Season 8 of RVA Rap Elite Returns March 1st
A Prodigious Display of Technical Lyricism
by E. Jackson
February 24, 2026 | 10:30am
RICHMOND, VA — Elite is not a word for mediocre displays of performance.
So when it comes to the Season 8 premiere of RVA Rap Elite, there is a certain spine-tingling feeling when one understands the gravity of talent that will be engulfed on Sunday, March 1 at Richmond’s Vagabond.
Emcees like Grammy-Award winning Radio B., Easolio, Sneeze and Zuri will be part of the Live Cyphers. With a special Richmond Brave Cypher featuring Noah-O and Big No, Obi Won & Skrill, and Richmond legend Tone Redd.
The 30 Emcee Cypher will feature artists from across the 804 and 757, flexing their pen game, and stage presence, to impress the judges, claiming the RVA Rap Elite Season 8 winner for the month. That’s right, once a month the cypher returns with another 30 emcees going head-to-head.
Era Hardaway (right) battles against Tre Awthenicc during How To Squabble, May 2025
These details are from rvarapelite.com
“Each emcee will be given a score 1-10 by each of the cypher Judges (Radio B, Nickelus F, and Easalio). Those scores will be sent directly to our scorekeeper. The emcee with the highest score at the end of the cypher will be announced as our winner. If the top scorers are within less than a full point from each other. They will compete in a sudden death round. The sudden death round is 60 seconds Acapella. The judges will score again to determine our winner.”
The cyphers won’t be the only display of elite lyricism, in a completely different branch of Hip Hop mastery, battle rappers Era Hardaway, a 1x Cypher Champion, will face off against Trillnik, in a one-round battle presented by Southpaw Battle Coalition.
But before all that kicks off, there will be an Open Producer Cypher hosted by Richmond’s own Nickelus F.
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