One Twisted Kid

At the beginning of the week, I received an email from a University of BC student named Michael. He wanted to know if he could interview me for an assignment he was writing. The focus of his paper is “homosexual slurs in hip-hop lyrics”, particularly organized rap battles.

He linked me to a battle that I had heard of but not yet watched, where A-Class faces someone named Dappa Dan Midas. It appears that Midas is the first openly gay battle rapper. Although it’s also possible that he was just acting the part for the battle.

Anyway, I wrote some long answers to a bunch of questions about gay jokes in battle rap. I thought I would post them here.

I’ve broken it into two parts. This part is mostly setup, with the questions on homophobia and so on coming in part two.

Questions and Answers

It seems to me that there is a much stronger emphasis on snaps and punchlines in the battle rap scene than rhythm or strict lyricism.  In the videos with interviews with the judges, and often even the competitors, the focus of recollection is always to clever lines.  Would you agree?  As your performing a cappella, how much time do you spend working out a flow to your verses, as opposed to witty put downs?

To say that battling focuses on snaps and punchlines more than lyricism is a bit of an oversimplification. Clever lines have always been an integral part of lyricism in hip-hop. I think that all aspects of lyricism – cleverness, rhyme schemes, rhythm, originality – are weapons that can win a battle.

The goal is to degrade your opponent as a rapper and as a person. Technical rapping skill helps you degrade them as a rapper, by showing how much more talented you are. But in order to degrade them as a person, you need to have content that insults them directly. In certain circles, one of these aspects is valued more than another, but to me a great battler has to do both.

Personally, I work on the flow to my verses a lot. I know that’s one of my weaknesses. I probably spend more time thinking up good lines, but that part comes naturally to me. Flow and delivery are things that I am much more conscious of WORKING at.

Your battle opponents have a pretty clear route of attack against you, as I’m sure you’re well aware.  Most of their lines reference your being white, your being thin, the way you dress and the way you style your hair.  They are largely appearance based, and well-worn territory.  It seems that the challenge for your opponents is less in discovering what to attack, but rather discovering new ways to do it.  Does this put you at an advantage or disadvantage?  Meaning, does it help your own snaps, or possibly help preconceive flips, knowing how your opponent will likely go after you or is it a hole that you need to climb out of?

There are obvious go-to angles for any battle rapper. For TheSaurus, it’s his acne scars. For Dumbfoundead, it’s Asian jokes. For me, it’s being a skinny nerd with a weird haircut. I don’t think I’m at any more of an advantage or disadvantage than anyone else in that regard.

In terms of coming up with completely original material versus new takes on the expected angle, that’s always an issue. It was something I struggled with when preparing for Dumb. The crowd expected me to do Asian jokes. That’s what they were primed to laugh at. I could choose to play that up, and win the crowd right away, or come with something out of left field and risk losing them.

Interestingly, in that same battle Dumb came with some very original stuff casting me as a wannabe Asian. Those lines, while excellent, did not get nearly the same reaction as his more standard quips about my looks. So you can see why so many battlers are unwilling to be completely original. (And I give Dumb huge props for taking the risk.)

As far as preconceiving flips, everyone has done that at some point. I don’t bother any more. My best flips always come to me in the spur of the moment. That way I’m directly responding to what my opponent said, rather than twisting a premeditated concept to fit.

That aforementioned route of attack is entirely based on your minority status within the battle rap community.  You are labeled as an outcast.  In watching your battle with Fresco, in which you deliver what is essentially a hip hop history lesson, it looks as though you are attempting to cement your belonging in the scene.  Is this a common goal for your verses?  For instance, if you were to battle a black rapper, how likely would you be to undermine their belonging or “blackness” with your verses?

I don’t think I’m labeled as an outcast at all, actually. The only time I’ve ever experienced any animosity or weird looks because of my appearance was at the very first battle I attended. And as soon as I rapped, that went away.

Here’s the thing about the hip-hop “history lesson” I gave Fresco: it was a joke. There are few people on the planet more annoying than hip-hop elitists. I personally don’t care what music Fresco has or hasn’t listened to. But I do happen to know more about rap music than him, and I knew that was a card I could play to my advantage in a room full of rap listeners.

The thought of me trying to undermine someone’s “blackness” is a bit silly. What if my “black” opponent had been born and raised in Toronto by Jamaican immigrants? How about if they were from an affluent family in West Virginia? Even when playing on racist stereotypes, I try to not be completely ignorant about someone’s background. You’ll notice that I made fun of Dumb for being Korean, and not Chinese.

Also, the notion of inclusion or exclusion in hip-hop by a criteria of “blackness” is a fallacy. My sense of belonging in the international battle scene comes from attending events, meeting people, and performing well enough to earn respect. Just as it would in any other musical or artistic scene.

To Be Continued

I figure that’s enough words to read for now. Come back Monday for part two, which is potentially a bit more controversial.