Battle rap

Battle rap (also known as rap battling^[1]) is a type of rapping that includes bragging and boasting content.^[1] Battling can occur on recorded albums, though rap battles are often recited or freestyled spontaneously in live battles, "where MCs will perform on the same stage to see who has the better verses".^[2]

Battle rap is described by 40 Cal in the book How to Rap as "extracurricular" and he compares it to the dunk contest in the NBA.^[2] Rap battles are often written solely for the purpose of impressing people with technically inventive rapping,^[3] and knowing a wide variety of rapping styles and a wide range of MCs is recommended.^[4] Some MC's started out writing mostly battle raps and battling other MCs before they began making records.^[5]

History

The modern rap battle is generally believed to have originated in the East Coast hip hop scene in the late 1970s. One of the earliest and most infamous battles occurred in December 1982 when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski^[6] - Busy Bee Starski's defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that "no longer was an MC just a crowd-pleasing comedian with a slick tongue; he was a commentator and a storyteller" thus, rendering Busy's archaic format of rap obsolete, in favor of a newer style^[6] which KRS-One also credits as creating a shift in rapping in the documentary Beef.^[7]

In the 1980s, battle raps were a popular form of rapping - Big Daddy Kane in the book How to Rap says, "as an MC from the '80s, really your mentality is battle format... your focus was to have a hot rhyme in case you gotta battle someone... not really making a rhyme for a song".^[1] Battle rapping is still sometimes closely associated with old school hip-hop - talking about battle rapping, Esoteric says, "a lot of my stuff stems from old school hip-hop, braggadocio ethic".^[8]

Some of the most prominent battles that took place on record are listed in the book, ego trip's Book of Rap Lists, and include such battles as the Roxanne Wars (1984–1985), Juice Crew vs. Boogie Down Productions (1986–1988), Kool Moe Dee vs. LL Cool J (1987–1991), MC Serch vs. MC Hammer (1989–1994), Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg vs. Luke (1992–1993), Common vs. Ice Cube (1994–1996), MC Pervis & Brand New Habits and LL Cool J vs. Canibus (1997–1998) - all of which include memorable battle rap verses.^[9]

From the late 90's to end of the 2000's, freestyle rapping became very popular, with many artists getting attention for new styles, charisma, and witty punchlines in battles such as Scribble Jam and Rocksteady.^[10] These battles were usually three rounds to each, and the MC's would switch turns while rapping over older rap instrumentals. Battle rap flourished at this time, showing the underground rap scene and exposing some of the most respected freestyle battlers of all time, including Juice, Eyedea, Sage Francis and P.E.A.C.E.^[11]

Following the resurgence of freestyle battling in the 21st century, competitions began to move to TV shows shown on HBO, BET, and MTV. In addition, Eminem's movie 8 Mile introduced a fantasized version of freestyle battling to mainstream movie audiences, as the raps are scripted beforehand with much review.

In the aftermath of the explosion of battle rap, battling became a slower pace sport of such, with MC's rapping with no beat at all, and instead of the quick thinking, flow driven battles, the rappers would say one line, pause for a bit, and say the next, all while almost talking it out as if it were a conversation, removing the energy of a sport which had always before been the essence.^[12]

Jump Off TV's World Rap Championships premiered in London 2006, featuring American and British rappers.^[13]

Freestyle Friday is a watered-down battle segment on BET's popular show 106 & Park. Two rappers compete in a freestyle battle before the studio audience and three celebrity judges (the DJ sometimes acts as the 3rd judge). Each competitor alternates freestyling for 30 seconds in each of the two rounds (originally only 1 round when the segment first began). The rappers are not allowed to use profanities or sexually suggestive lyrics, punishable by disqualification. After the battle, the judges decide the winner, per majority vote.

In Cuba, freestyle battles often follow organized concerts and juxtapose composed songs with ‘flowing’ lyrics that are relevant to the present situation.^[14] Freestyling can allow audience members to integrate into the performance stage. This provides a forum for up-and-coming underground artists to engage in a musical discussion with already prominent underground Cuban rappers. Freestyle battles often turn political when artists incorporate perspectives on social disparities and issues plaguing the Cuban population.^[15]

In the Philippines, the freestyle battle is popularly known as FlipTop, it is the first and largest rap conference founded by Alaric Riam Yuson in February 6, 2010 which revives rap music industry and Philippine poetic debate known as Balagtasan. Some emcees from this league gained commercial success.

Types of battles

A freestyle battle is a contest in which two or more rappers compete or battle each other using improvised lyrics. Each competitor's goal is to 'diss' their opponent through clever lyrics. As hip-hop evolved in the early 1980s MCs gained their fame through live battles with other MCs. Freestyle battles can take place anywhere: street corners, on stage at a concert,in school or even online. The idea of such poetic battles, or jousts, has a long history that can be found in genres of poetry such as Haikai and flyting.^[16]

The live audience is critical to a battle as each Emcee (MC; Master of Ceremonies) must use skill and lyrical ability to not only 'break down' his or her opponent, but to convince the audience that they are the better rapper. Appointed judges have been used in formal contests, but even when no winner is announced, the rapper who receives the best audience response is viewed as the victor. In addition, it is considered by some to be an act of dishonor to recite written and memorized raps in a freestyle battle, because it shows the rapper to be incapable of 'spitting' spur-of-the-moment lyrics.

A cypher is any collection or gathering of rappers, beatboxers, or breakers forming in a circle in order to perform together - the term has also in recent years come to mean the crowd which forms around the battles, consisting of spectators and onlookers. This group serves partly to encourage competition and partly to enhance the communal aspect of rap battles. The cipher is known for “making or breaking reputations in the hip hop community; if you are able to step into the cipher and tell your story, demonstrating your uniqueness, you might be more accepted".^[17] These groups also serve as a way for messages about hip hop styles and knowledge to be spread, through word-of-mouth and encouraging trends in other battles.^[18]

Battle Rap Leagues

Leagues such as King of the Dot and Don't Flop all started in 2008, and furthered the popularity of battle rap via video hosting website YouTube, brand marketing, and creating divisions across their home nations and beyond.

King of the Dot Travis Fleetwood, a.k.a. Organik, built a reputation as one of Canada's elite battle emcees with 4 wins at the Toronto-based freestyle competition Proud 2B Eh Battle MC,^[19][20] where he met a local producer/DJ by the name of RyanPVP. The two teamed up with the help of promotion guru Avi Rex to put together the first event which was initially intended to be a flash mob style event at Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. However, the police presence and private security at the location forced the event to move down the road to an alley beside radio station Flow 93.5.^[21][22] After a few events at that location, they were unable to accommodate the growing crowds, so Organik opted to re-locate to Alexandra Park for the wide open space and gritty location. The crisp visuals and production value, as well as local celebrity guest judges contributed to King of the Dot's rise.^[23]

Smack and Ultimate Rap League (URL) are New York-based battle leagues. Rappers included Aye Verb (StreetStatus), Conceited (LionsDen), DNA (GrindTimeNow) Hitman Holla (StreetStatus), Tay Roc (LionsDen), Hollow Da Don (GrindTimeNow) and many more.^[24]

The first all-female rap battle league, called Queen of the Ring was founded in 2010 in response to the Ultimate Rap League. Although female battle rappers such as Mis Led and Drizz Mami existed in other leagues, they were significantly less prevalent in the scene. Queen of the Ring gained attention quickly, as well as an avid fan base. It is now considered one of the "Top Five" big battle leagues (along with URL, Don't Flop, KOTD, and Grind Time Now). Many female battlers are widely known in the community, with female battles in the majority of big events held by any of the other "Top Five" leagues. As female battlers have gained recognition, male versus female battles have also become popular.

Don't Flop is a popular UK rap battle league founded in 2008, following a controversial judging decision in which co-founder, Eurgh, was denied a place in the finals of a tournament run by the then-dominant battle league, JumpOff.^[25] Since then, notable appearances include Rizzle, Illmaculate, Mystro, and Harry Love. Don't Flop came to mainstream UK media attention in 2012 when one of their battles became a viral video, purportedly showing a teacher battling his student. Although the battlers in question, Mark Grist and Blizzard were not student and teacher, the narrative was enough to give the league a huge boost in exposure.^[26] In 2014, former Don't Flop performers and staff broke away to form King of the Ronalds as a reaction to Don't Flop's move towards a more sanitized version of the product^[27] and sponsorship from the likes of Foot Locker.^[28] King of the Ronalds presents a more raw ethos, with a philosophy that has much in common with the early punk rock movement. The league markets itself primarily using videos of tense physical confrontations between battlers,^[29] something other leagues are keen to distance themselves from.

References in other media

• Rap battling features prominently in the film 8 Mile.
• In episode 22 of The Cleveland Show, "Brotherly Love", Cleveland Brown, Jr. engages in a rap battle against a character voiced by Kanye West.
• There is a skit in an episode of Robot Chicken in which Bugs Bunny competes in a rap battle against Elmer Fudd; the skit parodies 8 Mile's rap battle sequence between B-Rabbit (Eminem) and Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie).
• Youtube musician and comedian Nice Peter attained massive attention by creating the web series Epic Rap Battles of History. The series created by EpicLLOYD and Peter himself features rap battles between famous historical and fictional persons, with pairings such as Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs, Hitler vs. Darth Vader or Terminator vs. RoboCop. It has become so popular, that they made an own channel for the show, and have gone through 4 seasons and half of the 5th season, gaining over 12 million subscribers.
• The machinima War of Internet Addiction features a brief rap battle, albeit in the form of Chinese couplets.

References

• Edwards, Paul (2009). How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1556528167. 

Further reading

• 8 Mile. Dir. Curtis Hanson. DVD. March 18, 2003Larro
• Alan Light; et al. October 1999. The Vibe History of Hip Hop.
• All Rapped Up. Dir. Steven Gregory, Eric Holmberg. Perf. Eric Holmber, Garland Hunt. Videocassette. 1991.
• Blow, Kurtis. Kurtis Blow Presents: The History of Rap, Vol. 1: The Genesis (liner notes). Kurtis Blow Presents: The History Of Rap, Vol. 1: The Genesis.
• Brian, Cross. It's Not About a Salary. London; New York: Verso, 1993 [i.e. 1994].
• Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme. Dir. Kevin Fitzgerald. DVD. 2004.

See also

• King of the Dot
• Stream of consciousness (narrative mode)
• Stream of consciousness (psychology)
• Flyting