First things first; battling is the basis for all rap music. The
battle is the truest essence of rap and where rap music started.
The object of a rap battle is to come up with insulting rap lyrics
on the spot (not pre-written or pre-meditated) and rap them towards
an opponent. The rapper with the best delivery, lyrics, and crowd
response usually wins. This manual will outline the basic steps of
how to begin battling, and some tips that will make you better.
Steps
- Do your homework, watch videos online of battles (smack DVD is
a good one), or try to go to rap battles near your hometown. There
is a scene in the movie 8 mile that is a good representation of
what a freestyle rap battle is really like.
- Try and get your ears on some freestyle raps done by
accomplished artists who are well known for their rap battles. You
can learn a lot from rappers like Eminem, JIN, Canibus, Big L, Ill
Bill, Eyedea, Adeem, Vinnie Paz, Pacewon and any other artist known
for battling. Good battles to look up include the Blaze Battles
from HBO, Scribble Jam, among others. YouTube.com is an easy way to
find these
- Pay careful attention to the techniques those artists use to
battle, and try to mirror them which will help you enhance your own
techniques.
- Start writing. Write down anything that comes to mind and try
to rhyme it. Write down sets of rhymes and then choose the best
rhymes to go with your subject of rap.Consider getting a rhyming
dictionary. The ability to write an effective battle rhyme will aid
you when it comes to the battle.
- Practice freestyling (rapping without pre-written lyrics on the
spot or impromptu) -- anytime, anywhere, as much as you can. Even
if you run out of things to freestyle about, just keep going, the
longer you force yourself to rap without giving up the stronger
you'll become mentally. It's like a mental workout.
- Once you get freestyling down, try freestyling battle rhymes.
Take a picture of someone, look at your dog do what ever you can to
picture an opponent you are about to rap against and try and come
up with clever ways to insult the opponent with rap lyrics.
- Start freestyle battling. The best way to start battling is to
find opponents that are just for fun and don't care if you insult
them or mess up for that matter. Constantly battle like that with
people, especially if you can find a friend who is actually good at
battling so they can teach how to improve what you lack. Again,
continue to practice this until other friends you know (especially
those into hip-hop music) think you're pretty good. House parties,
and rap concerts are also good places to practice your battle rap
techniques before actually entering a staged freestyle rap
battle.
- Don't worry if you lose your first few real battles, the point
is to constantly practice freestyling and writing. As with
anything, the longer you do it the better you'll become. Continue
practicing until you've got it down. There are many techniques to
battling, but these are just the basics.
Tips
- When in a rap battle, you want to make sure that your verse
includes three major things.
- Metaphors - Making comparisons with your opponent to something
that insults them.
- Disses - (a diss is an insult). You want to diss your opponent
on broad topics, like how they dress, speak, spit, look, walk,
talk, act, or their personality; or personally: the way they live,
their past, t
