History of Battle Rap
Battle rap has been around since the inception of hip-hop. It is a lyrical war of words between two emcees who take turns dissing each other in rhyme form. Originally, battles took place on street corners and were freestyled with relatively simple bars. In the 90’s, the annual event Scribble Jam was started, which was a freestyle battle tournament that attracted emcees from around the world to Cincinnati, Ohio for a shot at being recognized as a Scribble Jam champion. Although Scribble Jam had a strong run, the organizers could not put together any more events after 2008 due to a lack of funds. This is seen by many as the end of the freestyle era.
Despite Scribble Jam becoming a defunct company, there were many battle leagues ready to keep battle rap alive. However, battles were now prepared for in advance by emcees, allowing for more complex rhyme schemes and intricate disses. In the early days of the “prewritten era,” the prominent league was Grind Time Now, which had divisions from California to the Midwest to New York. However, over time, Grind Time Now fell as leagues such as Canada’s King of the Dot, New York’s Smack/URL, and the UK’s Don’t Flop took over.
Over the years, the art of battle rap has evolved into a lucrative business with those three leagues as well as Newark’s UW Battle League putting on major events throughout the year. Battle rap is slowly being pushed into the spotlight as figures such as Diddy, Drake, and Eminem are starting to publicly promote it. Despite its mainstream exposure, battle rap is still fundamentally the same as it has always been: a lyrical clash between two emcees who bring real bars to the table.
Despite Scribble Jam becoming a defunct company, there were many battle leagues ready to keep battle rap alive. However, battles were now prepared for in advance by emcees, allowing for more complex rhyme schemes and intricate disses. In the early days of the “prewritten era,” the prominent league was Grind Time Now, which had divisions from California to the Midwest to New York. However, over time, Grind Time Now fell as leagues such as Canada’s King of the Dot, New York’s Smack/URL, and the UK’s Don’t Flop took over.
Over the years, the art of battle rap has evolved into a lucrative business with those three leagues as well as Newark’s UW Battle League putting on major events throughout the year. Battle rap is slowly being pushed into the spotlight as figures such as Diddy, Drake, and Eminem are starting to publicly promote it. Despite its mainstream exposure, battle rap is still fundamentally the same as it has always been: a lyrical clash between two emcees who bring real bars to the table.
Battle Rappers
Because modern battles are filmed and released online for everyone to see, rappers are able to gain fans from around the world. Two of my interviewees, A-Class and Sonny Bamboo, both started their ascents to popularity with battle rap, making careers out of rap. However, even though they both started out as battlers, they have expanded their careers into music. Sonny Bamboo has released several albums and mixtapes both on his own and with his group ATLien Workshop, and A-Class has released two albums on his own.