MC Battle
Nico B wins Red Bull Batalla’s electric 2025 Miami Qualifier
The second qualifier of Red Bull Batalla’s 2025 season is here. Hundreds of fans and 16 MCs gathered in the heart of Miami Beach’s Art Deco District to celebrate the qualifier’s time in magic city.
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The host city is no stranger to the Red Bull Batalla family. Serving as a competitive playground and home to four National Finals thus far, the freestyle platform has played a key role in elevating Miami’s freestyle rap scene onto the global stage. While the city has long been a hub for bilingual and Latino musical expression, Red Bull Batalla’s arrival brought unprecedented visibility and structure to the Spanish-language freestyle movement in the U.S., specifically. Since its Miami debut in the early 2020s, the competition has drawn a diverse mix of MCs with roots in Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and beyond – highlighting and expanding upon the city’s truly special linguistic and cultural energy. What once thrived in street cyphers and club battles now commands international attention thanks to Red Bull Batalla’s high-stakes format and massive digital reach.
In fact, many of the state’s heavy spitters that have helped play a role in that will be familiar to you. For example, although he competed and won in Chicago’s Qualifier this year, two-time U.S. champion Reverse sprouted in south Florida – so they have that to boast about, too.
This year, MCs new and old will share the bright spotlight and continue the legacy of MCs past for a chance to compete at the National Final in New York City. Tonight, it was respected veterans like OG Frases, MC Betho and White Caracas, and Colombian MCs like Nico B and Heavy, plus newer faces like Krishansson Nietzsche, Black P.Falcon, AbrahamH, female MC Dajamii ALÍEN and more who came head-to-head to win it all.
Each Miami qualifier has served not just as a competition, but as a celebration of identity, flow, and resilience; this time was no different. On the spinning board we had DJ Cesar setting the tone for each MC and keeping vibes high throughout the evening.
At his side and aid were the three judges for the evening: El Phish, Miyann, and beloved Venezuelan trap and rap artist Big Soto, who also performed at the end of the night!
Red Bull Batalla’s electric energy
© Ian Witlen
The final regional qualifier of the season was buzzing with expectant energy as the 16 MCs took the stage in pairs before we landed at the final two (which, spoiler: were, of course, Nico B, and newcomer who replaced Eckonn at the last minute and stood his ground: Sourious). To kick us off, prompt-inspired cyphers set the stage. Words like “vibras, palmas, and tourismo” (which translate to vibes, palms and tourism) inspired some fun bars in what felt like a solid practice round to weave out the weakest of the bunch and escort listeners to Octavos.
There, we had no shortage of tiebreakers as the judges had trouble selecting between some very strong pairings like Klaus vs. Heavy, and El Domi vs. Knonn. In the latter back and forth, both MCs exhibited immaculate wordplay with Domi maneuvering his punchlines best to ultimately move to the next round.
Next, other fresh faces like AbrahamH tried to come at the OGs during Quarterfinals with lines like “esta a un salto mas de romperse las piernas” which translates to “they’re a jump away from breaking their legs,” to which OG Frases replied with ease and fuel, questioning his competitors coherence with flowing choppers and punchlines like “demasiado en mi cerebro, a este lo dejo blanco y negro” (which roughly translates to “I’ve got lots on my mind, leaving this one behind in black and white.”
At this stage, Nico B began to shine as well. During his 8x8 against Mc Betho, he flowed smoothly through punchlines and framework-setting lines like “mi casa es el escenario, mi casa es la plaza” (mi home is the stage, my home is the plaza - in reference to the popular freestyle battle setting).
Ultimately, new energy won for the evening by the time we arrived at Semifinals, with Sourius beating OG Frases and Nico B beating White Caracas to leave Miami’s own Sourius, a late addition that proved deserving of the spot, and Colombian-hailing Nico B as the evening’s finalists.
Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifier
© Ian Witlen
Nico B, no stranger to this stage – having reached the National Finals in 2022, 2023, and 2024 as well as having finished top three in two of them – ultimately used his experience to come out triumphant. He will join Sourius, OG Frases and White Caracas in New York City on September 26for the Red Bull Batalla U.S. National Final. To prep, his game plan includes making the most of his experience tonight: “I'm going to watch the videos of this [Regional] to see what I did well, what I did wrong, and the truth is I feel like I need a little more mental preparation.”
Miami’s signature Spanglish rhymes, rapid wordplay, and emotional delivery have become key ingredients in what makes the U.S. branch of Red Bull Batalla distinctive, and all aspects of that light and fun but heavyweight, singular energy shone tonight. Nico B and Miami’s vibrant crowd were a reminder of the city’s place as a cornerstone of freestyle’s continued evolution.
Nico B is the Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifier winner
© Ian Witlen
I'm so happy. I've been competing since 2019, and well, it's not Nationals, so tomorrow I'll be back in focused mode, but now it's time to celebrate.
Watch the Red Bull Batalla Miami Qualifier below, and stay tuned for more:
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