GeorgaBefore i moved to university my iPod was pretty simplistic, it had every song ever recorded by McFly, the odd Westlife power ballad and some Atomic Kitten so it was fair to say when i moved to Leeds i got a culture shock.
Most recently i been introduced to something called ‘Rap Battling’, I had a vague idea what it was about having seen it in a movie but other than that it was alien to me.
A friend from Uni was always going on about an organisation called ‘Don’t Flop’ (hahaha no seriously thats what its called) and i wanted to know more so i took to google.
Rap Battles started in the 1970’s in New York and have been described as modern poetry. As far as i am concerned it is an acceptable way to take the piss out of the guy you are battling in a way that rhymes.
Many people are taking up rap battling as it is a way to get their voices heard with out recording contracts or corporate suits censoring the truth. Eminem is a perfect example of someone who became famous from ‘spitting bars’ and humiliating other rappers with his words.
Eminem’s film ‘8 Mile’ featured him battling in a club in front of hundreds of people, but that isn’t how people start out. To get your name out into the circuit you have to battle as many people as you can with anyone willing to watch before uploading it onto social networking sites.
The battles generally have 3 rounds where the opponents brag and big them selves up (braggadocio) and at the end the judges and crowd decided the winner based on who had the best flow and lyrics.
Although during the battle the rappers disrespect each other and say pretty horrible stuff, they have a lot of respect for their opponent outside of the battles. They are a community that have passion for their music and lyrics, and together they are taking the music industry by storm.
I started watching the videos on youtube and some of the things people say to each other is pretty scandalous, i don’t think i could disrespect someones mum without having to stop and apologise before continuing, But watching endless amounts of Rap battles i came across one guy called Chris ‘Thorn’ Bradburn and thought he was hilarious. His lyrics were very well written and he managed to completely destroy his opponent ‘Lyrix’ (inventive i know) and win the battle.Chris is just starting out in his battling career and has a long way to go before he is the next white rapper, but i think he is great and more people should know about him.
So here is his Battle against ‘Lyrix’.
I apologise if anyone is offended by anything in the video, if you are I’m sure Chris would love to hear about it on twitter @Cbradburn93