PLANO, Texas, Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wiz Khalifa is officially set to headline a surprise performance in Las Vegas on September 20 at the Doritos' #BlazeStage, the official pre-party of the Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival, at The Foundry at the SLS Hotel. The #BlazeStage is the culmination of Doritos' "Blaze The Beat" competition, a fiery battle led by coach and mentor Busta Rhymes with Doritos to discover hip-hop's next chart topper. Thousands of artists nationwide downloaded producer Terrace Martin's Doritos "Blaze Beat" this summer to spit fire to the track, and Busta has selected five finalists who will share the stage with Wiz and compete for a $50,000 grand prize.
The five finalists are (in alphabetical order by last name):
- Tye Cooper, 24, Providence, R.I.
- Carly Exume, 19, Long Island, N.Y.
- Terry Fox, 33, Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Edwin Morrow, 37, Atlanta
- Enoch Tolbert, 23, Philadelphia
To view a sample of the five finalist submissions, click here.
"The culture of hip-hop has grown tremendously through the years; I've been so lucky to be a part of it and watch it grow," said Busta Rhymes, who kicked off the year spitting fire for Doritos in an epic Super Bowl commercial. "Now I'm looking to give back and help provide opportunities for the new generation."
Said Wiz Khalifa: "To see the evolution of hip-hop from legends like Busta to myself and others from when I was getting started, to now the newest generation, is awesome. I'm excited to work with Doritos and shine a light on the up-and-comers."
Hosted by Busta, the #BlazeStage event will heat up with opening acts by hip-hop stars Goldlink, London on da Track and Taylor Bennett. Following in their footsteps, the Doritos Blaze The Beat finalists will each have time to get the crowd hyped and show what they're made of by performing their submission to the contest. Busta will be on the scene to crown the victor and reward hip-hop's newcomer the grand prize of $50,000.
The Blaze Stage itself will also be unlike anything seen before: it's the world's first Doritos-triangle-shaped stage with plenty of fire and heat, both literally and lyrically.
"We partnered with All Def Music and Busta Rhymes this summer to make sure that we were tapping into some of the best undiscovered talent in the hip-hop community, and we can't wait for fans to hear how incredible these finalists are," said Leslie Vesper, senior director of marketing, Frito-Lay North America. "From the unforgettable opening acts and a headliner like Wiz Khalifa who's been topping the hip-hop charts this summer, the #BlazeStage is going to kick off Life Is Beautiful in the hottest way possible."
Doritos is granting fans access to the #BlazeStage and tickets to the sixth annual Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival through social media. For a chance to win a pair of VIP tickets to the Doritos Blaze Stage and 3-day passes to Life Is Beautiful in Downtown Las Vegas (September 21-23, 2018), fans can tweet at @Doritos the hashtags #DoritosBlazeStage and #Entry today through September 14. For more information, visit DoritosBlazeTheBeat.com.
Meet the Finalists
Tye Cooper, 24, Providence, R.I.
Tye first knew he wanted to be in the music industry after performing at his dad's wedding when he was little. He's performed a handful of shows in the past, including opening for some notable names, and now he's on the cusp of a breakthrough.
Carly "X" Exume, 19, Long Island, N.Y.
An aspiring hip-hop artist, Carly is currently in school studying finance and would one day like to combine her love and passion for music and business. Her biggest inspirations are 90s R&B and hip-hop artists, as well as underground artists in today's music scene. Carly says seeing other entreprenuers work hard and succeed encourages her to work hard at music.
Terry "P.L." Fox, 33, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Terry is going full-fledged into the hip-hop scene, having recently quit his job at a local shoe store to focus solely on his main passion. He previously won a major freestyling competition, and he says he wants to bring the hip-hop scene to his city of Ann Arbor now that he's 100 percent focused on his music career.
Edwin "EdVanzd" Morrow, 37, Atlanta
Growing up in East St. Louis, Edwin spent countless hours exploring his grandfather's massive record collection. Listening to every genre sparked his love for music and especially fueled his passion for hip-hop. Consistently honing his craft of wordplay has led to his successful social media music series #FireFlowFridays, and now "EdVanzd" is poised to take the next step into the spotlight.
Enoch Tolbert, 23, Philadelphia
Armani has been rapping for many years and his only goal is to inspire and give others a reason to believe in themselves. His biggest inspiration is his niece and he uses writing raps as a diary to explore his inner dialogue.
About Doritos
Doritos believes there's boldness in everyone. We champion those who are true to themselves, who live life fully engaged and take bold action by stepping outside of their comfort zone and pushing the limits. Doritos is one of the many brands that makes up Frito-Lay North America, the $14 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fritolay.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2017, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose – our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world enable PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.
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