By Harold Kapindu…
Firstly, let us address the elephant in the room. There is a difference between a Rap Battle and Beef.
Artists can have beef and not battle each other. Similarly, artists can battle and not have beef.
For instance, Tupac and Notorious B.I.G, 50 Cent and Jah Rule, Eminem and Benzino, Canibus and LL Cool J had beef but never battled each other.
Battle rappers like late Pat Stay, Murda Mook, Tay Roc, Charlie Clips, Hitman Holla, DNA, Craig G, MC Supernatural, Arsonal, Loaded Lux, John John Da Don, Rum Nitty and Danny Myers among others battle yet they don’t have beef.
Two Malawian rappers namely Episodz and Riffle Dynamic this year started exchanging lyrical blows through songs which are popularly known as diss tracks or wax in Hip Hop circles.
Riffle Dynamic released the first diss song as a statement addressing critics who compare him to Episodz.
The song prompted Episodz to reply in a video that went viral on social media.
It went from dissing on wax to an actual Rap Battle which took place last weekend at Epic in the capital, Lilongwe.
The battle was planned for the two rappers to settle the score with the winner walking away with K1 million.
However, what suprised most Hip Hop lovers that follow battle rap was the fact that the showdown ended in a draw. Both rappers walked away with K1 million each.
One pundit compared Rap Battle to a Football Cup final, saying if a game ends in a draw in 90 minutes, it goes into extra time and finally into penalty shoot outs. Either way, your need to find a winner.
We don’t know which criteria was used to determine the decision of coming up with the draw result. Did both rappers fail to impress or they were both outstanding?
If you go to YouTube and search Rap Battles, you will find hundreds of videos. Non of the rap battles ended in a draw.
We can do better.
