The Hot 97 Program Director says, "I'm not saying
battle rap is wack. I'm saying niggas is childish, niggas is immature
and niggas need to get on some beats."
Calling into the AngryFans Radio battle rap show to offer his feelings on the current state of Battle Rap, Hot 97 Program Director Ebro Darden described his distaste for the a capella format within Battle Rap.
Explaining his affinity for Battle Rap’s aggressive nature,
Ebro detailed wanting to hear more musicality in the industry. “The
savagery part I actually enjoy,” he said. “It’s the lack of musicality.
It’s the lack of party rock, master of ceremonies. For me, I think the
Battle Rap, and that’s why I’m old, I’m from a time where you had to be
able to stay in pocket and rock to the beat, and now it’s more like
angry, spoken word poetry now.”
During the interview,
Ebro went on about his perception of Battle Rap’s current disconnect
from Hip Hop’s beginnings. “It is the most aggressive artform right now,
as far as the four artforms of Hip Hop,” he said. “My only issue is I
don’t appreciate the lack of music. Here’s why, in the party back in the
day, when this whole shit started, the emcee only got to rock the mic
when the deejay said so. Somewhere along the lines we lost focus and now
all of a sudden the emcee thinks he’s more than important than the
deejay. So now you have a circumstance where cats get on the edge of
that stage and they spitting on eachother and sweating and carrying on,
and niggas ain’t on beat. Where the music at? Put some beats to it, put
some beats under it.”
When asked if he’d consider promoting a competition of his
own which did feature battlers rapping over production, Ebro said he’d
partner with someone more savvy within the industry. “I would partner
with people,” he said. “I don’t wanna act like that’s my world. I would
pay my respects and partner with people that do that world for a living.
That’s ya’ll shit.”
Ebro Talks About Battle Rap Fans And Popularity
Admitting that he’s received recommendations from popular artists on behalf of the rising battle rap space, Ebro referenced A Tribe Called Quest emcee as responsible for his knowing about SMACK. “Q-Tip introduced me to Smack," he says. "Swizz Beatz
cosigned it. I hear it from all these dudes. We watch it. We paying
attention. Like I told ya’ll, I’m here to challenge ya’ll niggas and be
like, ‘Where the music at?’”
The Hot 97 VP added that the scope and nature of battle rap
fans is impressive, hinting at the possibility of corporate interest
down the line. “Ya’ll show up and I do respect that part,” he said. “I
respect that it has a hardcore following. Matter of fact...there will be
shit in the next 18 months for battle rap because people are watching.
There will be new technology. People are watching how committed and
focused the fanbase is. There will be technology that comes out that
allows you guys to exchange with one another on another level that’s
gonna be pretty dope. I saw some shit recently that’s gonna be amazing.
It’ll be dope. It’ll be on some real cellphone app technology shit where
niggas will be able to battle straight from their phones and just skip
the Internet.”
Offering his feelings on the upcoming Road To Total Slaughter Battle Rap reality series scheduled to run on Shady’s Vevo
channel, Ebro described the positive effect the show could have. “It’s
going to be a good look,” he said, rejecting the idea that the label and
Slaughterhouse are simply cashing in on Battle Rap’s current popularity. “I wouldn’t say that for Paul [Rosenberg] and those guy. They showcased battle rap as a part of their movie in 8 Mile.
Battle Rap was a big part of that whole thing. Obviously that’s
something that’s very important to them. They’re just trying to support
something that they believe is a necessary piece of our culture.” via HiphopDx.com HipHopDx - Ebro Battle Rap Lacks Musicality
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