Sprite Reaffirms Support for Rap Music, Inspires Teens to Explore New Boundaries

From left: Cross Section of the audience enjoying a rap battle competition organized by Sprite;  during the Freestyle Fury held at Silverbird Galleria recently.

Sprite, a leading lemon-lime flavoured sparkling soft drink produced by Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, has restated its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s Rap industry through support of platforms that promote true self-expression. The popular beverage brand expressed this at the Sprite-sponsored Silverbird Rhythm Freestyle Fury challenge, which held recently in the Rhythm FM Studios at the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Speaking at the event, Senior Brand Manager, Flavours, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Toyin Nnodi, remarked that Nigeria’s rap industry is a thriving industry that allows for self-expression among Nigerian youths, especially Teens. Nnodi said “Rap has become an incredibly powerful tool for expression of ideas and emotions among Nigerian Teens who naturally are edgy and seek to explore new boundaries. Sprite is excited to support events like these which encourage Teens to express themselves."

She emphasized that Sprite stimulates out-of-the-box thinking and recognizes the creativity and ingenuity embedded in the average Nigerian youth.  “Sprite stands for the attitude, edginess and swag of the urbane youth, and therefore encourages them to obey their passions", Nnodi noted.

The well attended event saw Vector Tha Viper set a new record for the longest freestyle Rap on live radio in Africa. Rapping non-stop for two hours, he used words and phrases from live tweets and SMS messages sent to him by the Stations’ listeners during the event.

Speaking shortly after the record breaking event, Vector thanked the organizers and sponsors for what he termed the unwavering support for Nigeria Rap industry. He said, “Shout out to everyone who made this event an epic. The tweets were hilarious and ridiculous at some points though. Biggest thanks goes to Rhythm and Sprite who made this happen. Their unwavering support for Nigeria’s Rap industry is greatly appreciated.”

In the studio with him was a panel of celebrities – DJ Jimmy Jatt, JAJ da Meccadon, and Elajoe. Top DJ’s, DJ Humility and DJ Sose played the beats for the event, which also featured four upcoming rappers, namely, Jesse, Sleeksound, Tesan and Blaqbonz, who competed in a Rap battle. The ultimate prize for the contestants was winning the title of Rhythm 93.7 FM’s Artist of the month and the recording of a sound track with Vector Tha Viper, produced by ace producer Licious Crackett.

Besides enjoying a good show, members of the audience won a range of prizes, courtesy of Sprite – LED TVs, Vacuum cleaners, Microwave ovens, DVD players and Blenders.