We often here whispers of complaints about how the culture of street battle and cyphers has declined, but every so often we do get a taste of these intricacies at some events and even on some niche media platforms that cater for hip hop. Stogie T is a lyricist to the core and he's never one to shy away from a battle.
Here's why he loves battle rap:
"I'll tell you good people why I love battle rap.
I think first and foremost, I am a writer. The first time I heard someone rap I could see the picture being painted, the more I listened I could hear the source of the story, I could imagine what experiences led to someone writing such a story, a closer listen brought me face to face with the page the story was written on. Like I could see what the English teacher was struggling to explain about Robert Frost's meter. I was blown away at how someone could share a world of emotions with you and be so clever as to give it rhythm so it's memorable. We all remember the feeling a certain movie gave us but not always the lines from that movie. Listening to hip hop made words jump out of paper. Amazing. The bigger hip hop got the less focus went into writing and the art of making words jump. Now this is the part where I tell you that just Cuz people are not rapping as prolifically as they did before doesn't mean hip hop has gotten worse. I actually believe there is magic in how young artists can catch a vibe or wave and build something you can feel without a clear formula or science. Amazing. For me it was watching dudes like Iron Solomon, Thesaurus, Illmaculate and NoCando battle that really made me jump at the magic of words again. I felt kindred spirits in their craftiness. You might be watching some guy calling another guy a p!#sy but I see highways of interconnected phrases that all lead to a "wow". In short, I battle Cuz I can. I hope you guys can come to appreciate the beauty that comes from calling someone a fag in rhyme form. ????Love T"
Flip back to his Scrambles 4 Money battle with Bender:
