GOD MUST REALLY LOVE THAT GUY WITH THE BEARD … cause even nature makes way for his success.
COVID-19, in the craziest and unexpected way, allowed the Ultimate Rap League to transform the battle industry like never before.
When we backtrack, no one could have predicted that the world would be locked up in their homes for the better part of the year — with nothing to do. It was in Smack and ’em’s dumb luck that they made a move at the top of the year that would make them Teflon against the knock that quarantine gave the industry … and industry that thrives on live events.
![Smack White](https://allhiphop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Smack-White.jpg)
Through an unprecedented partnership with recording artist and battle rap fan, Drake and Caffeine TV, the brand was able to provide their audience with thousands of hours of battle rap content, while everyone was hemmed up in their homes. Outstanding metrics further proved their spot as the premier platform of competitive emcee culture.
Now, they have announced that their partnership has been renewed for another year, and boom … the mega-style monopoly promises to roll-out over 100 events and programs for fans to enjoy.
CAN’T COPY RESPECT.
What did the deal look like last year?
URL owners, Troy “Smack” Mitchell, Eric Beasley, and Cheeko French premiered their league exclusively on Caffeine TV last year with main stage cards like Genesis, Ultimate Madness 1 & 2, NOME X, Summer Madness X, the Murda Mook vs. Tay Roc card, Volume 6, and more, garnishing hundreds of thousands of fans, numerous evenings where cards trended at #1 on Twitter alongside sporting brands like UFC, NBA, MLB, and NFL, over 8.7 million in total viewership and averaging in a watch time of 100 minutes per tune in.
From the beginning, the streaming world seemed to take note of the fanfare around this collaboration.
But battle rap fans weren’t happy as they mobbed and crashed the system on the first card Genesis.
Swiftly, the Caffeine TV team worked in tandem with URL team to not only “fix the glitch,” but create an interactive model that affords the artists and their supporters access to each other like never before. By the time of the next Caffeine event, fans easily tuned in to cheer, diss or clown the talent, the hosts, the judges, the owners, and each other.
The comment section proved to be sometimes just as exciting as the battles.
The strategy worked, and URL and Caffeine can boast that “one of last year’s event drew an audience of 350,000 and was one of the biggest live-stream events on any platform in 2020.”
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
2021 will be just as dynamic as URL has 163 battle rap themed events and programs scheduled, 22 are cards like Kings vs. Queens 2 and Double Impact 4, the highly anticipated 2-on-2 contest of the year.
It has been announced that super couple Remy Ma and Papoose will be the special guests on KVQ2, hosting with Babs and Smack.
The Ultimate Rap League is a privately own company committed to the expansion of urban street culture.
As the self-proclaimed “world’s most respected” battle rap platform, the league has also pioneered the industry by creating its own streaming app. The URL App is available across multiple servers such as Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Samsung Smart TV, and XBOX on Androids, Apple Tablets, phones, and televisions for a monthly fee of $7.99.