Youtube when you want to see a
great war of words. The presence
of battle rap in the mainstream is
extremely gratifying to the culture;
supporters and participants alike
should be proud! Battle rap has
come full cycle and this revolution
is the strongest yet. However no
matter how far we come, to some
it will never be enough.
Five years from now, the exposure
of battle rap will likely be tenfold what it is today. In light of
battle rap’s success it’s natural for
everyone to want a piece of the
pie, thus the appearance of pop-up
leagues and new brands trying to
make their way to the forefront.
Some call it oversaturation, but I
think it’s typical. The more leagues
out there, the more talent — and
lack of talent — we, the fans, get
to see. It’s survival of the fittest;
at the end of this cycle; we will be
left with only those who were built
to last in the culture. Hip-hop is
not a fad and battle rap will not
die just because there are more
participants than one might be
comfortable with. As Ah Di Boom
said when asked about the current
generation of battlers, “The newer
generation is a rebirth of battle
rap; the older generation was a
10-man army, now you have a
30-man army.”
In 2014, we would be ignorant
to not give credit for the progress
that battle rap has made in
leaps and bounds. The antics,
fights, drama, and the like are
pointless, but just as with life,
good will exist alongside the bad.
Occurrences such as Math Hoffa
punching Serius Jones or Daylyt
flashing himself are undeniably
bad looks for the culture. But
are they representative of the
whole? Absolutely not. So, I salute
Mickey Factz for his honesty and
experienced point of view. Maybe
the declaration of “battle rap is
dead” is just what we need to keep
it alive... — Marth Vader
Norbes
President, URL Proving Grounds
Can the newer generation of battle
rappers thrive amongst their peers
or do they need matches against
the more established generation to
make a legitimate and long-lasting
mark on the culture?
Four years ago, Verb was in the
same situation as an “Ah Di
Boom”. T-Rex was the vet at
one time that everybody was
gunning for, because he had
that status. So when people say
that someone’s a “Top Tier”,
I don’t believe in that. They
were able to develop in time
and become those stars. I feel
like a lot of these people forgot
where they came from — and
not necessarily speaking on
Aye Verb, because I believe
that Aye Verb is one of the few
fierce competitors that’s actually
willing to battle these young
dudes that are coming up;
because he knows where he came
from.
There was a time when Aye
Verb was in Ah Di Boom’s
shoes and Math agreed to battle
him. That kind of made Aye
Verb the first superstar in the
Midwest. It takes time to build
your repertoire. It takes time to
develop. It took time for Lebron
to become [the Lebron that he
is] now. You have to learn the
game. When Aye Verb and them
were coming out, the stage was a
lot smaller. So it took them time
to become household names
— but it’s also what we did, in
terms of marketing.
You can’t expect a kid to have
one battle and be Aye Verb,
because Aye verb is a four-year
vet with the URL; almost five
years. A guy like Ah Di Boom
has been there four months.
It’s just developing [the PGs]
and putting out their brand. Of
course, I’m going to push them
and make them stars. Nobody
thought John John would be
there. Nobody thought B Magic
would be there. So the same
questions that were asked of
John John and B Magic — or
even Aye Verb — when they were
first coming up are the same
questions that are being asked
now. It’s just time. I feel like
some of the vets feel like their
spots are in jeopardy.
Do you feel that the onus is
on the Top Tier battlers to
give opportunities to the new
generation that will further the
movement for the culture or do
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