LET THE RAP BATTLES BEGIN!

QUEEN LATIFAH AND FLAVOR UNIT TEAM UP WITH MEGA PRODUCER JERMAINE DUPRI TO HELP FIND THE NEXT BIG NAME IN HIP HOP WITH "THE RAP GAME," PREMIERING NEW YEAR'S DAY

LOS ANGELES, CA (November 4, 2015) - The next big rap star is about to be unleashed beginning New Year's Day when five emerging young hip hop artists, ages 12 to 16 years old, are given the opportunity to rhyme and flow with highly sought after producer, Jermaine Dupri in the all-new unscripted series, The Rap Game (#TheRapGame). These young rappers will be immersed in the Atlanta hip hop scene with Dupri at the helm as their mentor. Queen Latifah and her partner Shakim Compere will executive produce under the Flavor Unit umbrella along with Dupri on the series that will air Fridays at 10 PM ET/PT. Each week, special guests such as Usher, Ludacris, Da Brat, T.I. and Silentó will join Dupri to help mold the kids into the next big, young rap star.

Queen Latifah is hailed as the First Lady of Hip Hop. She changed the landscape for women in the rap game by creating epic songs full of female empowerment. She went on to become one of the most successful women within the world of hip hop as well as outside. She has garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe(R) nomination, a Golden Globe win, a SAG Award(R) nomination, a SAG Award win, two Emmy(R) Award nominations, one Emmy win and six Grammy(R) nominations as well as a Grammy Award.

With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Dupri knows what it takes to succeed. Having worked with some of the biggest young talents in the music including Bow Wow, Da Brat, Kris Kross and TLC, he has a proven track record of cultivating young talent and making them into stars. With high expectations, Dupri gives it his all - and expects nothing less from the kids and their parents in return. It's anyone's game on who will walk away with a record contract with his label, So So Def Recordings.

The Rap Game artists include:

Lil' Niqo, 15, San Diego, CA - Lil' Niqo has been making music history since he was 10. He was the youngest rapper signed to Island Def Jams and was a correspondent for BET and MTV's red carpets. Lil' Nigo also appeared on the drama, The Finder, working alongside 50 Cent, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jacob Latimore. With his "momager" Nique by his side, there's no stopping Lil' Niqo's path to success.

Lil' Poopy, 12, Brockton, MA - The youngest in the group, Lil' Poopy has made over 200 videos, writes his own songs and has performed with Puff Daddy, Rick Ross and French Montana. His father and mentor, Luis Rivera, Sr. will do anything to see his son rise to the top - including hiring the hottest models and renting out Ferraris for his son's music videos.

Miss Mulatto, 16, Atlanta, GA - Miss Mulatto began her career performing at birthday parties and has since made a name for herself in the Atlanta music scene. Her mom, Misti, is always by her side at competitions, despite finding it difficult to infiltrate the tight-knit social circle.

Supa Peach, 12, Atlanta, GA - With a unique style highlighted by her signature cape, Supa Peach raps, sings, dances and models. Sure of daughter's profound talent, Josetta has moved her family from the Virgin Islands to give her daughter everything she needs to launch her rap career.

Young Lyric, 15, Houston, TX - Young Lyric's hip hop career began when a video of her rapping went viral. She recorded her first song at seven and was named the "Best 14 Year Old Rapper" by WorldStarHipHop.com viewers. Her parents, Olivia and Mitchell, will do whatever it takes to get her to the next level and believe she's on the brink of superstardom.

Produced by Intuitive Entertainment, The Rap Game is executive produced by Mechelle Collins and Kevin Dill (Atlanta Plastic and The Millionaire Matchmaker), showrunner Sean Rankine (Basketball Wives), Laura Fuest Silva (America's Next Top Model) and Chris Deaux (Rods and Wheels) in addition to Dupri, Latifah and Compere. Lifetime's Eli Lehrer, Mary Donahue and Mariana Flynn also executive produce. Filmed in Atlanta, eight episodes have been ordered for this season.

ABOUT INTUITIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Intuitive Entertainment, LLC is a film and television production company dedicated to its motto of "storytelling with style and character." Owners Mechelle Collins and Kevin Dill started Intuitive in 2006, and have produced hundreds of hours of television including eight seasons of Bravo's hit series The Millionaire Matchmaker. Intuitive also created and produced Sunset Tan for E!, Pit Boss for Animal Planet, Rods and Wheels for Discovery Channel, Heartbreakers for Discovery ID, and Atlanta Plastic for Lifetime. Intuitive recently released the independent documentary See Me, narrated by Susan Sarandon. See Me was screened at the Heal One World's Awareness Festival. Other documentaries produced by Intuitive are Lifetime's Spotlight 25, and MTV's Yearbook Chronicles.

ABOUT FLAVOR UNIT ENTERTAINMENT

Flavor Unit Entertainment is a production company owned and operated by Queen Latifah and her partner, Shakim Compere and is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important production companies in the film industry. They began by executive producing Disney's box office # 1 hit Bringing Down the House and then continued with Beauty Shop for MGM and The Perfect Holiday for Paramount. They have also produced The Cookout with Lionsgate, as well as the film Just Wright with Fox Searchlight. On the small screen, they executive produced HBO's critically acclaimed film Life Support which garnered a number of awards including an Emmy nomination and Golden Globe win for Queen Latifah . Flavor Unit Entertainment made a multi-year deal with BET to create new original programming including the original movie The Cookout 2 and its first-ever scripted romantic comedy titled Let's Stay Together which premiered with 4.4 million viewers. In 2011, Flavor Unit Entertainment's original film Single Ladies, was expanded into VH1's first hour-long scripted series with approximately 3 million viewers throughout its two season run. Flavor Unit produced Latifah's film Joyful Noise. Most recently, Flavor Unit produced Lifetime's Original Movie, Steel Magnolias which stars Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Jill Scott and Alfre Woodard. The movie premiered in October 2012 as the third most-watched telecast ever on the network, averaging 6.5 million total viewers. Flavor Unit most recently struck a multi-year licensing deal with Netflix. Their first release includes the thriller, House of Bodies which stars Terrence Howard and Peter Fonda. Most recently, Flavor Unit co-produced HBO's original movie Bessie, which premiered on May 16th. Bessie stars Queen Latifah in the title role of Bessie Smith, who overcame her tempestuous personal life to become one of the most acclaimed performing and recording artists of the 1920s and '30s, earning the nickname "Empress of the Blues."

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. As a result of the network's aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, in 2014 the network reached its strongest ranking among the key Women 18-49 demo in six years and its youngest median age in 18 years. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.