THE BAY12 OFFICIAL RAP LEAGUE!
Um, what?If you're on the Bay12 Forums thinking, " You know, I could really use a challenge utilizing my awesome vocabulary and writing skills," or, " I want to compete against everyone here so I can gain some sort of bragging right based on my rhyming ability," or, "I'MMA THUG TIL' I DIE,", then you've come to the right place!
The Bay12 Rap League is the forums first Rap tournament that will celebrate the writing, intelligence, creativity and wit of all it's participants.
Why Rap Battles?Let's see...Classical Battles would require an entire orchestra, Dubstep battles would just be postings of "DADADADWUBUWUBWUB" over and over, Heavy Metal Battles would just revolve around who could get the biggest and angriest looking font, etc.
Meanwhile, Rap is a musical genre that is intensely lyrical, in fact, it can easily be called the most lyrically sophisticated genre of contemporary music. (If you realize that Rap isn't about Lil Wayne & Friends talking about expensive shit all the time.) Also, while many artists settle their feud outside their music, Rap is built around dismissing enemies through creative means.
How does this work?After each rapper signs up, each will be randomly pit against another in a 1v1 Elimination Battle. Each player will Private Message me their verse, and after I receive both I will analyze them to see their respective strengths and flaws. (I will even vocalize them to the best of my ability to analyze rhythms and rhyme schemes.) After this, I will publicly post each verse, my analysis, and my verdict on which verse is a superior battle verse. The loser is eliminated and the winner moves on to the next round of the tournament, as well as having a victory added to their score, which will be kept at the bottom of this post. After one battle I will go on to the next one, and this will repeat until the winners and losers of a round are selected, which will then lead to the following round with a new set of match-ups.
This will go on until only two rappers remains, which means the tournament reaches the Final Round. Unlike any other rounds, this round will be a "2-out-of-3", so after the initial verses are analyzed and scored, the rappers will retort each other until someone wins twice. The
Hall of Fame will include the winners of each tournament, and will forever have them idolized. (Plus, you can brag that you're the best rapper on the Bay12 forums, which will no doubt impress your friends and surround you with attractive fans of your preferred gender(s).)
What are you looking for in each Verse?I'll mainly be analyzing the following aspects:
Rhyme: First and foremost, you should have some sort of rhyme scheme, whether it be AA style, (Ex. I got a boat/with a goat/makin' toast) or an AB style, (Ex. I got a nice boat/and plus it has/a giant goat) it should remain consistent throughout. Half-rhymes might be accepted, especially if you use hyphens to indicate which syllables you're emphasizing.
Rhythm: Also crucial is that when I'm vocalizing your rhymes in the comfort of my own home, I don't sound like like I'm trying to perform Opera. Many rappers have either risen or fallen because of their rhythm.
Vocabulary: This is where a lot of fun in rapping comes in. A lot of the issue with terrible rappers (besides their vocals and personalities) comes from the fact they use the same damn words and phrases to talk about the same damn things. The best rappers in history have always been using elegant and/or inventive ways to say what they gotta' say.
Wit: This is another classic staple of rap that demonstrates core ability. What's the different from a decent rapper and a superb rapper? The latter has all the puns, similes, metaphors, alliteration, irony, and so forth to make his verses more intelligent and complex. Humor is also a very latent weapon.
Attack: Let your opponent have it! Take on their rapping skills, their reputation, even their own being.
(Due to the nature of this thread, all rappers will simply be players in this forum game, so no attack will ever transcend beyond this thread in regards to both the forum and them in reality.) A lot of my decision will come from whomever can lyrically dismantle their opponent in the harshest, most awe-inspiring way.
Defense: Especially important for the Final Round, but also useful if you know what your opponent will say about you in their verse. A solid defense in a sense a sort of "Heal" like in a roleplaying game; if done correctly it will negate the attacks of your opponent. A defense and then successful counter-attack is an amazing combination, as can be seen by many famous rap battles in history.
References: Not crucial or even necessary, but references are powerful tools. The best rappers always chock their verses up with a multitude of references, allegories and symbols pertaining to current events, history, movies, books, video games, etc. (For example, many
Wu-Tang Clan songs were loaded with rhymes about Comic Books, Mythology, and Kung-fu Movies. They are now one widely regarded as one of the best rap groups of all time.)
Alright, I thought up a verse right now! "Yo yo yo this is mad G' stealin' C's wit' da'-"Woah, settle down! This is a tournament of Rapping ability, not to see who is "Tha' Realest Gangsta'". I don't expect a majority of rappers here to be dealing crack in the ghetto. (And to those of you that are in that situation, Peace.)
Many of the most popular rappers right now come from Working/Middle-class backgrounds. (Kanye West, Tyler the Creator, Lupe Fiasco, etc.) So don't feel the need to be all hood if you aren't, just give me your lyrical ability.
Are you the only judge?Yeah.
Why do you think you're so qualified to analyze rap verses, Mr. "I-have-a-clapping-pony-as-an-avatar?"I listen to all kinds of rap religiously every single day, contribute to the Rap Lyric Analysis website
Rap Genius, and have participated in multiple battles in real life. Yes, they were very casual, but I still think this gives me a better qualification to analyzing rap compared to someone who has never analyzed any rap songs.
Well I want to judge!If you really want to judge you can ask me however you want to, and I'll PM you a little questionnaire about your experiences and opinions concerning rap. If you can show me you even have a tiny understanding of rap analysis, I'll gladly let you judge with me.
How do I sign up? Just say you want to sign-up for the tournament. Alternatively, you could sign-up via freestyle if you want to let everyone know it's
really on.
Bay12 Rap League Hall of Fame:1. LORDBUCKET Tournament 2 Line-Up:1. Kashyyk
2. Dansmithers
3. Maxinum McDreich
4. LordSlowpoke
5. mcclay6. Cheesecake
7. DaveTheGrave8. Gamerlord9. lawastooshort
10. GreatWyrmGold
Total Scores:1. LordBucket - 3
2. DaveTheGrave - 2
3. Gamerlord - 1
4. Cheesecake - 1
5. Dansmithers - 1
6. Kashyyk - 1
6. GreatWyrmGold - 0
7. Maxinum McDreich - 0
8. mcclay - 0
Author
Topic: The Bay12 Rap Battle League; The End (Read 17346 times)