 | |
| Industry | Battle rap |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 8, 2008 |
| Founders | Organik, RyanPVP |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario, Canada |
Key people | |
| Brands | KOTD, GZ Battles, PY Battles |
| Divisions | Toronto, Vancouver, Detroit, California, Arizona, East Coast USA, UK |
| Website | KOTDTV.com |
King of The Dot Entertainment, also known asKOTD, is a Canadianrap battle league founded inToronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The company's HQ is based in Toronto, from which it gets its name. Successful battlers such asPat Stay,Dizaster,Head Ice, Rone,Arsonal,Charron,Math Hoffa,Madchild, and many more have battled in King of the Dot.
King of the Dot is hosted by its founderOrganik. Past co-hosts have included variouship hop artists, includingDrake,Method Man,Raekwon,The Alchemist,MC Hammer,Too $hort,E-40,DJ Skee,Sticky Fingaz,Spider Loc,Reef the Lost Cauze,Slaine,Sabac Red,Sid Wilson,Jus Allah, and more. The league began in August 2008 in an alleyway nearToronto Eaton Centre,[1] and now features over 150emcees, battling inToronto,California, United Kingdom,Arizona,Michigan,Massachusetts andVancouver.[2]
Primarily featuring Canadians and Americans, emcees from countries such as England, Scotland, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, and Russia have all battled in King of the Dot's annualWorld Domination event. The influence of King of the Dot has spread globally, inspiring the creation of other battle leagues such asFlipTop in the Philippines, Dissneeland in Vietnam, andVersus Battle in Russia.[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 have featured all elements of hip hop culture, includinga cappellaemcee battles, freestyle battles over instrumentals, live performances by hip hop artists,beatboxing,graffiti exhibits,DJing, andbreaking.[4]
Travis Fleetwood, a.k.a.Organik, built a reputation as one of Canada's elite battle emcees, winning title after title, including 4 wins at the well knownToronto-based freestyle competitionProud 2B Eh Battle MC,[5][6] where he met a local producer/DJ by the name of RyanPVP. The two put together the first event which was initially intended to be aflash mob style event atYonge-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 stationFlow 93.5.[7][8] After a few events at that location, they were unable to accommodate the growing crowds, so Organik opted to re-locate toAlexandra Park for the wide open space and gritty location. The crisp visuals and production value, as well as local celebrity guest judges contributed to King of the Dot's rise.[9]
The King Of The Dot battle is usually 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.[10]
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 hard copy. There have been six issues released to date. The magazine has articles discussing past events, interviews with various rappers and much more.[11]
In 2010, King of the Dot hosted its first Grand Prix.[12]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.[13] American rapperIllmaculate defeatedBender during this event,[14] which was featured inForbes.[13]
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 Canadianhip hop artistDrake, who put up $3000 of his own money for both rappers .[10][15]
On July 9, 2012, King Of The Dot hosted Vendetta, which was headlined by the mainstream rapperCanibus battling Dizaster. The battle spurred minor controversy in the Hip-Hop community, when Canibus appeared to forget his lines and pulled out a notepad to read his lyrics from.
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 andShotty 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.[16]
Blackout 4 took place on January 25 & 26, 2014. It was the first time that the matches other than the main events, were not released to the public.[17][18] 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.[19] It was at this event thatPat Stay made his first successful title defense against Dizaster to remain KOTD Champion.
| Event | Main event | Countries competed |
|---|---|---|
| World Domination — Canada vs. The World (2010)[20] | Pat Stay vs. Hollohan (Day 1) The Saurus vs. Arcane (Day 2) |    |
| World Domination 2 — North America vs. The World (2011)[21] | Madchild vs. Dirtbag Dan |     |
| World Domination 3 — Global Supremacy (2012)[22] | Pat Stay vs. Head ICE (Day 1) PoRich vs. Dizaster (Day 2) | |
| World Domination 4 — The Olympics of Battle Rap (2013)[23] | Dizaster vs. Arsonal (Day 1) Arcane vs.Pat Stay (Day 2) |  |
| World Domination 5 — Global Supremacy (2015)[24] | Shotty Horroh vs. Arsonal (Day 1) Dizaster vs.Dumbfoundead (Day 1) Iron Solomon vs. Daylyt (Day 2) Illmaculate vs.Pat Stay (Day 2) |  |
| World Domination 6 (2016)[25] | Arsonal vs. Cortez (Day 1) Iron Solomon vs. Charlie Clips (Day 1) Pat Stay vs. Serius Jones (Day 2) Rone vs. Caustic (Day 2) | |
| World Domination 7 (2017)[26] | Dizaster vs.Oxxxymiron (Day 1) Iron Solomon vs.Illmaculate (Day 1) Cortez vs. Head I.C.E. (Day 2) Pat Stay vs. Charlie Clips (Day 2) |  |
| World Domination 8 (2019) | Head ICE vs Chilla Jones Soul vs Arsonal | |
| Indicates the current champion |
| Name | From | Event Won (Year) | Successful Title Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kid Twist[27] | Toronto, Ontario | KOTD Toronto Division, Vol. 5 (2009) | Defeated Bartone to become inaugural champion |
| Hollohan[28][29] | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | KOTD Toronto Division, Vol. 8 (2009) | 1 (vs. Jack Shitt) |
| The Saurus[30] | Monterey, California | KOTD Toronto Division, Vol. 14 (2010) | 0 |
| Arcane[31] | Hamilton, Ontario | World Domination 1 (2010) | 0 |
| Bender[32] | Ottawa, Ontario | Blackout (2011) | 0 |
| Sketch Menace[33] | Calgary, Alberta | Doomsday (2011) | 0 |
| poRich[34][35] | Whitby, Ontario | Blackout 2 (2012) | 1 (vs. PH) |
| Dizaster[36] | Los Angeles, California | World Domination 3 (2012) | 0 |
| Arcane (2)[37] | Hamilton, Ontario | Blackout 3 (2013) | 0 |
| Pat Stay[38][39][40][41] | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | World Domination 4 (2013) | 3 (vs. Dizaster, Daylyt & Charron) |
| Illmaculate[42] | Portland, Oregon | World Domination 5 (2015) | 0 |
| Rone[43] | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Blackout 6ix (2016) | 1 (vs. Caustic) |
| Head I.C.E.[44] | Harlem, New York | Blackout 7 (2017) | 1 (vs. Cortez) |
| Chilla Jones[45] | Boston, Massachusetts | World Domination 8 (2019) | 0 |
| Real Deal[46] | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Massacre 5 (2019) | 3 (vs. Chilla Jones, Charron & Saynt LA) |
| Name | Tournament | Runner Up | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane | 2010 KOTD Grand Prix | Loe Pesci | $2,000, Grand Prix Trophy and title match |
| PoRich & Diaz | 2011 KOTD 2 vs. 2 Grand Prix | The Saurus & Illmaculate | $5,000 |
| Arcane | 2012 KOTD Grand Prix | Chedda Cheese | $5,000 and title match |
| Dan Da Sick Spitta' | 2013 Ground Zero Grand Prix | Step Easy | $1,500 and Ground Zero Championship Chain |
| Saynt LA | 2020 KOTD Grand Prix | Marv Won | $50,000, Grand Prix Championship Belt and title match |
| Bill Collector | KOTD Series 1 | Pass | $100,000 |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)