Now President Joe Biden
More people voted in the 2020 presidential election than any other election in U.S. History and rappers Charlie Clips and DNA can proudly say that they were a part of that. In one major boss move, it shifted how people positively viewed battle rap. The two of them worked with the Biden/ Harris campaign and produced an over 4-minute commercial that unpacked several points that directly impacted the Black community.
They joined the ranks of mainstream celebrities like Common, Cardi B, Jeezy, Beyoncé, Diddy, John Legend, The Hamilton Cast, Lady Gaga, Kevin Liles, 2 Chainz, Offset, Eminem, and Bruce “MuthaFlucking” Springsteen in efforts to get crazy behind Donald Trump out of the White House.
The goal was to motivate their fanbase to get to the polls to help increase the possibility of the great reforms that so many that ride with them (and got out and protested over the 2020 summer) wanted. And that mission was accomplished.
The move quickly festered criticism from some Black press and also battle rap vloggers.
The concern was that the Biden campaign was either pandering to Black people and that the two emcees (added by the direction of the Ultimate Rap League) sold out. To let some people tell it, they were selling out to people who don’t really care about the plight of the oppressed. However, with the 2021 Insurrection freshly in our mind, the second impeachment of the president —a move to exacerbate 45’s disgrace even more— and the real possibility of national efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in play, the myth that your vote doesn’t count is dissipating. By participating, they have access to influence real concerns about big-ticket issues. They got a plug.
Also … as the #45Lies campaign noted … getting Trump and his MAGAmaniacs out of there was important.
Especially since those crazies that took over the Capitol building the other week (the weirdos who believe that Jews in space have laser beams hitting earth cause wildfires in California) saw that PSAs like the ones the two lyricists did work. With the influx of brown faces in the polls, it was clear that they were/ still are big mad.
Their inclusion in the work to get (to borrow DNA’s catchphrase) Donald Trump the “f*ck out of here” positions the culture as impact leaders on a stage it has never been before. That’s just real talk.
The move also puts them in conversations with people that the average rapper (not just battle rappers) will never.
13. Math Hoffa’s Legends Only series
Math Hoffa is one smart cookie.
Say what you want, but the often emotional artist sees greatness for himself, works hard to achieve said greatness, and is not afraid to make big leaps of faith to ensure that he is included when people talk about him when all is said and done.
When he became the first battle rapper to have a real full-fledged talk show, comparable to Drink Champs and the Joe Budden Podcast, people were proud but thought it was a fluke. Then when he started his coronavirus-inspired live show, Between the Lines, people thought that maybe lightning struck twice in the same place; that’s a lucky son of a gun. But then … When he dropped his highly produced Method Man battle to debut his Legends Only series and then he backed that monumental effort up with the Nicky Jam’s battle, they had to see that he is just a visionary. INCREDIBLE!
Method Man most certainly is a legend and is one of those guys who really understands and appreciates battle rap culture.
From his Park Hill days back in the 80s and 90s to his hosting of the Drop the Mic show and judging of the URL Ultimate Madness tournament, he has shown that he understands and values the level of competition that goes into the process of crafting a winning round. He is one of the many mainstream rappers that enjoy dual citizenship in both worlds and his performance in this Legends Only series is proof.
Nicky Jam is not as popular, but when you see how big the Puerto Rican Latin Trap/ Reggaeton artist has over 13B views (in 8 years) on YouTube, you are only fronting not to acknowledge that he is a legend.
Sure Math has had to push through the reputation of his violent past, overcome some horrific cancel-culture-based cyberbullying, and has also been at the forefront of instigating beef between his peers, but when it comes down to his impact — no one can deny … and no one wants him to stop. Be great Mr. Pac-Juician… Be great!
14. Queen of the Ring goes to Hollywood with ‘The Forty-Year-Old’ Version
Radha Blank’s movie, The Forty-Year-Old Version dropped in October on Netflix to rave reviews … right before Queen of the Ring made its Caffeine debut with the Kings vs. Queens card.
The film was about a 40-year-old woman that found her new self and love through embracing Hip-Hop. Totally a New York story, it captured the spirit of cyphers and studio sessions with the uncomfortable duality of being female in rap culture and being “old” in rap culture.
Omg 40 year old Version is everything on Netflix especially with this Queen of the Ring Scene… Shooney and MsFit 🙃🙃🙃
The movie was great, but for the purpose of this list, what made this an impactful moment in the culture was the fact that Queen of the Ring was featured as a critical point of the lead’s development. Signage was big as day … The female rap league was seamlessly incorporated into the storyline. It made sense. It was profound. And it should have made the women who have fought so hard for respect in the culture uber proud.
Babs Bunny’s signature “Give it up for the ladies …” rang through the scene like a bell.
“The Forty year old Version” was very funny. And her featuring a queen of the ring battle was dope. I love seeing female battle rappers.
The movie featured mock battles from the following top tier artists Shooney da Rapper, Ms. Fit, and Norma Bayts. It also featured Miss Undastood in full Islamic garb, representing the diversity that is in female competitive emceeing.
The “look” just was awesome and helped QOTR argue that it is the most prominent middle size league in the English speaking world.
15. Yoshi G
Battle rap has not ever seen anything like Yoshi G. The pint-size vixen understands the power of sexuality in a way that few women in the sport can stake a claim. She knows it gets her in the room. She knows it gets her seen. She knows it gets her heard.
But while her vulgarity and unadulterated expression are what people first think of, they don’t get that she is a master marketer.
The FAMU history grad was born to rap … both her mother and father were emcees and her mom had a deal she had to turn down because she was pregnant with her. She, herself, walks in the lineage of Roxanne Shante, Salt ‘N Pepa, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, and Nicki Minaj. As a battler, think if Phara Funeral and Tori Doe had an illicit coupling, producing an heir to the ring that they have left to do other projects and you would probably get this nasty millennial. Oh and I forgot one thing … She is a muthaflucking freak.
It is, however, that freak gene that has caught her the most flack. Outside of saying that she started the Brotherhood … She has obsessed over St. Louis rapper Aye Verb in a scarily cultish way. Is it a game? Or is it for real? It is difficult to say for sure because she knows how to pull stunts.
Take for instance her battle against Bill Collector. In this battle, she almost got knocked in her head by the Norristown rapper’s wife for touching his private part during her round. At the same time, she gave one of the most open-hearted glimpses into her life by talking about the struggles she had with her father, possibly explaining why she is so flagrant with men.
You hated her … but still wanted to cheer for her … People just want her to win … at least until she dropped on her knees in the battle as if preparing to give head … then only the guys were cheering for her. She knows how to strike a nerve.
She also knows how to rap.
Take her battle against Tori Doe, her battle rap mother of some sort. She made the Harlemite look flustered and disheveled. Doe, whose perfume probably cost more than everything that Yoshi had on, could not lyrically top her.
And that makes her just dangerous… more dangerous than Eazy the Block Captain, Jey the Nitewing, Lu Castro, or Sikh, the pretty little p####-mouthed troll should not be on everyone’s lip but mmmm she is and there is really nothing you can say about it other than … Phara have that baby and get ready to rhyme.
16. Nu Jerzey Twork’s car accident
Superstar battle rapper Nu Jerzey Twork was in a horrible car accident almost in 2020. It was a devastating crash that could have cost him his life.
He took to his Instagram to post a selfie from his hospital bed that showed his black and blue bruises, busted lip, shut closed-eye, and gauze wrapped around his bruised head.
So devastating was this occurrence to Twork and his family they had to set up a GoFundMe set up for the top tier battle rapper.
Drake, a fan of both battle rap and Hip-Hop has contributed an undisclosed amount.
The page was simple with Nu Jerzey Twork’s name in the header and an image of him with bruised and shut-eye. The copy said, “Nu Jerzey Twork was involved in a heinous accident which resulted in him having multiple surgies. Anything you can donate will go towards his medical bills and support for his family. We appreciate you all. God bless”
While voices of fans and friends rose in high volume, Jaz the Rapper, his battle rap fairy godmother’s comments hit it on the nose. As one of the first to respond, she posted, “ Alhumdulilah.”
DNA actually pulled up on Twork.
Pulled up On My Bro @NUJERZEYTWORK In The Hospital 🙏🏾🙏🏾 Hes In Great Spirits & Getting Better But Still has a long way to full recovery If U Can The Go fund Me Link Is here – https://t.co/JcLvOcvteT Ito donate everything is appreciated 💯💪🏾 RT pic.twitter.com/lDoj7TbASs
“I was so hesitant to tell my son’s story but I must give God His Gloryyy!!! On Friday morning I got a call my son was in a car accident. I didn’t find out until later my son’s car had flipped multiple times and he was ejected from the car. Cracked skull, broken bones in his face, eye socket, broken vertebrae and lost lots of blood,” Shelman revealed.
“When I arrived to the hospital I didn’t know what to expect knowing what I was already told. Looking at all the blood my son was still laying in at the hospital. I saw pass [sic] the blood and saw my son was not on anyone’s breathing machine, no life support, wasn’t crippled, no internal bleeding, every part of his body had some form of scar but he had not lost one limb. Bruised but he’s here in his right mind. My son is Alive!!!!”
Twork is now up and at them, and already back on the stage. 2021 is shaping up to be a great year. The accident helped him pull together one of his best projects to date: Jerusalem.
Ms. Miami violates gang culture during Coffee Brown Battle and almost gets got
Ms. Miami scored big after battling Ill Will on the URL Born Legacy 9. Her performance earned her a coveted spot on the first full Queen of the Ring card, Watch the Throne 4, on Caffeine. After being off the league for a while, it seemed to be a dream come true: the eyes were locked on her.
This was her time to go ham and get crazy. She went crazy alright.
Battling against Coffee Brown, a noted Crip gang member, she got the bright idea to say one of the most disrespectful lines that anyone has had in battle rap. The Queens rapper made disparaging remarks about a deceased founder of the Crip gang and dropped a blue flag as she was doing it. That is when it got bonkers … as thousands of fans were tuned in around the world.
As she said the dastardly line, a man stormed from behind the camera and raged aggressively at her — looking like he was about to rock her to sleep. Security jumped into action, as minimal as that was on the very empty COVID regulated Caffeine set, and broke up the turmoil. Miami cried out for her husband Stamp, but he was slow to come to her rescue. The battle was ended after only two complete rounds.
The entire night was nervous as rumors flickered that gang members might pull up … luckily those proved to be false. Miami has not appeared on another QOTR card since and there is no word on when she will be asked to pop out.
What was learned?
That, in a culture so gang heavy, it is best to watch your mouth unless you are really about it.
18. Frak should have won against Dizaster
Everyone was talking about it.
Bay area rapper Frak went up against the Los Angeles veteran rapper Dizaster during the very first card of the King of the Dot Grand Prix competition. Hosted by Lush One, the energy of the night seemed cool and laid back kinda like most Cali vibes. However, this particular battle shifted everything leading people to suggest that the judges picked Diz because he had such close ties to them.
Hard not to rock with that logic because most of the fans contend that Frak should have won. He rapped better. He was more creative and Diz was simply on his bully jawn.
The first clue that something weird was going on is that the judges were not revealed until the last minute which is uncommon for those types of battles.
They scared to vote against Diz lmao 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Frak clearly won.
But Frak, being of good humor, took the L with grace and shared that this is just the right amount of attention he needed for his new album, B-List Celebrities.
Frak is alright regardless he was able to pivot … and pivot is what he did. The legendary Zion I camp member’s new project B-List Celebrities, distributed by Empire Records, has garnered over a million streams & views across platforms. And the project was making noise. So much noise that some of those who the songs are titled after responded. Actress and comedienne, Aubrey Plaza, and comic Gilbert Gottfried took to social to shout him out after finding out they had songs named after him.
19. The Emergence of a New Top Battle Rap Crew, The Loud Boys
There is not much to be said other than… watch out NWX, Cave Gang, Horsemen, DOT MOBB, Team Homi, and all the rest of you battle rap crews. In 2020, The Loud Boys made it a statement that was more than pomp and circumstance; it was an announcement of their new reign. The nomenclature is directly pulled from street culture, but it is appropriate because of the noise they made all year.
It would be hard to deny that this crew. The Loud Boys consists of Dre’ Dennis, one of the owners of the New Jersey league Gates of the Garden; Trub Deuce, Bill Collector; Holmzie Da God, Floss da Boss, J Krooger, Prez Mafia, Slade, Bandit Montana, Bonus, Chuck Book, and the brilliant Prep.
How they made real noise was through hard work and unbridled talent.
Dre’ Dennis is a dope emcee and even better businessman, providing level headed glue that keeps The Loud Boys together. This year, he and his Gatekeepers put on for 2020 despite experiencing some extraordinary blows like the loss of LB. Balancing both roles as executive and artist, he and his partner’s platform curated epic battles featuring talents like Bill Collector, Chef Trez, LB Da Boss (RIP), Lady Caution, Th3 Saga, Alias, Drugz, Buttah from Da Block, K Jack, Don Marino, Chris Hood, Fonz, Prez Mafia, Kang, Street Hymns, Showtime, A Ward, Prep, Young Kannon, Brixx Belvy, Clone, Young Gattas and more.
While all of the squad was on fire, there were three that simply clamored a little more: Holmzie da God won the Ultimate Madness 2 tournament. Holmzie blazed through the brackets with his unique style, grown man around-the-way bars, and an underdog mystique that kept him off people’s radar. He went up against his Loud brother Bill in the finals, a shocker because both of them were seriously bereaved throughout the competition. Victoriously, they stood in front of each other like brothers, a rare sight for the cut your throat culture that is in battling. For the two it was more than a battle, but it was one generation of contest performers opening the door for another. Bill opened the gates of possibilities for Holmzie, an act that got both of them on the Champion’s top rappers of the list (6 and 8 respectfully) and Let’s Talk Battle Rap’s list.
Outside of his work with Holmzie, Bill was knocking people down all year — most notably his third round against Mike P that put the nail in the coffin (after Ryda’s social murder). Another battle that racked up attention was on him against Yoshi, wherein a rare reversal of power, he was sexually harassed. The young hotbox touched him inappropriately after getting verbally lashed and fathered during the Born Legacy 9 card. This is the same battle, BL9, where a hot like fire Prep beat one of the lyrical gods of the culture, JC.
The “Year of Clarity” saw a refreshed Prep, gimmick-free and focused on his craft.
Outside of his battle with JC where he spits an Anne Frank line for your grandmother, another stand out for him this year was the two-on-two with Nu Jerzey Twork —bruuuhhhh!
Look for the Loud Boys to build off this momentum this year.
20. Method Man brings the pain to battle rap
For people who think that battle rap started on Fight Klub, SMACK, Grindtime, Lionz Den, or any other league… have a seat. It started on the streets of New York, where real lyricists went head-to-head for block supremacy. Corner after corner, heads would travel to spit their best rhymes against the dude who was rocking in that particular hood. Biggie tested dudes. Rakim tested dudes. Kane tested dudes. And Method Man … son from the Wu-Tang Clan … got busy in Park Hill, Staten Island. He has been a longtime lover of the culture — often commenting in real-time on battles.
As mentioned before, 2020 afforded Method Man an opportunity to get up close and personal with this new incarnation when he jumped in front of Math Hoffa during the Legends Only series. It did not stop there. He also became a celebrity judge on the Ultimate Madness 2 tournament.
It was there fans got to really see if he was just a clout-chasing commercial emcee that just wants to ride the wave of these young hot dudes, or if he had some history in this game. Did he know how to catch bars? Was he only impressed with punches and aggression or does wordplay, schemes, and stage presence matter? What they discovered is that he considers with precision all of those factors in scoring and was tolerating no fools when it came down to his opinion.
An excellent example of that is his immediate response to Danny Myers getting a little slick with his mouth in his round and during the time to vote.
Danny said something about Meth in his bars and tried to apologize. Meth snapped saying, “Fck you, Bobby Bouché!” In the battle, Danny ran and got his opponent Tink da Demon a bottle of water. “Go get me some water now.” Then, Danny remarked that GZA was the best member of Wu-Tang. Meth clearly didn’t hear that and said, “You didn’t even need that line [about me] … you should have stopped at meat cleaver. If the bar was fire, I wouldn’t have said sht. But the bar wasn’t even fire.”
But then Danny took it there.
He said that Meth was partially responsible for How High 2 coming out. Still with a smile, displaying a level of cool that translated to “I ain’t gonna let this lil ngga get me out my zone,” said “Who let them do what? I don’t own that sht.”
“It was a part of your legacy!”
“You know better [about legacy] than anybody … look at all them babies you got!”
Danny then shared that he was going to pull the bar with Meth’s name but then said, “I’m from the West” and decided to let it fly. Meth with the superb rebuttal gang, “ I am from a small town called fresh off a parallel universe n*gga ass!” As pause-worthy as it was, it was received with humor — validating humor that shows that people accept him in the space as the OG that he is.
DISHONORABLE MENTION:
AVOCADO (and everyone that rocks with him)
Attention battle rap community. Hip-Hop is not only a Black and Brown creation, but it is a part of the spirit of our journey on earth.
It is birthed out of the l#### of our ancestors’ triumph and the expressed poverty of the late 60s and early 70s. It is by origin “urban.” DO YOU GET IT … by origin, it belongs to the streets. The recognized Bronx founders juxtaposed this artistic expression with gang culture. Nope, back then, it was not the Crips and the Bloods, but the Black Spades, the Violators, Savage Nomads, the Seven Immortals, Cypress Bachelors, the Ghetto Brothers, Savage Skulls and so many more. So… this space does have ownership. Be mindful. It belongs to people and we lease it out to others.
That being said, in this new branch of Hip-Hop’s commercial tree, battle rap has experienced a rapid explosion of attention and money. How people consume battle rap is important as it is a remnant from the aforementioned street culture — and those gatekeepers of the biggest payouts remember that. And so making it look good was important.
Avocado, a white filmmaker, made battle rap look good.
No one can, nor will, take that from him.
He is a gifted videographer that has helped many Black-owned leagues go to the next level. However, this year some of his dirty secrets were exposed and moreover his hypocritical business dealings reeked with white male privilege that even he didn’t understand.
But bust the breakdown…
Avocado appeared to be upset with the Black-owned Ultimate Rap League for not hiring him for their big events after their new multi-million dollar partner did not want to work with him. He took to social media to publicly talk about the conflict … which inadvertently launched a social media campaign with fans to boycott or harass with URL for not hiring him. Fans accused the league of selling out the culture.
They were sell-outs because they were not exclusive to a company that was not exclusive to them. Where they do that at?
Fans did not consider that Avocado’s company was working with other (competing) leagues. And URL understood that they had to bid harder to get the contract. They understood those were the terms of real business play. Avocado did not … if fact… at one point, he was working at two rival leagues at the same time. Bruh … you can’t work at McDonald’s and Wendy’s at the same time!
His white privilege allowed him to think that it was good for him to have a non-exclusive work situation, but no one else in the culture that he worked in could. Or was that just the rule for URL? Private businesses can do what they want … and grown people know that there are no automatics when it comes to getting contracts. What kind of fake Civil Rights Act of 1866 mess is this?
Why would he have such a big voice in a culture where he is a guest (by his own admission)? He is a guest … not because he is white … there are accounts of white people being in the community since the 70s … but a guest because everything about this is learned from TV and him putting himself in spaces to experience it. The owners, that he has fans turning on, were born into Hip-Hop. They should have a level of say-so in who they want to work with … particularly when the other party serves their business better … without being held hostage by a disgruntled contractor.
And then… the video was leaked.
A video with him drinking and making racist comments about the Black battlers and insinuating that they don’t take care of their children. He giggled and co-signed, while another white boy hurled racist jokes one after the other. Avocado says that he didn’t agree but he did not say anything … another guy there spoke up. The other guy had enough social consciousness (even while drinking) to state that this was not cool.
As fickle as battle rap fans are, many who never saw anything wrong with his boycott of URL switched up after the leak, a leak that came thanks to DNA’s tooth. He later apologized after the video’s resurgence.
However, many still rocked with him … defending his action … and/ or accepting his apology.
Rap god turned actor and producer Ice-T is turning his sights to R&B with a new singer Zieme, who has studied under the tutelage of 80s R&B icons Force MDs.
Zieme has released “That’s The Way It’s Got To Be (Body and Soul)” with the blessing and backing of the OG, but has taken his musical cues from a variety of sources.
“After years of honing his skills informally by singing his own vocal arrangements of records by favorites ranging from Michael Jackson to Aaliyah, Zieme joined his uncles as the newest member of the celebrated R&B (Force MDs),” a statement read. “Armed with years of performance experience both with Force MDs and as a solo artist – sharing stages with the likes of Chris Brown, Boyz 2 Men and even Lil Wayne – Zieme came to Ice-T ready to take his career to the next level.”
Ice, a multi-tiered industry veteran, welcomed the challenge to back Zieme and “put the music game on notice.”
The film tells Hussle’s story using an animation of his silver 2010 Mercedes Benz SL550 convertible, as it cruises through the streets of Los Angeles. The whip makes stops at local landmarks pivotal to the rapper’s growth, while the mixtape’s songs provide a soundtrack to the documentary.
The footage is interspersed with quotes from the late MC, as well as new interviews with relatives and collaborators.
“It was very evident that bro was talented but bro didn’t move and didn’t react or record unless he felt inspired. So it was times we used to have paid verses that we would find. ‘Bro we got this guy he want to give you $5,000 to do a verse’…If bro didn’t feel it or wasn’t inspired it was not getting done even though we knew we can go in there and knock it out in 10 minutes like we seen him do before he just wouldn’t do it because you know it wasn’t inspiring to him,” Nipsey’s brother Blacc Sam revealed.
“Even producers, big producers. We got singles, movie soundtracks, so many looks. If bro didn’t feel it or wasn’t inspired It wouldn’t get done. Me personally I used to get frustrated, we used to get mad, but that was what was special about bro,” Blacc Sam said.
Nipsey Hussle’s face is never shown in the film, as per the request of his brother, Blacc Sam.
Explaining why he wanted to celebrate The Marathon, Sam told Billboard, “(The Marathon) forever reminds me of Nipsey’s genius, vision, and his intuitive purpose to inspire others above all at all costs.
“Nipsey’s determination, dedication, and integrity were displayed in every day of his life. His marathon mentality will forever inspire.”
Saint Bodhi is an anomaly in the music industry, a breath of fresh air when it comes to female recording artists as a whole. Inspired directly by real-life experiences growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the singer, songwriter, and rapper prides herself in creating music with substance, with lyrics that resonate with the soul upon each listen.
Now, she returns to unleash the first-ever podtape — a mix between a podcast and a mixtape — titled MAD WORLD, hosted by journalist/on-camera host Shirley Ju.
Released via Def Jam, the 12-track project is mixed and composed by Salva, featuring Bodhi’s standout single “Gold Revolver” and her explosive “Mad World Freestyle.”
https://SaintBodhi.lnk.to/MadWorldFreestyle
Listen above and stay tuned for more heat from Saint Bodhi!
The celebrity lawyer, known for bringing down big stars for big paydays, went to her Instagram to announce that she will be taking over as legal counsel for an unnamed “victim.”
She captioned the following, “Investigating T.I. on behalf of our new client. We stand with her. If you have information about T.I. please contact me via my law firm website, TheBloomFirm.com, or DM me. Free and confidential. Help us get to the truth.”
“I have said this for a long time: the music industry is long overdue for a reckoning on how women, especially Black women, are demeaned and abused,” Lisa Bloom continued. “Enough is enough.”
Lisa Bloom is not the only notable support system stepping out for the “Black survivors” alleging abuse.
The #MeToo movement, Time’s Up, and the National Women’s Law Center have banded together to release a statement.
“Over the last week, we know countless of you have come forward with credible accusations of horrific sexual abuse and violence at the hands of Black celebrities – including Soulja Boy and T.I. and Tiny,” the letter says.
“R&B singer Raz B has spoken out once again about his experience of sexual abuse – yet no media outlets, corporate actors, or systems of justice have centered survivors’ stories or promised accountability. Like you, we are carrying the emotional weight of this news and know that we are reliving a collective trauma akin to the exposing of Cosby and R. Kelly.”
“Over the next few days, we know your stories and the experiences of Black survivors may be dismissed,” it continues.
“We know people will try to discredit and scrutinize you. We know people will evaluate your stories by a set of questions that shift responsibility from the accuser to the accused: “What were they wearing? What do they do for a living? What is the social status of the abuser?” And we know that when the alleged abusers are not only famous but held up as pillars in the Black community, the tendency will be to sweep these allegations under the rug.”
“This tendency to ignore, mock, challenge, and discredit the stories of Black survivors is an attempt to coerce us into silence and, this too, is an act of violence,” the statement asserts. “This silencing of our stories leaves us unprotected. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 in 5 Black women are survivors of rape. The reverberating impact of silence and trauma spans across generations.”
The backlash has been swift. Deadline has reported that the production of “T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle” has been suspended because of the allegations.
“We are aware of the allegations, and while they are not connected to our show, we have reached out to T.I. and Tameka Harris, as well as local and state officials,” an MTV Entertainment rep, noted in a prepared statement to the press outlet.
“Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have decided to suspend production in order to gather more information.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Harris want to be on record and more importantly want the public to know they emphatically deny in the strongest way possible the egregiously appalling allegations being made against them by Sabrina Peterson. The Harris’ have had difficulty with this woman for well over a decade. They are taking this matter very seriously, and if these allegations don’t end, they will take appropriate legal action.”
If you’re in need of some laughter, look no further than The Bid. The new comedy stars the dynamic duo of Maurquis Boone and Richard Harris, who personally created, casted, funded, and shot the film in just over 30 days.
The movie recruits all-star guest appearances from Haha Davis, Mr. Commodore, Southside Ju, Ghee Funny and Shawn, and A-Town, bringing you that feel-good joy and laughter we’ve been missing all 2020.
Boone and Rich both hail from Philadelphia, serving as hilarious partners both on-screen and off-screen. With Philly Filthy Rich notably directing, producing, writing, and starring in the movie, The Bid tells the story of two rappers who get framed by an overzealous Philadelphia police officer, and things get crazy when the two are sent to prison and forced to fight the unjust Philadelphia prison system from the inside.
With Harris having experienced prison time in the past and Boone totally out of his comfort zone, violating all prison rules and ethics, audiences are left either fearing for their lives or bursting out in laughter. Released via B&R Films, GVN Releasing, and BPG Media, the movie is available for streaming now on GooglePlay, iTunes , AmazonPrimeVideo, and all other digital streaming platforms.
AllHipHop: What was it like growing up in Philly?
Maurquis: I’m from West Philadelphia. You got me having flashbacks girl, we just started doing good. [laughs] I’m talking about how we love it, I love Philadelphia.
Rich: I’m from Germantown, uptown. It’s like every other basic hood. Every city, everywhere you go got a ghetto. Philly is the ghetto of Pennsylvania man, but you’ve got more than Philly. You got Pittsburgh.
Maurquis: You make it seem like we’re ghetto man, we were good people.
Rich: No, I’m saying it’s a high-crime, bad area.
Maurquis: But there’s a lot of good areas: Center city, Manayunk, Roxborough, Wynnefield, Northern Liberties. There’s a lot of good places to live, what you talking about?
Rich: You right, you right, you right.
Maurquis: It’s a good city where you can come mind your business and do you. If you want to get into crime, it’s at a very high level. If you want to go straight, they’ll leave you alone. That’s why I love it, they leave me alone. I’m straight as can be.
AllHipHop: Did y’all always want to be in film and all that?
Maurquis: I did.
Rich: I did, but I didn’t never think I would. I thought about it. Of course I always wanted to do it, but I never thought I’d do it so I didn’t expect it. I didn’t think it was feasible, I didn’t think it was possible coming from where I’m from.
Maurquis: That’s why we had to do it ourselves because you can’t wait for nobody to hire you. Where we’re from, you got to get it done yourself man. Waiting on somebody, you’re going to mess around here and die. You gon’ wait on people, you gon’ wait and die. If you’re waiting on them, you’re going to keep on waiting. That’s the drive me and Rich got, we get stuff done. We’re very independent. If you don’t want to do it, we’ll get it done ourselves.
Rich: We’re very, very aggressive to get it done. [laughs]
AllHipHop: You guys play two Philly rappers framed in a police raid in The Bid, why were you the perfect actors for the role?
Maurquis: Because it’s our life for real, we’re both rappers from the city. I hate to relive the Percs story but in Philadelphia, I’m known as the Perc Godfather. Jesus Christ. In 2015, I made a song called “Popped a Perc.” It did pretty good so I already had the Percocet buzz. When we wrote the movie and you see little dog and the Percocets in there, that was an underlying joke for the Philadelphians.
Rich: It was easy because I play my character and he plays his real character. I’m Rich in the movie, he’s Boone. We really play our characters so it was pretty simple.
AllHipHop: Rich, I know you’ve been incarcerated. How did your first-person experiences influence your role in the movie?
Rich: We were able to emphasize and make a lot of the scenes realistic based upon my stay in prison. “No it wouldn’t go like this in prison, it’d go like this.” Or “this wouldn’t be here, this would be over here.” The cadence and the basic elements of prison, all that was in place. That’s how we utilized my prison experience, the dialogue and the talk.
Maurquis: The whole setup, this boy had everything.
Rich: The props, all that.
Marquis: Now you could tell he went to prison, I’m not playing. We were in an empty warehouse, it looked like a prison. The way we had it, any actors on the set will tell you it really looked real the way we hooked the set up. It was from his vision being in.
AllHipHop: How was it shooting with Haha Davis, Mr. Commodore, A-Town?
Rich: It was awesome man.
Maurquis: It was dope because nobody was nervous. Being that it’s a social media movie, we were comfortable in front of the camera all day long. We go viral on a daily basis. When we wrote the script, Haha Davis used to do guard, prison skits. Whatever you do on social media, we going to play to your strengths. When we got there, everybody was super comfortable so it was dope working with them man.
Rich: Everybody in Hollywood looks at this as a film with no-name actors. We never had acting jobs before but the acting is so dope in it because everybody in this film can out-act anybody in Hollywood. They’re in front of that camera everyday.
Maurquis: Let me rephrase that, they can out-act them doing our s###. They can run circles around them. I can’t go and do no Denzel, settle down man.
Rich: No, we can do Denzel. You can do it too. I’ve seen you do hard [acting?] on the computer. Listen, my cast will run circles around a lot of the industry. They’re very, very comfortable in front of the camera. All of them, I speak for the majority of them. 90% of them.
AllHipHop: How hard was it to not laugh during the film?
Rich: Well, that’d probably be a better question for me because Boone’s a comedian. Most of them are comedian. I’m not a comedian, but now people calling me a comedian. [laughs] See how hard it is for you not to laugh doing this interview? That’s how difficult it is for me.
Maurquis: This is game-face here man. [straight face] I’m for hours.
AllHipHop: How do we get you to smile?
Maurquis: I’m from Philadelphia man. This ain’t no game, this is a permanent face. Look at my nose. I sigh too much, there ain’t nothing funny for real.
Rich: Yeah, it’s difficult not to laugh. When we’re shooting the film, we didn’t really have the budget to afford to be f###### up. I had to not laugh thinking about budgets and getting into character. Once you really lock in and take it serious, it’s not a joke, all the laughter s### goes out the window and you do what you got to do. After the cameras go off, there’s so many comedians running around here doing their thing, you can’t help but to laugh.
AllHipHop: What were your favorite scenes and why?
Maurquis: My favorite scene was the table scene and the lunchroom scene. See, I got too many.
Rich: My favorite scene was when we was in medical after I got beat up.
Maurquis: One of my favorite scenes that I liked to watch, that was good to me, was Southside Ju and Danny Diamonds when they’re crying over the cat. When his cat died and he’s like “mama!” They thought his girl died but when the guy found out he was crying over a cat, he lost it and said “you crying over a cat, get the f### up man. You supposed to be hard, you in jail n*gga!” I thought that was cool man.
AllHipHop: Someone said “you had me rolling when you had to take a smash and he told you to use a leaf.”
Maurquis: Oh yeah, that’s when I tried to break out. The guard caught me, I had to come up with something quick.
AllHipHop: What was the process of making songs for the movie scenes?
Maurquis: After we shot the movie, we sat back and watched it for months and months and months. Then we had got with Blueprint Group and Jean Nelson had told me and Rich to come up with 10 songs. He took us up there to see him. It gave us a real inspiration to make music again. We’re in that process of making it anyway but when he told us that, we started looking at the movie again and we saw the scenes different. We start laying songs to the scenes, that’s why it really looked like all the music fit every scene from the intro to the outro.
Rich: It made sense for us to do it ourselves budget-wise, it was a lot easier that way so we knocked it out. The soundtrack is out right now on all platforms, it’s titled “Active” Boone and Rich. Tap in and check that joint out, a lot of y’all that have seen the movie will recognize the songs from the scenes. We’re going to do some visuals for it too.
AllHipHop: What’s your favorite song on the soundtrack?
Maurquis: “I don’t trust you b####, but I love you b####, but I can’t leave you alone.” [sings]
Rich: [laughs] I like “Active.” The soundtrack’s real dope, it’s hard to pick a single. Check it out when you get a chance.
AllHipHop: What comedians or directors are you guys inspired by?
Rich: I’m inspired by Ice Cube. I’m a big fan of Ice Cube, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, dudes that really get it in. I pay attention to them and try to do what they do, do it on a bigger level and try to do it better.
Maurquis: Follow their blueprint and put it in our own way. I’m Paul Mooney, I’m old school. I watch more Paul Mooney, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Martin, Kevin Hart.
Rich: Katt Williams too, you always talk about Katt Williams.
Maurquis: Alright, Katt Williams is one of my favorite comedians. Dave Chapelle, all of ‘em. I’m heavy on Red Foxx. If you watch my cadence, you see a lot of old s###. You see a lot of JJ, a lot of s### man. I give a lot of respect to the core of comedy.
AllHipHop: What does prison reform mean to you guys?
Rich: I did 11 years in federal prison. I went in in ‘04 and came out in ‘15. I was sentenced to 22 years, but my sentence was sliced in half based on the Fair Sentencing Act that President Obama signed into law. It enabled me to come home and be here. The guys and ladies in there, they have too much time. Give them an opportunity to come back out here and be a part of their family and their children’s lives, make a difference in the community. When they gave me that 22 years, I can honestly say I was ready for society after 5.5 to 6 years. Where I can honestly say to myself “alright, I get it. I f##### up, I’m really ready to go out here and do what I need to do with my kids and be productive.” 22 years was ridiculous, so that’s what prison reform is to me.
Maurquis: That’s a long f###### time. I did 18 hours and that killed me. He did 20, I salute him. I knew he was a good person. Anytime you get 22 years and you ain’t thinking about telling on and bringing anybody else down, you took your ownership and said “okay I did wrong, let me do it,” that’s dope. I’m not a prison guy. I know they need to let people out, period. Give people second shots. If they gave me a second shot, look at me. I swear I told my judge named Frank Brady: “yo listen, put me in a program. Something.” I did a whole year at outpatient for opiates. They caught me coming out of the pharmacy, I said “listen, I would never.” He said “okay Mr. Boone, I believe you, but make me a believer.” I had to come up every month in front of the judge, they p### test once a week. He told me “I have never met a human-being that said what you said and did it.” I never missed a day, I got out of there and I was serious. I don’t think jail is for human beings, that was crazy to me. It made me stop everything. [snaps] I play all day, it made me stop, get busy and get to work. I know a lot of people if they give them second chances, they’ll do right.
AllHipHop: How was it having freeway Rick Ross shout you guys out?
Rich: Oh man, it was incredible. Rick’s down here right now, we supposed to be catching up with him tonight. It’s his birthday today.
Maurquis: Rick Ross is the cause of all of this. He did a lot of stuff for us, man. He’s a good guy, that’s why I had to take off my hat. When we’re grinding and we couldn’t get no help, we’re showing people the movie and they said “nah, it’s too raw. It has no stars, social media knows them, but they ain’t…” You know these social media comedians is selling out when they doing shows right? We got these people in a movie. We trying to explain this to them.
When we’re down on our last leg, our manager Jamil called us: “yo man, you want to ride up to New York and see Rick Ross?” Hell yeah! It’s 2am or 3am, we packed up and put the movie in the trunk. I’m being serious, we put the movie in a trunk. We met him in a club, he’s doing a book signing. I was ready to attack, Rich said “nah man, chill.” This Rick Ross, he maybe could do something for us! He finally came up to the two of us and said “yo man, how are you young brothers doing?” I said “I’ve got the movie in the trunk,” he said “go get it”.
Rich: He watched it for about 30 minutes, told us he got us. He said “I got y’all.” When he said it, he meant it. Next thing you know, we’re in Hollywood in the meeting. He tapped in with our manager Jamil, he took us straight to the man. We figured we’d owe him something or he’s going to want something, he said “I don’t want anything. I want to see y’all win.” Coming from Philadelphia, that’s very humbling to me because I never had nobody do nothing like that for me. I’ve never seen nobody do that coming from Philadelphia with my own two eyes. That dude the GOAT man, cool dude.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from The Bid sequel?
Rich: Right now, we’re casting for The Bid sequel. We’re going to get people to reenact one of the scenes from Part 1, do it better or put it in their own little twist. They can reenact however they want it do it. That’s how we want to start the casting and see who can really act, see who’s engaged.
Maurquis: We doing Boone and Rich, and the Feds.
Rich: Last time, we’re in the state jail. Now we going to the federal jail and in the federal jail, there’s people from all over the world. We’re going to have different comedians from all over the country, versus predominantly this section. Now we’re going to a federal jail because of him.
Maurquis: The prison’s going to be in Philadelphia
Rich: It’s going to be crazy. We’re casting right now. Anybody watching this that’s interested in trying to get into The Bid 2, get a partner or 2 or 3, or however many you need, reenact one of the scenes form Part 1 and DM it to me and Boone. We gon’ sit there and look at a few of them, start picking out our cast like that.
Maurquis: We got a lot of people for the Bid 2 already on our list
Rich: Freeway Rick Ross gonna be in it, it’s going to be crazy. We’ve got a lot of people in this one.
Maurquis: We about 90% on Kountry Wayne. We looking for Desi Banks and Pretty Vee. Pretty Vee probably one of the funniest ones out there.
Rich: We trying to get Katt Williams in there too, so him and Boone can squash this little situation. We gon’ squash it in prison.
