BattleRap.com caught up with King of the Dot co-founder and host Organik in the middle of last week's “Battle of the Bay 7” event, two weeks before the highly anticipated “Blackout 5” in Toronto.
Following last year’s ambitious “Blackout 4” setup at The Opera House, Organik is trying to set the bar even higher. “The battles have been set up and now it’s time to set the event up. And when I say the event, like … when we throw events in Toronto, we don’t try to make it an event, we try to make it a show,” he says. “There’s a lot more to it on the production side … It’s about creating an experience.”
The big difference this year is the introduction of a seated audience — a first for KOTD. Organik explains this unusual way of presenting rap battles: “A big issue in all these battles is people talking,” he admits. “Because they become disinterested quickly on what they see, and they form groups of circles of people and talk. When you have a seated venue, you’re limited to who you can talk to — the person on your right, the person on you left … your primary focus is going to continually be on that stage. We all know what it’s like to stand through eight hour battle events … We’re trying to listen to the fans.”
“Blackout 5” goes down on Feb. 7-8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada.
You can order the live pay-per-view here or tickets for the event here.
Check out all of the announcements for “Blackout 5” here.
Here are some pictures of the venue:
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http://instagram.com/p/yQ9QSfOQSS/?modal=true
Thoughts on seated events? Let us know in the comments below.
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