International Cinema Festival of India

Freestyle battles are a cornerstone of hip hop culture. Generally, two opponents square off against each other in battle of wits. Each MC gets two rounds (usually a minute long) to verbally humiliate the other using a variety of punchlines about their appearance, history or rap style. A battle is a great way for up and coming rappers to get noticed (Eminem, for example, took second place at the Freestyle Olympics, an effort that got him picked up by Dr. Dre).

So what forms for thriving freestyle rap conflicts? There are a number of contributing factors: the specificity of the punchlines (the more special the better), the delivery (clean and well enunciated) and the flow (unique style, or just hurling insults?) are all imporant considerations for a battle rapper. Let’s look at each in more detail:

Unique punchlines. Evidently, we’ve all heard a million “Yo Mama” jokes, and while some are really funny “You mama so fat she bleeds gravy” they’re also very generic. After all, everyone has a mother. While you can certainly win applying popular punchlines such as fat jokes or skinny jokes, the more special the better. If you can reference the words on your opponents shirt, all the better for you.

Delivery. Freestyle battles are a lot of showmanship, and the MCs demand to carry their lines cleanly. I’ve seen rappers make great hand clapping from a crowd not because the punchline was that special, but because they stated it like they implied it! Conversely, a deadly punchline is worthless if you’re extending the mic with your hand. Focus on delivery.

Flow. Don’t confuse flow with delivery, which is the more technical side. Whereas delivery is about articulating your words, flow is how you put words together. Generally, in freestyle battles, the most deadly form of flow is the use of multiple internal rhymes that consist of a set up and a punchline. However, some rappers fall into the habit of using the same tired format, and can be beaten by someone on style points.

The important thing to recognise is that freestyle battles are seldom won on one aspect only. it’s ordinarily a compounding of the three that leads to triumph, which is why you need to work on your words, your delivery and your flow to stay at the top of your game. See Jump off TV freestyle rap conflicts and make notes on what works, and try to incorporate that into your private style.

Want to learn to rap, then visit this site for more freestyle rap tips.