“KING OF THE RAP RING Contest” OFFICIAL RULES

1. No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win this contest.

2. How to enter: to enter the "king of the rap ring” contest (“contest”), go to www.xxlmag.com/kingoftherapring (“site”) and fill out the online entry form and upload two audio files of yourself rapping two (2) original songs that showcase your skills and show us that you have what it takes to be a part of the rap battle (defined below). All entries must be received between 12:01 am eastern time (“et”) on tuesday, june 15, 2009 and 11:59 pm et on tuesday june 23, 2009. Limit one entry per person, per email address or household.

By entering the contest, you hereby acknowledge that all works submitted in the qualifying round and in the rap battle (each defined below): (i) are your original works; (ii) do not not copy and/or otherwise include words, lyrics, music or samples for which you are not the sole and exclusive rights holder; and (iii) will not infringe on any rights of any third parties.

3. Eligibility: the contest is open to legal residents of the fifty united states and the district of columbia, 18 years of age or older. Employees of harris publications, inc. (“sponsor”) and electronic arts, inc. (“ea”) and each of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and such employees’ immediate families and household members, are not eligible. Void outside of the fifty united states and district of columbia and where prohibited. Subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

4. Qualifying Round: to be eligible for the rap battle (defined below), you must participate in the rap battle qualifying round (“qualifying round”). To participate in the qualifying round, you must emailtwo audio files of yourself to rapbattle@xxlmag.com. Judges reserve the right, in their sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify any entry that is inappropriate for any reason. The universe of potentialentrants includes online entries and individuals contacted by xxl stafff who are judged based on their audio track submissions. Xxl editors will select the top 16 entrants (“finalists”) out of all potential eligible entries based on the following judging criteria: creativity (50%) and lyrical skills (50%). In the event of a tie, highest score in the “lyrical skills” category will determine winner. The 16 finalists selected to compete in the first round of the rap battle will be chosen and contacted the week of june 24, 2009, finalists may be required to provide sponsor with copy of their bio, picture for the profile page and/or other confirmation documents.

5. Rap battle: the 16 finalists will advance to a tournament-style rap battle (“rap battle”) where they will compete against another finalist in a single-elimination format (each a “tournament round”). The rap battle will take place between july 6, 2009 and july 24, 2009. The 16 finalists will each be placed into two (2) 8-person tournament brackets. The winners from each tournament round will advance to the next round and the loser of each tournament round will be eliminated from the rap battle. The ultimate winner of each tournament round will be deemed the potential winner, subject to confirmation.

The judging criteria for each tournament round of the rap battle will also be based on creativity (50%) and lyrical skills (50%) and will be based equally on xxl editor voting (50%) and public voting (50%). For public voting, limit one (1) vote per person every 15 minutes per tournament round. The use of robotic or automatic devices for voting is prohibited and sponsor reserves the right to nullify any and all such votes and to disqualify from voting the responsible individual.

The potential winner will be notified by telephone and/or email on or about july 24 and will be required to execute and return an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release so as to be received by sponsor within 5 days of notification, unless prohibited by law. Winner is subject to verification. If winner does not execute and return the required affidavit and release so as to be received by sponsor within 5 days of notification, prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. If any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if potential winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these contest rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to the runner-up. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.

6. Prize: one (1) winner will receive a write up advertorial in xxl magazine showcasing a biography of winner . Additionally winner’s audio recording from a winning rap battle will be displayed on xxlmag.com in the bangers section. Winner will also have the opportunity to create an original song for ea that may be used in ea promotional materials (based on ea’s sole and absolute discretion) and will receive a fight night video game gift package. Prize consists only of items specified and all other expenses, including without limitation any travel expenses, recording, technical and production costs and any taxes on the prize, are the winner’s responsibility. Prize is not transferable and no substitution or cash redemption is permitted, except at sole discretion of sponsor. Approximate retail value of prize: $100.

7. General terms and conditions: by entering this contest, you agree to abide by and be bound by these official rules and the decisions of sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects. All entries become the property of sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. By providing your e-mail address, you grant sponsor the right to send you commercial messages and share your address with others, unless specified otherwise as indicated on the entry form. By entering contest, you consent to the use of your name, likeness and biographical information, and all entry materials, for advertising and commercial purposes without further compensation or consent, unless prohibited by law. You release, discharge and hold harmless sponsor, ea, and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, and agents, and each of their respective officers, directors and employees, from any and all claims or damages, including personal injury and/or death, trademark infringment, violation of privacy/usage rights, and/or property damage, arising out of your participation in the contest and/or your acceptance and use and/or misuse of the prize awarded. Sponsor is not responsible for computer system, phone line, technical, hardware, software, program or server failures of any kind; lost or unavailable network connections; failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions; or lost, late, illegible, corrupted, misdirected, or incomplete entries. In the event of a dispute concerning the identity of an entrant, entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. "authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an internet access provider, internet service provider or other organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Any attempt to damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of this contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries made by any participating individual and seek damages from any such participant to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor is not responsible for corrupted entries or technical or human errors or omissions of any kind relating to the submission or processing or entries. If, for any reason whatsoever, thiscontest, in sponsor's sole opinion, is not capable of running as planned, including, but not limited to, by reason of infection by computer virus, tampering, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause which, in the sponsor's sole judgment, corrupts of affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of thiscontest, sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this contestand limit entries to those submitted prior to the action taken, or proceed in such a manner as may be deemed fair and equitable by sponsor in its sole discretion. In no event will sponsor or its officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents, be responsible or liable for any damages or losses of any kind, including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages, arising out of your access to use of the website or the downloading from and/or printing material downloaded from said site, or any other web site. Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement.

8. List of winners: to obtain a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by december 31, 2009 to xxl king of the rap ring c/o harris publications, inc., 1115 broadway, ny, ny 10010.

9. Sponsor: the sponsor of this contest is harris publications, inc., 1115 broadway, new york, ny 10010.