Battling Impromptu
Select a suitable opponent. Your spontaneous rap battle might fall flat if you challenge an unwilling opponent. Friends that share your interest in rap are a good choice. Musicians and poets, having experience with lyrics and rhyme structure, will also likely be a worthy challenge. Quick-witted individuals or those who are experienced in public speaking, even if they don’t have an interest in rap, music, or poetry, may surprise with their ability to spit a phrase.
Kickoff your battle at the right moment. Timing is everything. A spur-of-the-moment rap battle can captivate onlookers, but a battle that interrupts conversations or disrupts activities could earn you contempt. Wait for a pause in conversations or activities before initiating your battle. While waiting for the right moment, pay attention to conversations and things around you. Use these when challenging an opponent to make the transition to a rap battle smooth and natural.
Initiate the battle. Rap battles generally follow a call and response format. One rapper spits rhymes for a designated period of time, then the other. In a spontaneous rap battle, you won’t be able to decide on timing in advance, so your first lines will roughly establish the expected length for each battler. The typical length for a rap verse is 16 bars. For most songs, this equals 64 beats of music. For more on counting rhythms, check out this guide. Spit your opening lines to music playing in the background to help keep your sense of timing. Alternatively, play a beat on your phone or have a friend beatbox a rhythm for you.
Open with a hook. Begin with something that catches the attention of your opponent and anyone else close by. Make bold statements. Call out your opponent's ability to spit unrehearsed rhymes. Try to include your challenge in the hook, as in the following example: "You claim you’re a fan, watch rap battles all the time / The gauntlet’s being thrown, son, so spit your best battle rhyme. / Now’s not the time to defer or to whine, to shrug in a sign you don’t mind the sublime chance to climb to the top. / ’Nuff said. You go; I’ll stop.”
Rap about your opponent. Sometimes called “diss factor,” slamming your opponent’s rhymes, features, and so on is an important part of rap battling. Opening lines that taunt your opponent can bait even unwilling participants to join the battlefield. The way you use diss factor will be unique to your style. Some battle rappers exaggerate features of their opponents, criticize an opponent’s experiences, or remind opponents of previous blunders. The rapper Canibus dissed LL Cool J after being cut from a song by saying, “You walk around showing off your body because it sells / Plus to avoid the fact that you ain’t got skills.”
Use your opponent’s rhymes to your advantage. Listen carefully to your opponent as they rap. Downplay their claims. Reinterpret their words to your own advantage. In the rap world, the technique of turning an opponent’s words back on the opponent is called a “flip.” For example, if an opponent says, “He says he’s a battler, I find him unfit. / This kid can barely spit.” You might respond, “If you think I’ve barely spit in this dual, / I’d rather barely spit than do like you and drool.”
Involve bystanders to draw them in. Address the crowd in your lyrics. Pose rhetorical questions to any onlookers. This will help you connect with your audience, exciting them and winning you cheers. Many impromptu battles are decided by popular opinion, so having the crowd on your side is important. As an example, you might involve the crowd by saying, “Did you hear what she said? / She spits cotton balls, not bullets of lead. / She’s only an underfoot thread, not a poisonous copperhead. / Don’t be misled.”
Organizing a Rap Battle Event
Recruit judges for the battle, if necessary. In some cases, you might decide to have the crowd judge the winners. In this case, you won’t need judges. For more serious competitions, judges with a deep understand of rap structure and delivery will be able to more consistently rate and critique battlers. When using a crowd to judge a rap battle, you’ll need a voting system. Have the audience applaud for the battler they think did best. Print out simple ballots so audience members can vote. Ask local rappers to judge events. Find judges among poetry or hip hop professors at local universities and community colleges. Invite famous rappers who are native to your region to judge the battle.
Arrange a venue for the event. The size of your venue will largely determine how large or small your event can be. Contact local schools, libraries, community centers, bars, concert halls, and similar venues to see if you can host your event at places like these. When finding a venue, verify that there is a microphone or a sound system available. In large spaces especially, it can be difficult to hear battlers without a mic. If you have already recruited judges for your event, they may be able to advise you on locations suitable for the venue.
Establish the rules of engagement. Rap battles held at family friendly locations will likely frown on profanity and harsh language. You may want to restrict some offensive terms and expressions. You’ll also need to decide on the areas battlers will be rated, the number of points for each area, and the time or length allowed for each battler. Rap is generally divided into three main areas, which can be used for judging battlers. These areas are: content, flow (rhythm, rhyme, and cadence), and delivery. Dissing during a battle can sometimes get out of hand. Some rap battle leagues ban the use of certain kinds of hate speech, like those that involve rape, violation of privacy, or personal harm.
Organize prizes for winners. Offer to advertise for a local business at your event in exchange for a prize donation. Inquire about potential donations or fundraising opportunities with literature or hip-hop professors at a local university. Hold your own fundraiser. Be sure to specifically mention any prizes in your advertising. This is a great tactic for increasing interest in your event.
Advertise for the battle. Make and put fliers up at local grocery stores, community centers, and schools. Spread the word on social media and battle rap message boards. Large crowds add excitement to rap battles. Target areas that amateur rappers and live performers frequent, like at bars or clubs that host live music and venues that have hosted rap battles previously. Invite your family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else you know who is interested in rap or poetry.
Prepping for Battle
Adopt a stage persona. This is an effective way to protect yourself from being offended during the battle. Even veteran battle rappers sometimes feel the sting of a well-spoken burn. Come up with a separate identity and practice rapping with this persona. Stay true to this persona on stage. The persona you adopt will depend on your personality and preferences. You might take on the character of a lighthearted jokester, a sarcastic trash-talker, a gangster from the streets, or others.
Write potential lyrics before the battle. A pre-thought line can save you if your mind blanks when freestyling. These lines can also buy you time while you think of the right response to something an opponent has said. Prepare more material than necessary. If you get called out after a strong showing, you may end up needing more material than you planned. At minimum, try to have at least five rounds of lines thought up before battles. A round is generally 16 bars. For most songs, this equals 64 beats.
Anticipate the attacks of your opponents. Unless the rules state otherwise, your opponent can use anything against you in a rap battle. This includes your appearance, sense of style, or the subjects you rap about. Identify likely areas that will be used against you and think up counters to these. For example, if you have a large nose, you might deflect this if used against you saying, “He mocks my nose, but ya don’t need a trunk / To smell his crap rhymes and know they’re junk.” In a rap battle, you should expect your opponent to diss you at some point. Try not to take these too seriously. Focus on your flow, out-spit your opponent, and win the battle.
Add variety to your rhymes. Using the same rhyme structure during a rap battle will make your performance repetitive and less interesting. Try out different rhyming structure to see what works best for you. Rhyme structure is often represented using letters for each line. Same letter lines rhyme, as in the following common rhyme patterns: A Boy Named Sue rhyme scheme: AABCCB Ballade rhyme scheme: ABABBCBC Enclosed rhyme scheme: ABBA "Fire and Ice" rhyme scheme: ABAABCBCB
Rap using words that start with the same sound. Your lines don’t always have to rhyme. Instead, try creating lines with words that have the same starting sound. This technique is called alliteration. Alliterative lines can also rhyme, as in the following example: "Fans filter the fighters fit for / First place by favorite phrases / I’ll flood your flow like forty days and nights of folklore / Forget fighting, you’ll finish fame-less."
Master freestyling. Practice coming up with new and interesting raps on the spot. Rap along to ambient music throughout the day to sharpen your skills. Write down catchy lines you come up with so you don’t forget them. Be persistent with your freestyle practice. It may take some time before you find your flow and can smoothly spit without stopping. Natural freestyling talent is rare. Don’t feel bad if you stutter or come up with nonsense lines when practicing. Once you can speak fluidly, without pausing, you can work on improving content.
Join a local rap battle league. The more you practice battle rapping, the more your skills will improve. Local rap battle leagues can be found in many cities. Search for these online with a keyword search for something like “Rap battle leagues near me.” Sign up for battles and perform. If there aren’t any rap battle leagues nearby, join an online rap battle league. Some online leagues may require a microphone. Start your own rap battle league with friends and local rappers. Increase your popularity as a battler by posting these videos on social media, like Facebook and YouTube.
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