Photo Credit: Zoe Rain/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull understands music helps the world go round. They also understand its impact on pop culture. Every year, the brand that gives you wings hits the streets of the world’s hottest hip-hop scenes and brings the dopest artists and DJs together to see who can show up and show out the best. And it all goes down at Red Bull’s annual Culture Clash.
This year, the beverage brand headed to Atlanta to watch artists like Gucci Mane’s go-to guy, Zaytoven, “Latin trap” star Fuego, hip-hop and EDM duo Mija & Kenny Beats, and our On Da Reggae & Soca Tip artist, Kranium go beat-for-beat with the help of their crews, and we crashed the party!
Hot 97 touched down in the A and hooked up with rapper #FRKO who hosted us for the weekend as he showed off his eclectic rhyme style and multiple pieces of artwork – because he’s not just an artist, he’s an artiste. And he’s funny af.
#FRKO welcomed us (and a handful of selected press) to his city as we ate some hometown favorites: fried chicken, chicken gravy, biscuits, and indulged in a lot of liquor. While we loved all the food Atlanta had to offer, we were really there for the music.
ICYMI: We joined @redbull and completely took over the streets of ATLANTA for the 2018 #CultureClash. The ish was totally lit. pic.twitter.com/ISf8A1ZLPL
— HOT 97 (@HOT97) September 17, 2018
After a few meet-and-greets and a couple interviews, thousands of hip-hop heads and music lovers gathered together inside an empty warehouse in the A’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood to watch the clash begin.
Cultures clashed as Zaytoven, Mija & Kenny Beats, Kranium, and Fuego hyped up the crowd with the beats, lyrics, and the best dance moves they could think of over a four-round battle.
It didn’t take much for the audience to pick their favorite crew. But if it did, fans were easily swayed once special guests like FaBo, Trillville, Paul Wall, and Mavado made surprise appearances on stage.
It was clear who the top contenders were by round three (Zaytown Global and Kranium and his frequent Flyers), and by the end of round 4, the winner was clear.
Zaytoven and his DJ crew had hometown advantage, but Kranium showed up to show the south what New York and Jamaica are all about.
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Red Bull put on for Atlanta, and now the clock is ticking until they do it again. Next year’s location is TBD, but Hot 97 is where hip-hop lives; and hip-hop is everywhere (so expect to see us there)!
If you didn’t get the invite or didn’t know how to crash, take a look at Red Bull Music’s epic 2018 Culture Clash weekend below!