Why Every Hip-Hop Fan Should Get Into Battle Rap In 2021

Don’t complain about the lack of lyricism in rap if you haven’t tried watching the modern day rap battle

It’s been a common refrain for my entire life as a rap fan: “rap is missing the lyricism of the old days.” That’s mostly rubbish as there’s more than enough lyricism in rap now and as much as there has ever been. But let’s just go with it. If you’re looking for a bar-heavy barrage of complex Hip-Hop, you might want to take it back to the essence and get into battle rap.

Now, I know you’re probably somewhat familiar with battle rap, whether that be Eminem’s 8 Mile movie or 106 & Park’s Freestyle Friday, but times have changed. There’s no longer the assumption that rappers are actually freestyling and, with the exception of the highly entertaining Verbal Warzone league, rappers aren’t battling over beats anymore. Rappers come prepared with three rounds of material that they’ve written, rehearsed and memorized. They sometimes come with props, partners jumping in and any array of theatrics. The beauty, though, is that it all comes down to lyrics, charisma and performance. Each rapper essentially performs a live EP of rhymes about their opponent. And it can get incredibly epic.