His energetic anthem, “On My Way,” which was somehow excessively angry and cloyingly feel-good at the same time, struck the same dull notes of struggle, family, and destiny. Troyman came with a hard trap track so street it is literally called “Streetlights,” Londynn B oozed tough sensuality on “Only One”, and D Smoke offered an aesthetic and technical master class with his spiritual, contemplative banger “Last Supper.”įlawless was, well, flawed. Here, the contestants put together all the tools we watched them perfect throughout the season. The season finale-which featured Troyman, Londynn B, Flawless, and D Smoke-allowed each contestant a full-on awards show-style performance of an original song. While you could easily imagine Saxon killing it at an NPR Tiny Desk Concert or Beanz going viral for a particularly savage YouTube freestyle, it is difficult to see them headlining an awards show or crossing over into Top 40 consciousness. Beanz is a hard as fuck female MC from Reading, Pennsylvania. Saxon is a quirky Denver rapper who performs in a suit and cites Cab Calloway as an influence. “Rap Battles” saw two fan favorites sent home: Old Man Saxon and Beanz. While rap battles aren’t necessarily an essential part of the hip-hop artist’s arsenal, confidence, determination, and a little aggression are required. The stated mission of the judges wasn’t to simply pick the best artist, but find the best artists who they could sell to the world.
However, the battle episode defined what Rhythm + Flow was trying to achieve. The most controversial episode of Rhythm + Flow’s first season was easily “Rap Battles.” Half the group was culled in this episode and aggressive rappers were rewarded over more creative contestants. In that spirit, Rhythm + Flow captures what it is like to create art. In shows like these, you see how the tattoo or the pastry gets made. This show actually has much more in common with more niche shows like Ink Masters, Great British Baking Show, or RuPaul’s Drag Race where experts in a craft earnestly mentor contestants looking for someone they could see as a peer. The Masked Singer and Dancing With the Stars rely on celebrities, so the process isn’t as important as drama. American Idol and The Voice recruit singers from such a broad spectrum, and it’s hard to imagine Blake Shelton giving precise technical critiques to an aspiring R&B songstress. Rhythm + Flow is different from other musical contest reality shows. As my wife said after a particularly tough round of judging, “They’re all Simon Cowell.” No one played the role of encouraging cheerleader. fell somewhere in the middle, leaning back in his seat, ever the wise (and verbose) mentor, trying to meet the contestant exactly where they were coming from. Chance was the aesthetic, cerebral judge, aiming his feedback at an artistic level. They didn’t just evaluate the work before them they always tried to situate what they saw within the actual hip-hop industry.Ĭardi was the businesswoman, focusing on the artist’s chance of success. Through this lens, all three of them administered tough but fair critiques through various challenges like music videos, cyphers, and one-on-one rap battles. They wanted to find the most technically talented rapper who they also thought was marketable. Judges T.I., Chance the Rapper, and Cardi B were incredibly clear from the beginning.
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