Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. to judge Netflix hip-hop competition
Today, the streaming service officially confirmed that they are bringing on board Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. to judge Rhythm & Flow, a new hip-hop series that is going to premiere at some point next fall. Auditions are being held in Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, with there being guest judges tapped for each city.
The idea of finding the next great hip-hop artist has certainly been explored before in other television formats, and even some series like The X Factor and, at least briefly, The Voice have brought in the occasional artist. The Four, which premiered on Fox earlier this year, catered itself specifically to more of a hip-hop audience than a number of other series out there. Unfortunately, its ratings dipped in season 2 and we’re not 100% sure what the future of that format is at the moment.
What works at the moment for Netflix here is that they have three of the most-noteworthy rap talents of the past couple of decades. You’ve got performers who are immensely successful and immediately recognizable to viewers today. They also all hail from different places and represent different styles of the genre. Cardi brings New York flair, Chance was well-known in Chicago before making it big, and T.I. is of course considered to be one of the biggest Atlanta rappers out there. They can find a way to court new talent through this particular format.
If there is one serious cause for concern at the moment, it is simply trying to find a way to get people super-enthused about a talent competition in 2018 when there are so many more out there. Beyond just that, does this show work when you give people all of the episodes at once? Much of what makes singing competitions successful is the interactive nature of them; America feels like they have a real role in determining who is actually successful at the end of the season and if that’s not here, it could make the overall idea of this less exciting.
Nonetheless, we give Netflix credit for trying to continue their pursuit of world domination across just about every television medium known to mankind — it just remains to be seen whether or not this is actually something that is going to work for them. They are still in the infancy stage, as strange as that may feel to say. They are still working hard in order to try and figure out precisely what works for them and also what works in the long-term. They may not have all of that figured out until years after the first season of this premieres.
What do you think about Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. judging a hip-hop competition series for Netflix? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: Netflix.)