Jump to Comments BEEFING 101 We all know there are no rules in war (thanks for demonstrating that again Bush), but for DT nubes who come to the site with their battle boots on I figured it might be helpful to put them in the picture before we send them home in high heels. A lotta people think that the way to get noticed is to jump on someone who is getting lots of props, as if you're gonna steal their crown. And you know what, it CAN work - look at like an MC like Rounds who went from most hated to being a respected artist on the site. Rounds came hard and took a lot of shit from a lot of people but he didn't compromise for a second, and made it because he kept putting up fire and earned respect. The guy must have skin thinker than elephant ass, and if you're not the same way, you're probably not built for warfare. I suggest you take up cake making or some shit. So you find yourself in a tight corner - lets say you're given an honest criticism of a song and said you don't feel it and some sensitive dude is acting like you put ya thumb in his sisters ass. These things happen. First you gotta decide if you even wanna get involved cos this is gonna take up mental space y'all simple folk might not be able to afford. But I gotta say, battling is half the fun on DT and there's two ways you can do it: respectfully and as fun and training to keep ya game up, or all out war. There's a place for both, but you can decide which way it goes with your first step. If you're chilled, put humor into your track and show them props if they come back with anything decent. Most times battling ain't a smooth ride and pretty quickly it can get nasty. We all do things in the heat of the battle and that's just the way it is. There's no wrong or right when you're spitting a diss, but the minute you try to take that anger onto the street then you're acting the fool. I'm here to enjoy music - simple as that. Family and clans often get involved and sometimes it's a straight takeover, but that's why you choose your battles wisely. Clashes take all sorts of shapes: quickfire shots over a beat through the DT player over the same beat where it's all about quick thinking and raw talent, or highly planned attack tracks put together in a studio and launched within a few days (i always think that more than a week and you lose by default). There are positives to both and I think real emcees can do BOTH. I've seen battles go on for round after round and for weeks (months even - check out dopeman & kezy for example), but most times a good battle seems to go over 3 rounds and last a week or two. Dope points help to get a feel for who's getting support but at the end of the it all it's down to what people are saying and what people are feeling. Often it's hard to tell who really wins, but you kinda know in yours heart who was better in the battle. If you really wanna find out who wins, say dopepoints will decide the winner at the start, or agree on someone independent to decide who wins. And a win doesn't mean they are better period, just that they came with more fire at that time. A good boxer picks himself up and is stronger after a knockout, and revenge is sweeter than the first win, dig? 80% of battles fall into two categories - someone good killing someone shit, but nobody is interested in that cos it's lame; and battles where people on a similar level push eachother to come bigger and harder and you get 3 rounds of fire. MCs think they are killing each other but what they sometimes don't realize is that they are really collaborating to create something bigger and better as a whole. You'll often find that even after a battle that looked like blood was gonna be shed, the emcees end end up with genuine respect for their opponent (even if they still wanna break their bones). One day I'll get a chance to put together a list of the best battles on DT, but if you look at the forums you'll find stuff. Grip vs Drestone was a classic and don dopeman, Rounds (especially Rounds vs don), westex, kezy, g hosa phatz, murphy, youngrich (a true battle hog) and drestone are all names that spring to mind. Right now Epick and Don are in the midst of a big battle, fighting it out on the frontpage. Put some links in the comments below if you know some classic battles. Oh and here's some link i found with some more about freestyle battling... **NEW** Around the same time that I posted this 101, Don Dope and Epick1 kicked of on a real classic battle: three rounds, varied styles, real tension. Here are the links: Epick's first shot, don reply, epick second shot, don's 2nd reply, epick final shot... and don's is coming soon... who won?