On the heels of the news of the partnership between Fresh Coast Media Group and Alki David’s FilmOn, BattleRap.com spoke to Lush One about the imminent venture, holograms, how David became involved, and the implications the relationship might have for the battle medium going forward.
Lush describes the Fresh Coast Media Group's relationship with FilmOn as involving work “behind-the-scenes for King of the Dot, but we’ll be doing original programming with them as well.”
Lush is confident the deal will bring about the “new era” of battling. “We ain’t fucking around,” he says, “so anybody that once considered themselves a competitor, I wish you the best of luck and much love to y’all, you know what I’m saying? Like you guys are still invited to the party. It’s all love.”
Lush refers to FilmOn owner Alki David as “the ambassador for Battle Rap for the corporate world” and goes on to explain what it was about the billionaire’s approach that brought about the deal. “A CEO, owner of a company worth more than all of these other dudes combined, and he’s willing to sit down, chop it up like a normal person,” he says. "That was like, man, this is a dude I need to fuck with. Once he saw battle rap and what it was he instantly was like ‘yeah, this is my shit,’ and he loved in particular Dizaster and Daylyt.”
The founder of Grind Time and current collaborator with King of the Dot points out that Fresh Coast Media Group would remain independent. “We work together,” he maintains, “we signed a network deal with them so we have our own channel on their network.”
According to Lush, FilmOn operates with “user-generated content but then they own a bunch of licenses as well,” enabling 24-hour streaming on their site, several million downloaded apps, as well as a variety of different TV networks.
In what may be the most outlandish hint, Lush highlights the fact David also owns Hologram USA, the company with the rights to the Tupac hologram featured at the Coachella festival in 2012. “We all know Big Brother’s watchin’ you through your iPhone, don’t use FB messenger, blah, blah, blah, whatever,” he says. “This shit is what’s poppin’ though so you need to be at the forefront of new media and what’s crackin’.”
Lush One is hugely optimistic about the move, calling it “advantageous on many levels” and proclaiming that he’s “nothin’ but excited about it. It’s a new era.” He also says the battlers can expect bigger paydays for performances on the new platform, saying “rappers not finna be living in they mama’s basements no more, that’s it.”
“Right now we’re reaching the apex of the wave. Now is the time,” Lush announces, before promising a match-up he suggests will “make the internet fold for the third time.”
PART 2: Lush One Speaks On His Future With KOTD
What do you think this battle could be? What would you want to see on a 24-hour streaming battle rap channel? And holograms? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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