AC Dutch: Before anything, I am
a battle rap fan. I travel and support the culture all over. I went
up to the KingJuice.com event in
St. Louis to see Math Hoffa and
Swave get busy, last February.
When I came back to Memphis,
I wondered why we didn’t have a
battle rap culture here. I put the
feelers out and the rest is history.
AndtwonDadon: So you started
off as a fan first; could you tell me
who some of your favorite battle
rappers are?
AC Dutch: Da Dinininon! You
sno dat — put the bullet in the
preacher’s head! I also rock with
Head Ice and T-Rex. Some of the
new battlers I like are B Magic
and Ill Will. The kid Ty Law has
been nice since Grindtime also.
AndtwonDadon: That’s what’s
good. I rock with T-Rex — and B
Magic is definitely dope. I admire
B Magic’s punches.
AC Dutch: I agree. I like the new
school punches and wordplay,
but I also appreciate the grown
man bars and the OG talk.
Sometimes no scheme is needed.
to the people what you feel that
means?
try to coach the battle rap artists
that come to your league on?
AC Dutch: “Grown man bars” is
when you are having a real life
conversation with your opponent. You don’t have to have a
“gun so big it needs training
wheels” to spit some grown man
bars. It’s not about how slick
the metaphor or the scheme is.
Grown man bars hit home and
straight to the point.
AC Dutch: I don’t consider
myself a coach at all, but if I
have any one-on-one conversations with the battlers in my
league, I may mention somewhere that I think they can
improve or applaud the work
that they’ve put in. I don’t think
there is a formula to be a battle
rapper, per se. I think everyone
just has to grow into the style
that is most comfortable for
their true personality.
There’s a great battle we had
in our tournament between
Switch and Yella Mane
(https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=R0cIv7RnwpQ). It
was the deciding battle for who
moved on to the championship,
and was the closest battle ever in
our league. The Iron Board went
with the “grown man bars” over
the schemes in that battle. But
man, it was the most difficult
decision ever; a great battle.
AndtwonDadon: So with that
being said, would you say that bars
alone can win a battle?
AC Dutch: Yeah, man. The
IMBL is based in Memphis,
Tennessee. We started on April
6, 2013 and this will be our fifteenth event.
AC Dutch: No way. If it was just
about what’s on the paper, then
we would read battles and be
done with it. I think your presence, your flow, your crowd control, your timing; they all matter
while battling. “Danja Zone vs.
Goodz” is a great example of
that. Goodz won, even though
the bars that Danja spit were
out-of-this-world crazy.
AndtwonDadon: We use the term
a lot, “grown man bars, grown
woman bars”; can you explain
AndtwonDadon: Some battle rap
artists are not aware of these components. Are these things that you
AndtwonDadon: You and your
league reside in Memphis, right?
AndtwonDadon: Who are some of
the IMBL artists that we should be
on the lookout for?
AC Dutch: First off, I have
to shout out the first-ever
IMBL champion, Grizz Guru.
Secondly, I’d have to mention
IMBL Awards’ “Round of the
Year” winner, St. Courts. And
last — but not least — our
“Iron Man of the Year”, Switch;
and our “Rookie of the Year”,
Yella Mane; all are bar-heavy
and making moves. We have
other spitters, like “Battle of
the Year” winner, TP Da Gr VC