Sitting down in the HipHopDX offices, Debo, the CEO of Queen of the Ring spoke with BattleRap.com about the league's origins and its progression more than four years later.
“Not to take nothing away from the fellas but you’re seeing the same thing over and over again," Debo said of male battlers. "There’s countless male battle leagues that you’re seeing the same battles, you’re hearing the same content. It gets boring at a time. When the females came, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, this is new.’ We might not have grabbed the male battle rap fans but Queen of the Ring grabbed a new audience.”
"We only had E Hart, Dutchess, Ladi Treez, and Flo on that camera," Debo later said, detailing the league's early days. "After that, droves of girls just came out and said, 'Yo, this is what I wanna do. This is what I want to get down with."
Take a look below to read Debo's list of the league's milestone battles and watch the battles themselves.
QOTR's First Battle: Dutchess Vs. Flo
"That was in a fitted hat store ... We was happy because that got 2,000 views. Then it got three. Then it got four and five. We was like, 'Wait, we got something here."
QOTR's Most Important Battle: E Hart Vs. Ladi Treez
"I would say E Hart and Ladi Treez. I'ma tell you why, I seen the vision. When I took that footage home and looked at it, I said, 'Wow. This could really be something.' That sparked my inspiration."
QOTR's First Battles In The Ring
"My memory is not the greatest but I think it was Norma Bayts versus Raine. I think it was. Either that or Dutchess versus K Prophet. One of the two. That's when we started."
What are your favorite QOTR battles? Let us know in the comments below.
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