This year for CHREECE Hip Hop Festival 2026, the Bringing Down The Band / Deckademics stage is putting together the third annual BATTLE IN THE PLAZA. Sprinkled in between the battle will be live sets from DJs and Producers (playing their original beat sets), which we’ve done since year one. The Hip Hop producer showcase/battle is in collaboration with State Street Beats, a monthly beat showcase here in Indianapolis. The battle is on the date of the festival, August 29th, in the Plaza.
How the selection process will work: After the submission deadline, a team of music producers / music professionals will be selecting 12 beat makers based upon submissions to go head-to-head in three separate timeslot groups. The judges for the initial submissions will listen to said submissions without knowing who the person is, and a score will be given. The 12 highest scores, based upon the two submission beats, will be ranked 1-12, and subsequentially placed in the battle in their group. We do it this way to remove as much bias as possible for the selection process.
How the showcase/battle will work: Each group will have four beat makers playing two beats with a particular theme – themes yet to be determined. The winner of each of these three groups will then go head to head in the final round, where each beat maker will then play two final beats each. The beat maker that scores 4th highest of all the rounds will be the 4th slot in the finals. The maximum beat length for each beat is one (1) minute. Contestants will play their beats from their phones via aux, and we’re going to ask for the beats to be sent in ahead of time incase a contestant has issues the day of the festival. Further details will be shared to all accepted producers at a later date.
How the showcase/battle will be judged: One of the biggest voices in Hip Hop media in Indiana, the New Old Heads Podcast, will be the judges for the battle. That includes producers Maja 7th and Lonegevity, with DJ Jay Diff and a guest producer judge to be announced at a later date. The categories that will be judged are tentatively:
- how well the beat fits the theme (will be announced to those that get accepted)
- how good the sound quality is
- how creative/unique the beat is
- how much does it slap
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, 6/30/26 at 11:59PM – If you are selected as one of the 12 competitors, we will contact you within a few days after the deadline closes with more information. This should go without saying, but please only submit one time. Also, please note that this is a Hip Hop Festival, and we’re looking for producers that specialize in Hip Hop production. Make sure your submission matches that. If you’re stuff is great but doesn’t match the festival, it won’t score well.