Japanese Freestyle Battle

In the last several years the written battle format has seen tremendous success, gaining national attention, obtaining corporate sponsors, and spotlighting artists whom may have remained unknown otherwise. And I wholeheartedly support and am thoroughly entertained by the written battle format; I infer that the so-called purists who criticize premeditated battles for their absence of impromptu rhymes are disgruntled mediocre MC’s who never fully reached their pinnacle.

However, there is something magical about the traditional freestyle battle format; this may sound overly romanticized, but anyone who has studied MCing can respect a skilled lyricist really reaching that level he can’t routinely reach through rehearsal or practice. The second MC to rhyme on the right hand side, 環Roy (pronounced Tamaki Roy) epitomizes an MC zoning out and… fuck this, this is beginning to sound way too 8 mile.

Just watch, you’ll see…