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The Essenze of Battling
Wordz by Gahmeih What
is battling? Battling is a competition when two rymesayers use their
wordplay skills to disrespect, discuss, or out argue their opponent.
Then, the question comes up of who is the winner.
Sometimes the emcees involved judges or either one will admit to
the other that ‘you got me.’ or
if itz really personal, the loser will lash out at the winner.
The one who takes it to a physical level loses because they ‘lost
face,’ lost their selph control; their wordplay skills are
inadequate, and can not defeat the person at their own rap game.
When i started rhyming in '92, I remember battling as a more of a
listening activity. Katz
would listen to lyreiks—the combination of both delivery and style
when the rhymesayer writes and/or recites. Delivery and style
are two separate categories. Delivery is how well a person can be
understood by others. Style is how well the ideas/ subject matter
words are put together thru –for example—metaphor, similes, homonyms
— using techniques to get the listener to feel the subject
matter when the rymesayer speaks. Nowadayz,
itz more like ‘wait-for-yah-turn-to-speak/fuk-what-the-other-person-sayz.’
Styles have dwindled down to over-simplistic rymes in shallow punchlined
deliveries. Freestyle used to be actual freestyle; not just
memorized, unheard writtens. Back
then, battling wuz an –in the moment— activity.
Games like ‘Drop-the –Topic’, when you rhyme about things
around you. If the crews were really close, katz would go ‘Line-for
Line’ where two or more people contribute a couple of lines to create
solid group verses. When rymesayers freestyled we created
‘On-the-Spot’ stories. Now,
itz tuff guy talk, how much sex you get, the drugs you push/ use, the
guns you hold, the clothes you wear, and lines biten without giving
credit to who said it. The
bombardment heavy rotation of popular songs on the radio, lowered the
standards for skill. Now,
there is no separation between the fan and the emcee.
Therez no standards of whatz wack and whatz hot as
compared with—for instance— the training of professional athletes,
which separates the ‘average-joe’ from the pros. Case in point, take
emcee competitions. Fans may scream for their favorite rymesayer, but
what if you’re a ‘solo-outsider’ who enters one of these contest,
most likely, you will lose the crowd favorite who brought 30 or forty of
their peoples along to assure victory. Street Credit or Reputation
is important becuz—if you were in a number of situations like this
one—you’ll be another notch on the belt of sum local chump or champ.
Unfortunately, popularity wins over skill. I
don’t participate in battles, though I like to watch—for the fact
I’d like to be heard by someone who appreciates my work. As far as
skill, I see Spoken Word is a step up from Raps ‘cuz of
various subject matter, maturity, and the creative delivery of the
Artform. Why place yahselph
in a no-win situation, when pengame establishes permanence in the memory
of those who really listen? “Wow
I ripped ‘such-n-such’ in a battle.” Who cares! Itz too local and
a waste of energy providing free
promotion for some charismatic unknown spitting rymes about
literally nothing. For
respect and money, itz probably a better option to put my own joints out
and do the open mics cuz my work ethic put into writing rhymes will be
respected and appreciated by untouched ears; my wordsworth will mean
more to a listening mind. Though,
battling isn’t always about trading punchlines. It also involves a
strategy which out maneuvers your opponent…
THE FREESTYLER The
core of any person’s identity is their life experience, but more
specifically their memory. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed about very good
freestyler. It’s their ability to tell stories which keep people
interested and their ability to recall details in normal conversations.
Their mind is the piece of paper they work from yet they honestly
don’t know what they gonna say next.
Some may think of a list of rhyme words and link from one line to
the next. This style is list-driven. Some
may let the mood of the track take their mind places, rhyming to the
“pace” of the instrumental.. This is a tempo-driven
style. Any action has to be thought about before acted upon where
words are thought about a split second before spoken. There’s a
feeling that forms as the word as spoken—meaning-driven...
The writer For
those of us who think a little slower, who like to rearrange words, and
preserve what we said, are writers.
The only fault about writing is that the time and effort it took
to write a decent battle rap is that it may sound fitted or squeezed
into the beat. The rhyme
may be off-beat and contain too many syllables per bar.
A forgotten line can break the chain reaction for rattling off
the verze. Writerz block is embarrasing, especially when yah trying to
impress people. Freestyle
is good for on the spot performances, how quick you can think, showing
charisma and selph expression, but putting words on paper makes you
money. Writing letz you
experiment with an idea and the best way to word it. You
can officially register and copyright a written verse at the Library of
Congress and memorize the rhyme before you hit the studio to protect
your wordzworthz from being stolen.
You can’t get royalties off the air unless put rymes to paper
first. If you didn’t memorize enough of your writtens, you run out of
ammo quickly. The
preparation takes for writing an album is the same for performing a show
but you’ll be infront of a mirror rehearsing mannerisms as opposed to
being before an audience. The
main difference between freestyler and writer is the feeling
delivered in the moment. Freestyler
may instinctively know the perfect feelings to express to fit the idea,
yet the writer can max out the potency of the verze. It’s the
difference of throwing a rock and firing a gun, the words most
premeditated hurt longer and leave a scar. In this case, a psychological
scar…
The Audience Sometimes the best written aren’t the best tools to use when it comes to a live performance. Freestyle are a crowd pleaser for the audience to see the extent of your abilities. Complex lyreikz should be laid down in books ‘cuz reading allows more processing time, more appreciation to think and visualize the underlying meaning. More complex styles also require better health and more work by the artist to keep the crowdz attention like flexibility for braekers to perform stunning moves; like breath control for martial artist to focus their strength. The good thing about industry standards is the ‘16-bar-verse-8-bar-chorus’ delivery yet therez a lot of rediculous phrazes that are irritatingly unforgettable. Using itz simple punchlines but written, the person has more chances to win becuz of predictability. The sentence structure is easy for the rymesayer to flip and bounce the verze over any beat. Punchelines set up the listener, getting that person to pause and think about what wuz said.…
Know Yahselph This
is where the personz persona blends into a grey area.
A personz style may rely totally on purely confidence to win
battles. There are others
whoze skillz are superb but not use to rapping in front of people.
A person with confidence may receive positive feedback from the fans,
yet that person may get locked within that single style, at times
incomprehensible, and may garble their way thru a rhyme just to get thru
it rather than explain their point. The person’s charisma may fool the
fan in thinking, “that verze is hot,” but the artist can see this as
false. Where as those with a high skill level are always tweaking their
rhymes. The difference is that the one experimenting will eventually be
the better rymer over time becuz their mind is not locked in a single
style and will grow to develop their uniqness. The confident person may
have to get discouraged to encourage change.
Ultimately with either form of expression, a freestyler may
remember repetitive phrazez to keep the verze ‘moving’ and the
writer will memorize all their material and run out of ammo.
THE standardsSince
both writer and freestyler draw on life experiences, it really doesn’t
matter whether a freestyler comes ‘Off-the-Dome’ or a writer comes
‘Out-the-Book,’ there is a honor code. For instance, bringing a
written rhyme to a battle in cheating because the rymesayer has planned
–or scripted-what to say; increasing their chances in winning a
mic battle. This is being
fake. Since, the movie 8 Mile came out, punchlines became
standard for battles. Itz rare someone gets a fair chance to win with an
original style. Commercial theme from the radio has weakened the fans
attention spans —in turn- the majority are intolerant of difference.
Heavy rotation tricks fans in believing a rapper is great—and maybe
true if the song is often played—but only the artist can elevate the
standards of the Artform—never the admirer.
Today, a rymesayer has to sound like ‘such-n-such’ to win. In
the early ‘90s, creativity, uniqueness, concepts, inventiveness were
important in determining who is an MC.
Whatz ‘whack’ or ‘phat’ is weighs heavy on how easy the delivery
is to understand, where the fans accepts the weak radio friendly songs
and not think about what actually said. I believe if the Real Artists
had the economics to change things, they would. Yet, the Commercial
Rappers have to please the fans to keep their fortunes.
It’s a complicated matter.
I refer to my past because history makes one’s movements in the
present stronger. It
use to be an insult to tell a rhymesayer you sound like
‘such-n-such’. Therez
standards about subject matter too.
A lot of people forgot this is a Street Artform.
A clever criminal would never blab about the crimes on record
like a confessional. They
would be slick talk about it and censor the literal truth in metaphor.
At least, one rule I know of is leave moms out of diss rhymes.
The same with bragging about having money in raps in places where
person’s less fortunate can possibly rob you. A great emcee has to
balance the punchline standards, street codes,
and be unique in lyreikz. To a broader extent a great emcee
strives to create their own language in respecting the streets, yet be
understood, particularity by the targetz the emcee refers to in
battle rhymes. The essenze of battling is to provoke an emotion with
the spoken word, to get the target to dwell on the statements, like a
hypnotic suggestion. WATER
HYPHOP: Lyricism—The First Element: A form of Hip Hop based on
Lyricism as opposed to Traditional Hip Hop founded on the DJ-ing
Element. Yet, a person has to first be a fan of Hip Hop
(called a Grasshopper because of the drug & martial arts references
which influenced Traditional Hip Hop), who gets into writing raps and/or
freestyling, talk about subjects that are meaningful and practical yet
go beyond the same regular “tales of the streets.” A person’s mind
elevates when learning from their peers in whatever hood they live in.
Then that person may rhymesay for a hobbie; eventually spit for other
people; create more raps and possibly perform infront of an audience,
and learn to move the crowd. MC-ing is a learned skill and
‘Hyphop’ become a way of life for a person to improve themselves in
progressing towards that goal. The Words are as real as weapons, cloaked
in metaphor, speaks through the “target”, yet has universal
appeal. The discipline of rhyme is the weapon and the theraphy. Writing
is the same as freestyling for the only difference is a person who
freestyles use their mind for a piece of paper just as a writer uses a
pen for their tongue. Life experiences determine what you are prepared
to say; the moment determines what you will say. It’s
condescending to hear how rich someone is in a music video when your
dealing with real-life drama & struggling to keep your affairs in
order. There is no point in the braggart raps & death threats when
talk is never followed up with action, but only do so to entertain and
to publicly embarrass someone else. In short, this talk is not
real. But when an ryhymsayer ‘targets’ another, it is between them
and the world has no clue. This is because certain honor codes, street
rules, & moral decisions apply to various situations and
relationships. As far as battling goes, the point of Water Hyphop is to
get people to visualize, think, and express a truth beyond the regular
bar measure of a punchline. On the darker side, to break a person’s
spirit and/or cause a mental death whenever an ryhymsayer feels they
have been wronged. For instance, Dirtbag is the new name for a
wack emcee. Water Hyphop which obeys the roots of original Hip Hop
culture by studying the source—or how Hip Hop was created— and
determining what’s the right or wrong thing to say by studying Hip Hop
History since it’s birth in the late ‘60s, early 70’s. For Water
Hyphop, the ‘y’ replaces the ‘I’ because the persons’ life
experiences including to how that person talks—or dialect—is the
real reason that person exists (or parishes). “I am because We Are;
NOT, I think therefore I am.” A
ryhymsayer with choosing the right vocabulary. can change the perception
of their ‘hood by it’s people, but that native only knows what is
the right, wrong, and most appropriate thing to say. The ‘I’ in
traditional Hip hop is viewed as selfish; dictating what the
Artform is through an individual influenced by the music industry’s
heavy commercialism and superficial marketing. ‘Water’ refers to the
place between Mainstream Rap Music and Underground Hip Hop where the
ryhymsayer is the representative of their hood and they remember that
by bringing a responsible maturity to the rap game. In this way, the
ryhymsayer can have universal appeal yet still remain themselves…
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