Essential The Official Battle Rap Random Thoughts Thread (URL, KOTD, UW etc...)

TripleAgent

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ReasonableMatic

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OGBobbyJohnson said:
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I agree with what Cortez is saying.

I would like to add that the “crowd” and “big stage” has hurt the artform the same way “charts” has hurt hiphop music.

Back in the DVDera crowds were relatively small. Those that were in those crowds were in it for the artform (for the most part).

Because of this, rappers were able to get their bars off with minimal interruptions. This absolutely mattered in how the artform was created, quality was preserved and how battlers were perceived.

There was a mystique and open-mindedness to what was to come, because the ears of the crowd were open to receive different kinda styles.

Where a Lux, Verb, Yung Ill and Big T were thriving very unorthodox writers who rapped OUTSIDE of the current 4-bar PunchOut norm.

A good case could be made they were pushing the artform the most from a writers perspective.

At the same time a Hitman, Arsonal, Head Ice and Goodz existed who leaned more on body language, but were still centering lyricism. The Hitman that battled Cortez and Arsonal was still lyrical, despite knowing how to use bodylanguage to enhance his content.
Hitman’s 2nd vs Arsonal 2nd rd and a lot of his story telling highlights a good example of this, compared to the current version of Hitman that centers theatrics in his battles. (A strong case could be made that the popularity of The Remix hurt Hitman’s style, but I digress)

Conceited, B Magic and Heartless were punchers, but even they had originality to it. Especially for that time.

There were battlers that weren’t perceived as “street” but respected for what they brought to the artform.

They all coexisted and added value to the world of Battlerap.

Small room battles is what made Battlerap what it is.
It’s those small room battles that made SM2 even possible because the rappers and taste makers in rap watched THOSE battles religously and feared the Battlers in it, incentivizing them to see them in person.

I’m happy that SM2 brought Battlerap to a larger audience and showed a way to have elevated commercial success, but the downside is that the audience it brought was a newer generation that was disconnected from the core understanding the generations before it had.

It seems like every newer generation that followed AFTER that, loved their favorite Battlers more than they loved Battlerap ARTFORM, introducing Stan Culture.

The current Drill-era of Battlerap has this weird hyper focus on streetcred and clout, losing the focus of what originally made Battlerap what it was.
Which is lyricism and knowing how to rap.

The modern era is extremely formulaic and clout-based.
Battlerap is literally just 4-bar PunchOut right now.

Yes, it’s dope to see the ability to have big events.
But the countless timed-interruptions of Crowdmembers tryna be heard/seen has only made the material MORE formulaic, hurting the artform.

We’ve literally seen rappers write crowd reactions into their bars only to end up looking stupid.
And we’ve literally seen the most cringy timed crowd reactions where no punch was thrown because post-SM2 crowds thought it was the thing to do.

Reactions were way more natural and well-deserved before.
I can still watch JC vs Chilla because the material was so amazing and the crowd of taste makers clearly weren’t there “to be heard/seen”, but were there to hear RAPS. They reacted to the most FIRE shyt and let them continue without interrupting the flow of the Battle.

A Battle like that now would be long as hell with a 1000 interruptions making the shyt unlistenable despite having good material.

I think that’s why the Blueroom is popular now among the Battlers. They have more space for their art in a crowd that understands the artform and code of conduct, while the league has the ability to capitalize off the people buying it with a higher pricepoint.

URL had a great thing with UFF, despite it being catered to TV.
It kinda forced the crowds to stfu and not do too much.
While at the same time providing commercial succes and a way to expand their brand.

Those black & white rooftop battles Mickey Factz introduced could’ve done the same for URL if they kept him on board and really went for it by adding a credible form of judges to it.

A lotta battlers were simply scared it would change the dynamics and their status by removing their ability to hide behind their StanBase to protect their positions.

Talking bout “battlerap is subjective” like we don’t see “subjective” sports being judged at the highest level in the world, literally all the time smh.

Battlerap is in a very weird space right now.

Like we said before earlier this year, Battlerap is literally going through the same thing hiphop music is.
 
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wizworld

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Just realized I posted this in the Summer Madness thread instead of here



Threw one of my beats under parts of a 10 year old Math/Bigg K/Iron Sheikh Sway in Morning freestyle for fun. I did a little editing to make it sound more like a song

Bigg K takes a shot at Tay Roc it's crazy that they still haven't battled

Part of me wants to edit DJ Vl@d out of the footage entirely but I may be being childish :lolbron:

The original freestyle was promo for the battle event he put together with Math so they wouldn't have been there if not for him

 
TheWiseWon

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ReasonableMatic said:
I agree with what Cortez is saying.

I would like to add that the “crowd” and “big stage” has hurt the artform the same way “charts” has hurt hiphop music.

Back in the DVDera crowds were relatively small. Those that were in those crowds were in it for the artform (for the most part).

Because of this, rappers were able to get their bars off with minimal interruptions. This absolutely mattered in how the artform was created, quality was preserved and how battlers were perceived.

There was a mystique and open-mindedness to what was to come, because the ears of the crowd were open to receive different kinda styles.

Where a Lux, Verb, Yung Ill and Big T were thriving very unorthodox writers who rapped OUTSIDE of the current 4-bar PunchOut norm.

A good case could be made they were pushing the artform the most from a writers perspective.

At the same time a Hitman, Arsonal, Head Ice and Goodz existed who leaned more on body language, but were still centering lyricism. The Hitman that battled Cortez and Arsonal was still lyrical, despite knowing how to use bodylanguage to enhance his content.
Hitman’s 2nd vs Arsonal 2nd rd and a lot of his story telling highlights a good example of this, compared to the current version of Hitman that centers theatrics in his battles. (A strong case could be made that the popularity of The Remix hurt Hitman’s style, but I digress)

Conceited, B Magic and Heartless were punchers, but even they had originality to it. Especially for that time.

There were battlers that weren’t perceived as “street” but respected for what they brought to the artform.

They all coexisted and added value to the world of Battlerap.

Small room battles is what made Battlerap what it is.
It’s those small room battles that made SM2 even possible because the rappers and taste makers in rap watched THOSE battles religously and feared the Battlers in it, incentivizing them to see them in person.

I’m happy that SM2 brought Battlerap to a larger audience and showed a way to have elevated commercial success, but the downside is that the audience it brought was a newer generation that was disconnected from the core understanding the generations before it had.

It seems like every newer generation that followed AFTER that, loved their favorite Battlers more than they loved Battlerap ARTFORM, introducing Stan Culture.

The current Drill-era of Battlerap has this weird hyper focus on streetcred and clout, losing the focus of what originally made Battlerap what it was.
Which is lyricism and knowing how to rap.

The modern era is extremely formulaic and clout-based.
Battlerap is literally just 4-bar PunchOut right now.

Yes, it’s dope to see the ability to have big events.
But the countless timed-interruptions of Crowdmembers tryna be heard/seen has only made the material MORE formulaic, hurting the artform.

We’ve literally seen rappers write crowd reactions into their bars only to end up looking stupid.
And we’ve literally seen the most cringy timed crowd reactions where no punch was thrown because post-SM2 crowds thought it was the thing to do.

Reactions were way more natural and well-deserved before.
I can still watch JC vs Chilla because the material was so amazing and the crowd of taste makers clearly weren’t there “to be heard/seen”, but were there to hear RAPS. They reacted to the most FIRE shyt and let them continue without interrupting the flow of the Battle.

A Battle like that now would be long as hell with a 1000 interruptions making the shyt unlistenable despite having good material.

I think that’s why the Blueroom is popular now among the Battlers. They have more space for their art in a crowd that understands the artform and code of conduct, while the league has the ability to capitalize off the people buying it with a higher pricepoint.

URL had a great thing with UFF, despite it being catered to TV.
It kinda forced the crowds to stfu and not do too much.
While at the same time providing commercial succes and a way to expand their brand.

Those black & white rooftop battles Mickey Factz introduced could’ve done the same for URL if they kept him on board and really went for it by adding a credible form of judges to it.

A lotta battlers were simply scared it would change the dynamics and their status by removing their ability to hide behind their StanBase to protect their positions.

Talking bout “battlerap is subjective” like we don’t see “subjective” sports being judged at the highest level in the world, literally all the time smh.

Battlerap is in a very weird space right now.

Like we said before earlier this year, Battlerap is literally going through the same thing hiphop music is.
Click to expand...

Felt this way for years, and you framed it perfectly. This is why Max Out 3 needs to be a successful event from a quality standpoint. Nothing to do with league wars, but it will help get back to the essence of what makes battle rap unique.

From a competitive standpoint, battlers have no incentive to innovate because wins/losses are irrelevant, and fans demand a particular formula regardless of the matchup.

Crowds filled with new fans are inescapable, but it would help if the "Big Stage" were reserved for 1-2 events per year in larger venues. For the people that want to see movies, this would be for them.

Once (if) the culture gets back to appreciating individual styles, it will be possible to build new talent across leagues more consistently because fans will be more open-minded.

Battle rap is also stunted via the content. There are endless things to rap about, but for new content to fly, fans must be more aware of things outside their comfort zone.
 
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