"Back before the days of “beef”, Hip Hop was about battling, the battle for supremacy. All the emcee wanted to do was rock the party and be considered the best, and be better than whomever else was there
We would rhyme on the steps, in school, on the basketball court, or wherever we could. It was a competition to see who would get the most oohs and ahhs and who used words in a new or different way. Vocabulary was important, using current references was important, and most of the times in the 80s...no one wrote anything!!! It was all off the top of the dome...
This was back in the day where a rhymer would hear something, get some money together cop some studio time and cut a response that week, and a song would come out in rapid fashion
No one was safe! If you thought you were nice, you were going to get challenged! I miss those days … the competition aspect of hip hop allowed the fans to really benefit from it because artists worked at their skills and word play and gave us dope material
You didn’t want to come wack
You didn’t want to be defeated
You didn’t want to look like an easy target
You wanted to be dope
…and this was when biting was not allowed. " - eclectik
On this episode, we will discuss some of hip hop's greatest battles, great diss records, their relevance in hip hop history, and some hip hop battles that NEVER happened.
Joining us on the show will be the hip hop historian and frequent show contributor, eclectik. Listen as we drop science on some of the best hip hop battles.
LISTEN BELOW...
