If you're following battle rap events from home, you only see a fraction of what is happening. The battles become the element that home viewers focus on, but in person at an event, backstage is sometimes more entertaining than onstage, as emcees drop their battling personas and just hang out as people.
Here are some videos from King Of The Dot's recent "Blackout 5" event that show what was happening before, after, and during the battles.
Big T
Big T gets behind the camera for his QMBTV channel to show his journey to and around Toronto.
“I think about life, I think about it’s a blessing, you know? At the end of the day it’s a blessing to me. It’s a blessing to do my thing, do what I want to but I’m kind of focused man,” he says, sipping a drink in first-class on his flight.
He films snippets of the press conference before the event with Organik and Drake, the view from the hotel room balcony and a gathering of friends and fellow battlers, like Daylyt and Pat Stay.
Big T also catches a highly entertaining roasting session between Quiet Room Battles organizer Queenzflip and Rone. Rone gets criticized for his “construction” boots and he goes in on Queenzflip’s “finger painted” trophy award.
Rone
Rone captures the event from his point-of-view on Episode 2 of GoRONE, a series that shows his adventures through his own eyes.
At the airport in Toronto, he bumps into Chilla Jones and Arsonal.
Later, Head I.C.E tells Rone how he feels about Drake looking forward to his battle.
Rone spends the rest of the video capturing moments at the bar, highlights of which include Shuffle-T attempting an American accent and Shotty Horroh commenting on the fight that broke out during his battle.
Dirtbag Dan
Dirtbag Dan shows what's going on backstage at the event and gets everyone’s thoughts on the outcome of the weekend.
He conducts short interviews with Marv Won, Daylyt, Organik, Shotty Horroh, Serius Jones, and Dumbdoundead, among others.
“Biggest audience, biggest production. I felt good up there. You know, I was nervous kinda getting back into it but I think I had the right balance of shit,” said Dumbfoundead regarding his battle against Conceited. “I wanted to come with classic Dumbfoundead jokes, sprinkle some seriousness in there, you know, and make fun of the dude personally.”
Jeff Hammerton
Cinematographer Jeff Hammerton takes us behind the scenes during his trip as he flies from Denver to Toronto to film the event.
In the collection of clips from Day 1, Hammerton captures the press conference as well as Illmaculate arriving at the hotel after issues with his flight. These videos turn the camera around, giving us a look at the personalities of the people who shoot and edit KOTD's footage.
Subscribe to Jeff's channel here.
Cover image by Zach Macphoto.
www.zachmacphoto.com
IG: @zach_macphoto
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Were you at the event? What was your favorite behind-the-scenes moment? Let us know in the comment section below.
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