Bodied: A look inside battle rap

What is battle rap?

Here is a compilation of definitions that I found online:

A rap battle is when 2 rappers go head to head in front of an audience and use intricate, and creative punchlines. They may use metaphors, name or wordplay, or personals insults where most of the lyrics are directed at the other rapper and have to rhyme at the same time. Since there are no clear winners, respect is earned by appeasing the crowd and “roasting” on the other rapper.

Now creative uses of language and insulting other clans or people are nothing new to our world. The most prevalent similarities to battle rap come from mostly Afro-centric communities such as the Griots of West Africa and the Toyi- Toyi warriors of South Africa as well as many others. While these are all seen as similar to what battle rap originated as the most direct link in history can be drawn to Muhammed Ali in the 1960’s with his lyrical trash talk. The true birth of Battle Rap comes with the rise of Hip-hop in December 1981 when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski. This is believed to be the shift in rap culture and gave rise to different MC’s across the world to take up the mic when they had issues with other groups and musicians. While the original history was usually more of a diss track like the battle between Ice Cube and N.W.A, the current landscape is more leaning towards the in-person back and forth. Nowadays, in 2018 rappers often insult each other on Twitter but the battle culture is not lost in the mainstream. Almost like a doctor, Eminem came firing back to resuscitate the battle culture with his fight against rapper MGK. The desire to match wits and see who really is the best MC may have faded but it is never lost to the real challengers.

Why is Toronto important?

So this is where the upcoming movie “Bodied” makes the battle rap scene change its focus. There are two major leagues and groups in the battle rap scene. The first is the Ultimate Rap League, founded in New York 2009, which came out of a DVD series that was locally created and circulated titled “Street Music, Arts, Culture & Knowledge or SMACK DVD” between 2002 and 2008. The flip side and the original league comes from Toronto a.k.a. T-Dot called King of the Dot. Founded in 2008 by Travis Fleetwood a.k.a. Organik and RyanPVP after they connected at a local MC event Proud 2B Eh Battle MC. It has grown into one of the largest players in the international battle rap scene. The first person to lead the league and become an early hero is Alex Larsen a.k.a Kid Twist. He rises to fame along with KOTD and they continued to grow in their 10 years of evolution. According to Larsen, he received a DM on Twitter from famed video director Joseph Kahn and asked if he wrote scripts. This eventually led to having Larsen write the movie Bodied along with Kahn and using his uniquely Canadian and Torontonian perspective to show the world this fresh take on rap and battle culture. And obviously the movie is set in Oakland not Toronto but as a citizen, you can just feel the ideology of the Dot surrounding the movie. When I spoke with Organik after the screening, he spoke about his love of the international love that battle rap has been getting. From growth in the Philipines to Russia, it truly has become an international experience. In my opinion, it is just about time for battle rap and diss tracks to make a return to popularity.

And the thing that will lead the return of battle rap to popularity is coming to a screen near you on November 28th and that is the movie Bodied, premiering on YouTube Premium for everyone to see.

THE FILM

Bodied is a 2017 film that centers on a white grad student that chooses to center his thesis on how battle rap uses the “n-word” in many different forms and with many different meanings. He slowly gets entangled into the world because of his mentor Behn Grymm (Jackie Long) and it takes him on an epic journey to learn his truth according to battle rap.

What the movie is most concerned with is trying to establish a truth about our world’s need for political correctness and what can be told if you take that away. There is a clear division between Adam’s (Calum Worthy) university world as juxtaposed with the street world of battle rap. There are constant pushes to see the two as different but as the film goes on, there are more and more examples of how they are the same. Not only does his father have a thesis from when he was a student that sounds eerily familiar to what Adam is writing on. Grymm is seen as a hard rapper but when it is unravelled there is an honesty and sincerity that you learn about him. There is a tension between the two sides and what comes from that is seemingly his need to actually keep rapping and pushing himself.

One thing I learned in the research of this topic overall is all the different popular battle rappers that make cameos in all of the scenes. If you see someone congratulate someone’s rhymes, they probably are someone popular in the battle rap world. If you keep diving in you keep on seeing people you notice but the main thing that comes up if you watch enough old videos is the idea of political correctness, racism and diversity. That is something that the movie tries to address also. We live in this world where what you say is so important, factual or not, there are large implications for what you say. This is shown in the movie because if you take anything a battle rapper says out of context, it’s very bad. What is that saying about the world we live in, that political correctness is outweighed by a desire to make a statement. I see both sides of this issue, not only does everyone desire to be seen as they are and their truth. The other side is to be able to call people out, on their successes and their failures. The checks and balances that make our world more real. Everyone is trying to please someone but no one is trying to love tap their neighbour to keep them on the right side of the road.

I see it as a balance, to do some good, you have to be able to do some bad. Maybe it’s not a perfect system and clearly, there may be some issues but if you want to take praise and celebrations, you should be ready to take a few hits if you stumble.

But really get ready to learn about this lesser known arm of rap and Hip-hop culture on Nov 28th. If you are in Toronto head down to the TIFF Bell Lightbox to see screenings of it for the weeks up to online release.

FYI if you dig the movie and want to see it in person, KOTD is celebrating 10 years and hosting an event on Dec 9th and you know I will be there to see what battle rap is really about.