Last winter, Drake partnered with Caffeine and Ultimate Rap League (URL) to give battle rap to a bigger stage that fans could easily access. In the first year of the ambitious collaboration, URL’s battles brought over 8.7 million total viewers as well as millions of fans to Caffeine’s fledgling streaming platform. Now, all three parties are looking to re-up in 2021.
Following up their record-smashing 2020, they have revealed that it will treat battle rap fans with 163 events over the course of the coming year, 22 of which will be highly anticipated main events like the upcoming battle of the sexes match featuring Remy Ma and Papoose. Select events will debut popular battle rap formats on Caffeine, such as the 2 on 2 battle set to appear in URL’s upcoming events Double Impact 4 and Queen of the Ring. Longtime fans will also be delighted to hear that URL Season 2 will feature the return of the popular multi-week, single-elimination battle rap tournament Ultimate Madness 3.
“We brought battle rap into new and different corners of the world on Caffeine this year,” said Smack White, co-founder of URL, in a statement. “We’re writing the playbook on how to leverage technology for the advancement of the culture and make art more accessible.”
Perhaps the most exciting tidbit from Drake, URL, and Caffeine’s announcement is that the Certified Lover Boy himself will reportedly star in two large-scale events later this year. If you haven’t yet gotten hip to URL, then now is the perfect time to tap in.
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