Rap Battling VS Songwriting Published July 6, 2013 | By Lord Lav There has been vast increase in popularity of battle rap over recent years. This has lead to a debate over whether rappers should venture into rap battling vs songwriting. I touched on this in an old post where I talked about the battle between Canibus VS Dizaster. The rap battle scene has been growing steadily over the years. There was a time when a battle was something that would break out spontaneously between rappers and it was often very improvised and less pre-planned. Nowadays battles are far more scripted. Many are setup as big events almost like boxing, with rappers going away weeks to months in advance reading up on each other preparing their disses for the big event. Battling now seems to be far more of a separate entity from that of making rap songs. If we were having this debate during the pre-youtube era it would be far more clear cut in favour of songwriting but with the growth and popularity of battling the answer is no longer so obvious. As a side note, I want to say big up and respect to all the battle MCs out there and all the entities that promote the art form and entertainment that is rap battling. I have nothing but respect for all of you and love what you do! Rap battling has changed and as much as I miss the more ‘off the cuff’ nature of a battle from the old days, I have to say it’s a wonderful thing that so many people will now pay to cram themselves into a packed venue, simply to listen to rappers spit bars. Not even with a backing beat…. just bars! As a result, this has put a lot of power in the hands of every rapper. They no longer need to get with a skilled producer to make them a good beat to rhyme on. They can build their rep entirely from pitting their rapping ability against another. They don’t need to invest money in studio time or anything. All they need is a pad and pen (or smart phone if you write all your rhymes the new school way) and an internet connection to read up on your opponent. With that alone, you can show what you’re made of and build yourself a following from almost nothing. I think the steady growth of the battle scene is a good thing, as it gives unknown rappers a good avenue to build their reputation. Many former unknowns have become household names, just by battling. However I do see a fatal flaw with certain rappers looking to make a name for themselves through this avenue. Many think that battling is their key to becoming successful, professional rappers and believe they will get signed off the back of it, or be able to build a big long lasting career somehow. On some occasions this might in fact happen. But in order to maintain a long lasting career on the musical side of rap, one needs to develop his or her songwriting ability. As much as I love battle rap and the scene as a whole, it can seduce many potentially outstanding artists into neglecting developing their songwriting skills in favour just battling. Many dedicate all their time to battling opponents and will spend weeks to months studying them and developing their battle scripts like they would an actual song. It now requires such a large investment of time to prep for a battle that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult for rappers to manage both battling and songwriting. More and more often rappers are deciding to choose between the two. Some are so seduced by the battle scene that they focus strictly on battling and can’t even rhyme to a beat! If you only aspire to be a battle MC then more power to you. We are venturing into a brand new era where top tier battlers can actually make a living off of battling alone. If that’s all you want, then you can probably ignore this whole post haha. However, if you aspire to become a rapper that makes music, prioritising battling can be a poor investment of time, at least over the long haul. Being a successful battle MC can get you noticed, gain you respect and build a reputation for yourself. but there are a lot of great battle MCs that never go beyond the battle scene because they get typecast as being no more than just that, a battle MC. Watching and hearing them come up with clever punchlines to diss their opponents is very entertaining. But when it comes to listening to a song, people generally want to hear more substance in the form of flow, delivery and lyrical content. To be fair we’re starting to see this in battles as the scene continues to develop. There is a common phrase now used when judging a battle,’Bars before jokes…’ But I will say that at some level this has caused some rappers to swing too far in that direction leading many battle MC’s to over complicate things. You’re starting to hear all these really long-winded schemes that sound to me like nothing more than the frustrated musings of an artist eager to write a song. It comes across to me as if they feel their only way of building a rep is through battling so they use the kind of bars you’d use for a song against an opponent. Of course we’ve all wanted battles to develop beyond simple mum jokes and it certainly is developing but a lot of the time less is more. I can’t help but think the energy used to create a long-winded scheme simply to take the piss out of someone would be far better placed in trying to write an actual song. As another point, it seems unlikely you’re going to have a long lasting music career unless you can prove yourself as a songwriter which means going beyond coming up with clever punchlines about someone. A lot of people believe that Eminem got signed off of his fame from rap battling. But it was actually down to a demo that Dr Dre heard, that prompted him to sign him. The rap battles might have been the reason Eminem’s demo got on Dre’s desk in the first place, but if the demo was shite he wouldn’t have got signed. It still came down to Eminem’s songwriting ability over his rap battles. By all means sharpen your skills and build your reputation through battling. It can be a great way to build yourself a following. But I wouldn’t recommend prioritising it over songwriting and making good music at least over the long haul. Remember battling doesn’t necessarily have to be a rite of passage to becoming a dope MC. To prove the validity of what I am saying, think of your favourite rappers that you most enjoy listening to. Do you honestly care whether or not that rapper ever won or lost a rap battle? In most cases I think it’s fair to say you probably don’t care and it’s actually down to their music that you like them so much. It all comes down to your ability to write songs, which is in danger of becoming the most neglected skill in Hip Hop as more rappers get seduced by the allure of battling.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 04:25:26 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015