Recently, music industry elite came out to celebrate DJ Rhetorik, as he took home the $10,000 cash prize from the 2015 McDonald’s® Flavor Battle DJ Competition. The New York native put forth his best skills to beat out DJ Soundwave of Los Angeles and DJ Lani Love of Chicago at Orbit Nightclub during Global Spin Awards weekend in New York City.
Flavor Battle host and legendary DJ Clark Kent stands alongside the 2015 Flavor Battle winner, DJ Rhetorik of NewYork. at the finale at Orbit Nightclub during Global Spin Awards weekend. The sixth annual McDonald’s Flavor Battle, a national online DJ competition, showcases some of America’s hottest up-and-coming mix-masters. The competition began with 12 DJs representing three regions across the country (Pictured left to right: radio host, Angela Yee, Sprite Senior Customer Marketing Manager, Chrystal Reynolds, DJ Clark Kent, DJ Rhetorik, CEO of Powermoves Marketing & Promotions, Shawn Prez and McDonald’s U.S. Marketing Director, William Rhodes.
Legendary DJ and producer, Clark Kent, served as this year’s Flavor Battle finale host while celebrity judges DJ Skribble,DJ Shiftee, DJ Jazzy Joyce and the 2014 Flavor Battle champion, DJ R-Tistic evaluated each of the finalists’ mixing styles, performance appeal and technique to determine who would be worthy of the grand title. Radio host and entertainment personality, Angela Yee, served as the social media correspondent providing live updates on each of the performance sets.
“Winning this year’s McDonald’s Flavor Battle competition is a huge accomplishment for me,” said DJ Rhetorik. “Honestly, all of the DJs were great, and I’m extremely humbled to even be considered for the opportunity.”
In its sixth year, the competition brought out some of the biggest up-and-coming DJs in the industry with 12 DJs hand-picked by McDonald’s and Complex Media vying for the chance to win the grand prize. Over the course of three weeks, three DJs – one from the West Coast, East Coast and Midwest regions – won over the stylistic preferences of online voters and fans of the art form with creative mixes that helped them advance through three rounds of voting on flavorbattle.com. Spinning on the 1s and 2s, the final three competed, putting forth their best craveable flavor, and were extremely active on social media encouraging their networks to participate in the voting process using the hashtag #365FlavorBattle.
“The excitement surrounding the 2015 McDonald’s Flavor Battle competition was solid and engaging,” said William Rhodes, McDonald’s U.S. marketing director. “Cognizant of hip-hop resonating deeply among our Millennial audience, McDonald’s celebrates this art form and recognizes the importance of such a program. We are proud to offer the Flavor Battle as a platform for rising DJs to showcase their skills on a national stage.”
In conjunction with lifestyle network Complex Media, McDonald’s Flavor Battle launched in 2009 as an extension of the company’s 365Black initiative. McDonald’s 365Black platform was created to celebrate the pride, heritage and achievements of African-Americans year round. Be sure to follow @365Black on Twitter and follow the conversation using the hashtag #365FlavorBattle.
