King of the Dot
 | |
| Industry | Battle rap |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 2008 |
| Founder | Organik, Avi Rex, RyanPVP |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people | Organik, Avi Rex, King Fly, Gully TK, Bishop Brigante, Lush One, J-Pro, Avocado, Dan Gibs, Malathion01, Sketch Menace, La Sparka |
| Website | KOTDTV.com |
King of the Dot Entertainment, also known as KOTD, is a rap battle league founded in Toronto, Canada in 2008. The company's HQ is based in Toronto, Ontario, from which it gets its name. Successful music artists such as 360, Madchild, Mistab F.A.B. and CanIbus have battled in King of the Dot.
About
King of the Dot is hosted by its founder, Organik. Past co-hosts have included various hip hop artists, including Drake, Raekwon, MC Hammer, Too $hort, E-40, Method Man, Sticky Fingaz, Spider Loc, DJ Skee, Reef the Lost Cauze, Slaine, Sabac Red, Sid Wilson and Jus Allah. The league began in August 2008 in an alleyway near Toronto Eaton Centre,[1] and now features over 150 emcees, battling in Toronto, California, Calgary and Vancouver.[2]
Primarily featuring Canadians and Americans, emcees from countries such as England, Scotland, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Philippines and South Africa have all battled in KOTD’s annual World Domination event. The influence of King of the Dot has spread globally, inspiring the creation of other battles leagues such as Flip Top in the Philippines.[1]
King of the Dot has three leagues — PY Battles (Try-Outs); GZ Battles (North American stand alone smaller league); and KOTD (worldwide big league).[3]
King of the Dot events feature all elements of hip hop culture, including a cappella emcee battles though there have been freestyle battles over instrumentals, live performances by hip hop artists, beatboxing, graffiti exhibits, DJing and breaking.[4]
Origins
Travis Fleetwood, a.k.a. Organik, built a reputation as one of Canada's elite battle MCs, winning title after title, including 4 wins at the well known Toronto-based freestyle competition Proud 2B Eh Battle MC[5][6] where he met a local producer/DJ by the name of RyanPVP who teamed up with the help of promotion guru Avi Rex to put together the first event which was initially supposed to be a flash mob style event at Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, however the police presence and private security at the location forced the event to move down the road to an alley beside radio station Flow 93.5.[7][8] After a few events at that location the crowd became too big to cram into the tight spot, so Organik opted to re-locate to Alexandra Park[9] the wide open space and gritty location proved to be a sure fire hit with fans and emcees, their crisp video production and local celebrity guest judges helped KOTD's rise.[10]
Format
The King Of The Dot battle is a set of three rounds. There are varying round times, between 60 seconds and 3 minutes. The rules are not overall that strict and rappers are frequently allowed to stretch beyond the time limits, as was showcased in Dizaster's battle with DNA (co-hosted by Drake).[11]
Magazine
KOTD magazine is available to be read online on the official King of the Dot Entertainment website. There is also an option to order the magazine in hardcopy. There have been six issues released to date. The magazine has articles discussing past events, interviews with various rappers and much more.[12]
Past events
In 2010, King of the Dot hosted its first Grand Prix.[13] Kid Twist was the first King of the Dot champion.[1]
Several major battles events have been hosted by King of the Dot, including World Domination II in August 2011.[14] American rapper Illmaculate defeated Bender during this event,[15] which was featured in Forbes.[14]
On November 5, 2011, King of the Dot hosted Flatline (2011), which featured a battle between rappers Dizaster and DNA. This promo event was co-hosted by Canadian hip hop artist Drake, who put up $3000 of his own money for both rappers .[16][17]
On July 9, 2012, King Of The Dot hosted Vendetta, which was headlined by the mainstream rapper Canibus battling Dizaster. The battle spurred controversy when Canibus pulled a notepad out to rap, a violation of the usual rules that rhymes had to be memorized.
Blackout 3 took place on January 26, 2013 and was located at The Guvernment Nightclub in Toronto. Hosted by Organik, Gully T.K., Lush One, Maestro Fresh Wes, Scott Jackson and Drake, KOTD sold out club that night with over 1400 patrons. Dizaster, from Los Angeles, California, was facing Arcane from Hamilton, Ontario, in the title match. This battle was judged by Dax Flow, Yas DCS, Adam Bomb, Knamelis and Shotty Horroh. Sponsors for this event were: Bke Technology, Metro News, Pound for Pound, 682 Records, Guerilla Printing, Marketing Kings, Urbanology Magazine, Think Don’t Shoot, Guvernment Nightclub, and Trevor D Custom Jewellery.[18]
Blackout 4 took place on January 25 & 26, 2014. It was the first time in battle rap that the matches other than the main events, were not released to the public.[19][20] Instead just the names of the battlers involved were released to the public. Each battler had a custom made introduction played on a big screen to bring them to the stage with.[21] It was at this event that Pat Stay made his first successful title defense against Dizaster to remain KOTD Champion.
World Domination
| Event | Main Event | Countries Competed |
|---|---|---|
| World Domination - Canada vs The World | Pat Stay vs Hollohan (Day 1)
The Saurus vs Arcane (Day 2) |
   |
| World Domination 2 - North America vs The World | Madchild vs Dirtbag Dan
Kid Twist vs 360 (Day 2) |
    |
| World Domination 3 - Global Supremacy | Pat Stay vs Head ICE (Day 1)
PoRich vs Dizaster (Day 2) |
|
| World Domination 4 - The Olympics of Battle Rap | Dizaster vs Arsonal (Day 1)
Arcane vs Pat Stay (Day 2) |
 |
2012 Expansion
On February 9, 2012, King of the Dot announced the addition of a new division called "Fresh Coast", which represents California. This division is simply called the West Coast Division now. It is the first division to be located outside of Canada. Events are hosted by J-Pro, Malathion & Lush One.[22][23]
Current champions
| Division | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOTD Champion | Pat Stay | August 24, 2013 (World Domination 4) | 3 |
| GZ Champion | DDSS | January 25, 2014 (Blackout 4) | 1 |
Championship History
| KOTD Champion | Nation | Event Won/Year | Title Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kid Twist | | PutYourMoneyWhereYourMouthIz Vol. 5 / 2009 | 0 |
| Hollohan | | PutYourMoneyWhereYourMouthIz Vol. 8 / 2009 | 1 (vs Jack Shitt) |
| The Saurus | | PutYourMoneyWhereYourMouthIz Vol. 14 / 2010 | 0 |
| Arcane | | World Domination I / 2010 | 0 |
| Bender | | Blackout I / 2011 | 0 |
| Sketch Menace | | Doomsday/2011 | 0 |
| poRich | | Blackout 2 / 2012 | 1 (vs PH) |
| Dizaster | | World Domination III / 2012 | 0 |
| Arcane (2) | | Blackout 3 / 2013 | 0 |
| Pat Stay | | World Domination 4 / 2013 | 3 (vs Dizaster, Daylyt and Charron ) |
| GZ Champion | Nation | Successful Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| DDSS | | 1 (vs poRich) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/06/29/hip-hop-week-king-of-the-dot-reigns-supreme/
- ↑ "http://www.aux.tv/2010/08/king-of-the-dot-gets-international/
- ↑ "http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/1051616--fighting-words-aplenty-at-king-of-the-dot
- ↑ "http://medsbc.com/?p=776
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDfvo5nUHA4"
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEPFskckrJ4"
- ↑ "http://www.flow935.com/"
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7lfDeE7Bro&feature=relmfu"
- ↑ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Park,_Toronto"
- ↑ "http://kingofthedot.com"
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9g2XgrxOk4
- ↑ http://www.kingofthedot.com
- ↑ "http://www.hiphopcanada.com/2010/06/king-of-the-dot-to-crown-1st-grand-prix-champion-articlenews/
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonoberholtzer/2011/09/22/behind-the-scenes-at-world-domination-ii-part-one/
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEYdhO4N918
- ↑ "
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9g2XgrxOk4
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL9_o_8GExQ
- ↑ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.26478/title.kotd-says-blackout-4-will-be-innovative
- ↑ http://www.hiphopcanada.com/2014/01/king-of-the-dot-announces-new-twist-for-blackout-4-event-jan-24-25-news/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgg0T7UYG84
- ↑ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSX1_FxXTiA&feature=youtu.be
- ↑ "http://www.kingofthedot.com/content.php?166