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MTV's Reality Rap Riot
Yo! MTV doesn't rap nicely.
Searching for the next Eminem or Ja Rule the music network held an open casting call for fresh meat in Times Square on Monday--but when crowds got out of control, MTV pulled the plug on the rap contest before the rhyming could begin.
Contest organizers planned to admit the first 1,000 rappers to the Minskoff Theater to strut their stuff but underestimated the interest generated by MC Battles, a hip-hop faceoff unofficially described as 8 Mile meets American Idol.
The reality rap contest, which attracted rappers from all over the East Coast, promised a recording contract from Russell Simmons' Def Jam label and $25,000 to the winner. Outtakes from the weeklong contest, part of Hip-Hop Week at MTV, would have been aired nightly on Direct Effect, with the finalist being crowned on Friday.
Instead, people began pushing and shoving as the crowd outside MTV's studios on 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square swelled to several thousand aspiring rappers, all hoping for their 15 seconds in the spotlight.
Two hundred police officers were called in to control the unruly crowd and, according to MTV, ultimately recommended the music net call off the event. In the end, two cops suffered minor injuries and four people were arrested for disorderly conduct during the MTV talent search gone wrong according to an NYPD police spokesman.
Some are claiming MTV purposefully mismanaged the event to create the controversy surrounding the now well publicized rap battle.
One contestant on the scene told a local ABC reporter that "they [MTV] said no sleepovers, so they wanted everyone to run up here at 9 a.m. They set this up."
Undeterred by the street brawl, MTV staffers handed out fliers to contestants inviting them to participate in another emcee showdown at a later date.
"After having done numerous events and similar talent searches in Times Square and throughout the country, we're disappointed we had to take this measure, but we'll announce details about rescheduling MC Battles shortly," Dave Sirulnick, MTV's vice president of news and production said in a statement released yesterday.
Def Jam also reaffirmed its commitment to the troubled project in a statement from label president Kevin Liles. "We're working to make sure the MC Battles happen soon, as we know there were many people who turned out to be a part of this event," he said, adding, "the streets will be heard."
A word of caution to rappers willing to throw down for the chance of appearing on MTV:
In 1998, the music net held their first national veejay search open to the general public. The talent search inflicted Jesse Camp upon viewers. As the winner of $25,000 and an MTV hosting gig the scrawny teen attempted to make the most of his time on TV promoting his band the 8th Street Kidz. Camp signed a recording deal with Hollywood Records the same year and released one album to general disdain. He hasn't been heard from since.
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