Beasley, battle rap A&R and part owner of URL, spoke on the collaborative URL/BET Ultimate Freestyle Friday battle rap tournament and the cancellation of its "106 & Park" home during a recent interview with 15 Minutes of Fame Radio.
“UFF was a collaborative effort between BET and URL, and basically what we did was we formed the hardest and most difficult emcee battle tournament on television to date. And [what] a lot of people don’t realize is that the guys who participated on the UFF, they had very limited time to prepare. We shot the whole season within a two-day span, with the exception of the champion versus champion battle. So if you were the champion, you had to go through three [or] four battles … full battles, in a two-day span,” says Beasley.
Beasley spoke positively about the three seasons of UFF that were shot on BET’s "106 & Park," which was turned into a digital-only property last December after 14 years on the air.
“It was a great, great, great experience. They loved us there. We actually helped increase the ratings of the show,” says Beasley.
When asked about the fate of UFF, and URL's connection to BET, Beasley explained that he was already aware of the state that "106 & Park" was in going into the deal and thinks it was a good opportunity.
“We had a great experience at BET. I think it gave a lot of the emcees [more] visibility as well as our brand, and it's just a great way to showcase battle rap on a large scale,” says Beasley.
In the interview, Beasley hinted that something similar to UFF was in the works, but wouldn't reveal any details until things were confirmed.
“I can't really give out too many details because things are still kind of sensitive at this point in terms of where were going to land, but we have a couple of offers right now and a couple people contacting us in regards to establishing another program on another major platform, so as soon as that comes into fruition we’ll let the fans know, but we definitely do have people that are interested in working with us,” says Beasley.
Watch the full interview below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTCwg8wuiPU
Thoughts on UFF? Let us know in the comments below.
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