“I’m a passionate battle fan, so this is something I’ve always thought about doing,” Eminiem toldRolling Stone, before musing on how rap battles helped him learn his craft.

“I came up battling at the same time I was making records and learning my way around the studio,” he said. It’s a little bit different in terms of the kinds of tools you need, but the competitiveness is the same. The times I didn’t win gave me just as much light in the past as when I did. It’s all about your performance.”

Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg told Rolling Stone that he sees the league as an opportunity to capitalise on the model formed by mixed martial arts league UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).

“What we look at this opportunity as, is a way to do for battle rapping what UFC did for MMA. That’s really the model we’re basing it on,” he said. “It’s this great thing that a lot of people love, but it’s very splintered, and it’s very niche, and it’s not really brought into the right production levels that it can or should be.”

The inaugural Total Slaughter event, which will run in conjunction with hip-hop website WatchLOUD, is being co-produced by Eminem’s production company Shady Films. A four-part reality series calledRoad to Total Slaughter will also air on WatchLOUD.

Source: http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/eminems-to...