The World’s Leading Online Television Provider Joins With the Man Who Rekindled Interest in Hip Hop Tradition to Produce Original Content and Pay-Per-View Events for a 24/7 Television Channel
BEVERLY HILLS, CA–(Marketwired – August 19, 2014) – Promising to do for battle rap what the UFC did for MMA, a newly announced partnership between FilmOn Networks and Fresh Coast Media Group will be raw, visceral and dedicated to building a massive audience for what has been an incredibly creative, but in recent years underground, part of the hip hop scene.
Fresh Coast Media Group, the company led by rapper Lush One has joined with Greek billionaire Alki David‘s Beverly Hills-based company FilmOn Networks to produce content, pay-per-view events and high stakes challenges around the newly reborn genre of battle rapping–one of hip hop’s most revered traditions. The content will use FilmOn’s Battlecam platform to enable live interaction with fans, and will be streamed over the internet on FilmOn.com and broadcast via FilmOn’s over-the-air channels in the U.S. and the U.K.
“There’s nothing grittier or more real than battle rapping–It’s how all of hip hop began on the streets really,” says David. “The stuff that’s out there now is for lightweights. MTV’s TotalSlaughter allows Viacom to neutralize Eminem and has no street cred. It’s a joke, and has nothing to do with the raw experience we’ll deliver with Lush One’s crew and an uncensored forum for the top talents in the genre.”
“This partnership allows us to take everything to a greater level of professionalism and to have deeper pockets behind the budgets and everything,” says Lush One, the rapper and entrepreneur who has led the creation of a distinct brand of West Coast independent hip hop that’s synonymous with his company Fresh Coast Media. “It’s just on a higher level. Our artists battle against the mainstream music industry in the same way Alki has the entertainment industry. They’re renegades for truth and innovation.”
He adds: “This is the time. It’s going down right now.”
The first pay-per-view event will air on FilmOn Networks’ new Ether TV platform in early December 2014. “Our events will honor the epic face offs from the golden age of hip hop,” says David. “And future generations will be reciting the names of the winners of our battles. No holds barred. No weak tea watered down by a 90-year old Chairman of the Board with a catheter, holding Eminem’s hand and deciding what’s get said or not.”
Rappers who will appear on Battle Rap include Dizaster (arguably the biggest in the genre), Daylyt (also huge), Cali Smoove (the hot up-and-comer who will be seen soon in the feature film about NWA). Laylaw (who wrote Tupac Shakur‘s last songs), and Lil Eazy (son of Eazy-E). In addition to Lush One, artists who rose to prominence with Fresh Coast who will appear include: Conceited (star of MTV’s WIld ‘n Out with Nick Cannon), Dumbfoundhead (the Korean-American rap star with huge YouTube following), 360 (the multi-platinum artist who is the biggest rapper in Australia), Shotty Horroh (who is working with legendary EDM producer Deadmau5 of Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation), and Hollow Da Don, Murda Mook, Illmaculate and many others who have proved themselves on the streets and at Fresh Coast’s live events, including on its earlier productions with the site King of the Dot.
Co-hosts of past Fresh Coast shows have included Drake (who is a huge supporter), Wu-Tang Clan, and many more. NBA stars and other celebrities will make guest appearances on Battle Rap.
Battle Rap joins FilmOn.com‘s offering of over 600 linear TV channels and over 50,000 VoDs which reach 40 million unique monthly users worldwide. Outspoken CEO Alki David has created entertainment events featuring boxing, MMA stars, Jackass-like stunts, extreme reality television and major pop music stars. He is also a pioneer in the field of Social Television with BattleCam.com being used by a devoted audience of millions of users. FilmOn recently announced a co-production deal with Relativity that will produce a major feature film, BobThunder: YouTube Assassin, which depicts top YouTube and BattleCam stars.
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