The Crazy World of Battle Rap

By: Andrew Tao

TRAP NY is a battle rap league in New York City. It was founded by Tyrell Reid in 2013. Battle rap is art mixed with sport, in which two rappers try to battle each other with insults and rhymes. It’s also an industry that has been slowly growing for the last decade. There have been more and more tournaments with bigger prize pools, leading to increased popularity of the craft.

FlipTop is the most-viewed battle rap series, with 1.7 billion YouTube views. It is in the Philippines and was founded by Alaric Riam Yuson in 2010. The most-viewed FlipTop match is Loonie/Abra vs Shehyee/Smugglaz with 49.6 million views, in which Loonie and Abra got absolutely destroyed by Shehyee/Smugglaz in a 7-0 decision.

While battle rap is very popular in the real world, it’s also been getting very popular in the virtual world.

For example, 2 years ago, Jackbox, a game where people have rap battles together, became extremely popular.

It was near the top of the charts on Twitch, which is one of the largest streaming platforms in the world. This is because large Twitch streamers were streaming 1v1 battle raps against other Twitch streamers.

While competitive battle rap is very popular, people have been doing battle rap against their own friends for years. In fact, one of the most popular memes of all time on the internet is a rap battle between two friends. The “OOOHHHHHH” meme, the “boom bam bap badabap boom bam pow” meme, and the “I’m boutta end this man’s whole career” meme are both from the same rap battle. This rap battle was filmed in 2013.

Most of the Twitch streamers were mediocre at best because they had very little experience, but one of the best battle rappers of all time is Rum Nitty. Rum Nitty is from Phoenix, Arizona and has had 48 total battles. He is known for his rhymes, roasts, and wordplay.

In conclusion, battle rap is a very interesting sport. It has grown exponentially in the last decade and will likely continue to. Whether it’s on a world stage or it’s just you and your buddies, it will always be a super fun event.