General
The Famous Battling Styles in FlipTop (Part 4)
We are now at the fourth edition. Here are more battling techniques commonly used in the league!
Jake Tan
May 21, 2024
Throughout its 14 years of existence, FlipTop has introduced various rapping styles to a wider audience. We continue to discover new techniques today but let’s talk about the popular ones or those that remain influential up to now. We’re now at part four, so if you haven’t read the previous posts, you can check them out here, here, and here. Let’s begin…
Deadpan humor
Comedy, in general, requires emotion in order to work. However, some choose to deliver jokes in a different, less goofy way. Deadpan humor involves dropping comedic lines while keeping a straight face. When using this style, timing and content are very important, especially in battle rap where viewers are more accustomed to theatrics.
Street
The name says it all. It’s the type of rapping that incorporates the street lifestyle. This means all out aggression and confidence in the delivery and a gangsta influence on the material. Gun bars are almost always included in this approach but some emcees try a different route. Obviously, those with a legit background are effective and dominant with this style.
Freestyle/Written
Rap battles are mostly pre-written now but there are still a few emcees who keep their freestyle skills in their arsenal. Apart from rebuttals, they can also spit the most devastating punchlines on the spot if they have to. The ability to mix written and off-the-top bars has been proven many times to be very efficient in this field.
Poetic
Some may compare it to the technical style of rapping, but being poetic is much more complex than that. While it may contain tons of figures of speech, emcees utilizing this technique also deliver their verses with their wide vocabulary. Instead of relying on slang and/or mixing different languages, the poetic approach sticks to the more formal method of writing. It started to grow in popularity more today thanks to Emar Industriya’s recent battles with Zend Luke and M Zhayt.
Conscious
Much like its music counterpart, the conscious style in battle rap infuses social issues in the emcee’s material. It’s mostly related to the opponent but others aim to use it in the match to get their point across to the general public. Sometimes it works in a battle rap setting, sometimes it doesn’t. What matters most for the conscious emcee is that their message inspires awareness and hopefully, a positive change to the surroundings.
READ ALSO: The Throwback: 6 Beloved FlipTop Venues before Tiu Theater
What other battling styles do you know of? Don’t hesitate to share them in the comments section and we’ll make sure to include them in part five. To the new fans of battle rap, we hope this piece and the previous ones helped you garner a deeper appreciation for the art form. The majority of the outsiders claim it’s just about cussing and humiliating your opponent, but the real supporters know it’s much, much more than that. Show this to anyone who may have a negative perception of battle rap. For the solid fans, we’ll see you all at the next event. Stick around for the next uploads and of course, the announcement regarding the next events. FlipTop, make some noise!
