A decade ago, when the post-8 Mile wave of popularity raised freestyle battle rap’s profile, it caused a plague of rappers allegedly pre-writing their verses before battles. While I’m not denying it’s wholly possible someone could have thought to rhyme “keep it real,” “meal” and “Ally McBeal” in the heat of the moment, just about the worst thing one could do in a freestyle rap battle would be to “kick a written.” The two battles I just participated in included certain obstacles to ensure pre-meditating any lines would be impossible. Saturday’s Battlicious — where comedians who rap and rappers who think they’re funny square off — utilized suggestions from the audience for the rappers to base their rhyming attacks around. Yesterday’s Freestyle Mondays utilized both a spinning wheel and a plinko board (dubbed “Plink, Yo!”) to determine either the category of a subject matter to battle under or an additional challenge such as having to battle yourself in a mirror or wearing a blindfold while your opponent selects a random item from the audience and puts it in your hand, meaning you have to not only figure out what an item is based solely on touching it, but then rap about it as well.
It can be stressful, it’s often challenging, and there are moments when it’s even terrifying. Whether competing or participating, the battles where everything clicks feels like a triumph for the human race as a whole. Admittedly, that may be a touch hyperbolic, but these freestyle battles carry with them the overall vibe and atmosphere not of a testosterone-heavy “who can make the best celebrity genitalia comparison” environment, but feel like big parties that happen to have rap battles in the middle of them. Even as someone who makes rap music and enjoys and appreciates all that goes into songwriting and rehearsed performances, I still like battling because, frankly, it’s fun.
Now that you’ve gotten that first freestyle out of the way, go try it again. I’ll see you in the ring.
Article Appeared @http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2014/04/enter_rap_battle.php?page=2