“Remember AI crossed Mike out his sneakers?” – Murda Mook

Welcome back to the dojo … (Bow <-Traditional Far East Customary Bow)

Hopefully you had an opportunity to review lessons one through three over the course of the past month or so. If so, you’ve identified why you want to battle rap, defined your specific style, and understand the historical context of the art form. With those three lessons, you’ve got a solid foundation to move on to self-mastery. So in my best Allen Iverson voice … [clears through and looks shocked] – this week “we talmbout practice! Not a game. Practice. Practice.”

Let us begin …

We’ve all heard the old adage that “practice makes perfect,” and for good reason. I cannot overstate how important preparation is for a battle! The biggest hindrances that prevent many battles from being considered great, or classic, are chokes and stumbles.  

Webster defines chokes and stumbles as follows:

Choke [intransitive verb] –  to lose one’s composure and fail to perform effectively in a critical situation – had a chance to win the game but he choked

Stumble [intransitive verb] – to speak or act in a hesitant or faltering manner

Battle Rap Dictionary:

Choke [intransitive verb] – when an emcee ends their round early because they cannot remember their material or lack the confidence to complete their round. Notable chokes: 

Loaded Lux vs Calicoe (Lux’s 1st)
Cicero vs Bishop Brigante 
Tsu Surf vs T-Top (Surf’s 3rd)
O-Red vs Ave (O-Red 3rd)

Stumble [intransitive verb] – when an emcee mispronounces a word through poor articulation/pronunciation or forgot an entire sentence and has to backtrack to get back on pace.  Notable stumbles:

Aye Verb vs Jimz (Verb 2nd)
Chess vs Tay Roc (Chess’ 3rd)
B-Dot vs Cortez (B-Dot 2nd)

Both a stumble and choke spell doom in a battle. Nine times out of 10 if a battle is close, and it is not clear who’s winning, a choke or stumble lead to an emcee losing or creating a debate centered around the choke or stumble. Consequently we have reached a point in Battle Rap culture where choking is accepted and more often than not expected to occur at some point during an event. Let that sink in … choking is expected. Have the standards come down so far that we allow choking to be part of an emcee’s attributes?

If you studied your history, you’d understand that in both the Fight Klub, Rap Olympic, and Scribble Jam era if you paused for more than two seconds your round was cut by the host or DJ! That’s right … the slightest paused meant you were done. NEXT! Today’s kinder, gentler culture give some emcees minutes during a round to “get it together.” (Lux)

That said, in most cases chokes are considered much worse than stumbling. Primarily because people stumble over their own words all the time. But to be considered a great orator and performer you should strive to eliminate both. Imagine President Obama stumbling through a speech on foreign policy at the United Nations? How would you look at him?  How do you think the media would characterize his level of intelligence or dedication to his post as leader of the free world? I know, battle rap isn’t as important as being the president of the United States, but as a professional you should want to strive to achieve perfection. Mr. Obama didn’t simply become arguably the greatest orator of our time by sheer luck.  He focused on his craft and became great at it. Bottom line, choking eliminate the aura of invincibility to your opponent “and now you are in a world where the hunter becomes the hunted.” (Canibus – Rip the Jacker) Let’s start by focusing on preventing choking and work our way to methods of reducing stumbles.

How President Obama prepares for a big speech:  http://www.businessinsider.com/obamas-mock-stage-and-the-power-of-specific-practise-2011-7

“It seemed so much worse cause we ain’t think Mike had a weakness …” – Murda Mook

There are a myriad of factors contribute to someone choking or stumbling like fear or getting hit with a hay-maker (personal bar) that shakes their inner core and make him question whether or not his material is even worthy of being said afterwards. The cause of the choke or stumble may be the same, but let’s be clear, they are two completely different animals.  Is this your weakness? While there isn’t a foolproof way to prevent either from happening, there are several measures you can adopt to decrease the probability of it happening to you.

“The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.” – Will Smith

WRITE – First and foremost is write early and write often! Once the negotiation process is completed and your battle is locked in, you want to begin writing that day. Generally YOU will have at least a month or more before the battle. During this time, you should avoid video game play, smoking weed being high all day, or sitting on the block chilling with friends while trying to craft material.  You should be be writing … even if you only come up with a bar or two a day, that’s fine, just write it down. Try to avoid marathon writing sessions if possible. You should take a break in your writing schedule to allow your mind to rest and brainstorm fresh material.

“There is no principle that is more important or more effective than recitation for transferring material from the short-term memory to the long-term memory.” – Intelegen Inc.

RECITE – Once you have your material written in its entirety, you must begin to recite it.  Reciting your material may seem obvious and very trivial, but it is a key ingredient in the memorization process. Murda Mook explained his memorization process on an Angry Fans Radio interview as the most consuming portion of his preparation process. “Wherever and whenever I had free time walking down the street or standing in line, I would recite my material … constantly mumbling the words to myself until I have it cold.”  The repetition of reciting your written words will activate your long-term memory cannot be overstated. Once you have the material down packed it’s time to perfect the performance through rehearsal.

“The separation is in the preparation.” – Russell Wilson

REHEARSE – You may have written and memorized the greatest rhymes in the world, but if you cannot perform when it counts, it was all for nothing.  In a perfect world having an equal amount of writing, reciting and rehearsal would be optimal – but we live in the real world with commitments to family, friends and potentially your employer. If you have to prioritize your time, ensure you dedicate ample time to rehearse your material with performance. Why? Simple … it’s all about execution. What’s the point of having the greatest rhymes in the world, but you can’t get them off cleanly, if at all? A battler with mediocre rhymes who completes three flawless rounds will beat a better lyricist who cannot – every-time.

You rehearsal should include all performing aspects to help you maintain your breath control. If you can, spar with friends who battle rap, preferably people who are on the same level or higher than yourself to gauge where you are. You don’t want “YES MEN” in your corner … you need honest constructive criticism. I’ve witnessed several instances when an emcee said something horrible and wondered why didn’t anyone in his circle tell him any better?

The week of the battle, you want to perform your rounds at least three times a day. It doesn’t matter where you are: in the shower, before sleep, as soon as you wake, while on the toilet, etc. It’s a grueling process and once you have down packed it start sounding boring to you. And that’s what you are looking for … you are supposed to be able to say your round as quickly, and as effortlessly as you can say your first and last name, and birthday. It is now second nature and you should not have any problems on the day of the battle.

REARRANGE – Oftentimes in a battle something will be said in a round prior that you may be able to capitalize on but because you were not prepared enough you could not adjust and spit the material at the most appropriate time. Here’s what you do.  Try practicing rounds 1,2, and 3..then immediately go in reverse order from rounds 3,2,1. Interchanging on the fly depending on their opponents rounds is a technique that really comes in handy.

REFLECT – Now that you’ve put in the work, it’s time to rest your vocal chords and your brain – you’ve earned. Take a moment to reflect on why you chose this battle in the first place and re-motivate yourself for the competition that lies ahead of you. The process of self-actualization begins with envisioning every step and potential outcome of the battle with you victorious at the end.

“The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue, the tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips.” – Say that five times in a row!

STUMBLE REDUCTION – Mastering the above battle preparation process will definitely reduce stumbles, but sometimes you get tongue twisted because you cannot effectively enunciate, pronounce, project and physically articulate your mouth to get the words our properly.  Very common when you have words in rapid succession that require the same sounds generated from your tongue. This happens to emcees in the studio who put together complex rhyme patterns … think of emcees like Emenim, Chino XL, Twista, Canibus, Ras Kass. But a studio production environment is much more forgiving than the live stage. The studio emcee can punch in and out and compile takes over the course of the session all the while the words are in his or her face on their notepad or smartphone. The same emcee cannot do a live performance and forget their rhymes without getting booed off stage. As soon as Aye Verb makes the slightest stumble on that Summer Madness you can bet the crowd is calling for the Sandman to get him off the stage … don’t let that be you. 

So, what can you implement in your preparation regime to reduce stumbles? The same as other stage performers (actors, singers, game show hosts, comedians, etc.), practice verbal tongue twisters that force you to articulate your words correctly.   Attached you’ll find a compilation of vocal warm up tongue twister exercises that you can practice.  They will work wonders for increasing the intelligibility of your rhymes and your enunciation.

Download full copy of Tongue Twisters here:  http://www.spiritsound.com/twisters.html

In summary, it’s okay if you lose  a battle because your opponent was better than you, but it is NEVER okay to lose a battle because you were not prepared and you choked. These types of losses are very hard to live with and lowers your position as a real emcee. It’s a terrible feeling to know your opponent only won because you choked. You can prevent this and the preparation is in your hands.

Remember, write early, recite you material until you got it cold, rehearse daily, rearrange as needed and then reflect on your soon victory. Keep the drugs and alcohol abuse on the curb because that plays a huge role in choking too, but we’ll save that lesson for another BLOG. Meanwhile, practice these techniques and I promise that you will see a huge difference in your next battles! See y’all next week!

“Off of that one move A.I. got his fame.  They forgot Jordan had 35 (23) and still won that game!” – Murda Mook

Don’t just be flashy … be flashy and WIN!  Please join us at Battlerapstats.com next week for our next lesson!  

(Bow <-Traditional Far East Customary Bow)