THE MPL-PH is rolling out a whole bunch of gimmicks for the Season 9 playoffs next week — including cinema showings in SM malls and free tickets to the live event for lucky fans. But for the casters who’ve spent eight weeks calling the plays from behind the broadcast desk, nothing spells “PLAYOFFS SZN” more than the return of the infamous caster Rap Battle.
The way Dan “Leo” Cubangay remembers it, the first Rap Battle wasn’t just the brainchild of one person.
“We're all somewhat musically inclined, as a bunch,” said the former radio DJ to Spin.ph. “Manjean [Faldas] has a rap group, Uomi [Theodore Ignacio] writes and records music — so to write verses and lay out a rap battle for the S8 playoffs teams came naturally. Brainstorming for playoffs hype content, I guess, is how it came to be.”
It was a runaway success. The video, which saw casters assume personalities of the playoff teams and duke it out with the sickest bars, has been viewed almost half a million times on Facebook.
“I've been writing and recording music since high school, so that part was familiar,” recalled Leo. “Pero yung maging maangas for the camera? Sort of dance and vibe out to my verse, while being shot on cam? That was new and very fun.”
And if Leo was proud to spit out verses about Blacklist for Season 8, he feels it’s right that he’s now taking up the rap cudgels for Nexplay EVOS in Rap Battle Vol. II, which will drop soon.
“They are a team that's not afraid to reinvent themselves, and I vibe hard with that. Expect variety and references!” he said.
Plus, it helped that Nexplay EVOS' mascot is a roaring cat — just like his own beloved pet Cups (short for Copernicus), who also features in the Rap Battle II poster along with Mara Aquino’s Rizla.
“It's nice that our fur children can be part of it.”
Meanwhile, Uomi told Spin.ph (answering our questions as he went on a livestream) that he'll be doing something a little different for Vol. II.
"Honestly hindi ako nag-rap doon sa track na ire-release," he admitted. "They made me sing" — something he wasn't too comfortable, with, "kasi feeling ko mas maangas yung rap na ginawa ko."
But still, according to Uomi, "Rapping and singing isn't our day job but being able to perform in a different scenario with my co-casters is just...I love the feeling."
Lucky fans will also get to watch MPL-PH playoffs live
Aside from the rap battle, the league has announced that it is also holding a ticket giveaway for fans to watch the playoffs live in their SMX Convention Center venue.
They’ll need to tell the world why they are the biggest MPL-PH fans in the league’s official Facebook post. Eight fans will win two general audience tickets, while one lucky fan will get two VIP tickets.
"We are excited to finally welcome our fans to the MPL-PH Season 9 Playoffs. We hope to provide our loyal fans with action-packed live matches and a chance to see their favorite teams, while strictly adhering to the health and safety protocols," says Tonyo Silva, esports senior marketing manager for Moonton Philippines, in a statement.
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