Rap Game gets UK grime remake

The Rap Game is in its fifth season on Lifetime in the US

FremantleMedia-backed UK prodco Naked Entertainment has picked up the local remake rights to US music format The Rap Game.

Currently in its fifth season on A+E Networks-owned US cablenet Lifetime, The Rap Game sees host Jermaine Dupri coach, test and then ultimately select rap’s next potential superstar.

Naked’s UK version will switch the genre from rap to its younger British cousin grime, showcasing an up-and-coming generation of talented grime MCs, all competing for a record deal.

London-based Naked was founded by former Fox, Discovery and Channel 4 exec Simon Andreae in 2015 and will now pitch the idea to UK broadcasters.

The Grime Game (working title) has no eliminations and is shot like a documentary. Joined by their managers in a residential recording studio, the musicians – each of whom already has a major following online – must spin their own life stories into hooks and bars, trying to catch the attention of grime’s most influential stars in the process.

The original series launched in 2016 and follows five young rappers from all walks of life as they move into a house together and perform each week, competing for a recording contract with Dupri’s So So Def Recordings.

Over the series, contestants have been coached by some of the biggest stars in US rap and hip-hop such as Queen Latifah, Ludacris, TI, Da Brat and Usher.