Bataung Moeketsi
BATTLE rap league, Dirt Mouth, has ended its hiatus with the launch of the Lockdown Sessions, its debut YouTube clash between True Myth and Deezy Da Real on 20 April 2020.
The enforcement of lockdowns in several countries across the globe in an attempt to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to various battle leagues taking the virtual route.
Although Lesotho is yet to report a single case, the government imposed the ongoing lockdown starting on 30 March 2020 initially up to 21 April and now up to 5 May 2020.
Online shows, as entertainers and revellers alike try to beat the lockdown boredom, have become increasingly popular and Dirt Mouth’s organisers have now joined the trend.
In addition to the True Myth vs Deezy Da Real battle, King Shadow will also battle Ciro while Phizzy Khor will face off with Futuristic.
Dirt Mouth is a platform for rappers (MCs) to exercise their lyrical prowess by slurring each other, normally in front of cheering-or even-jeering audiences.
For the online version, the MCs each record a single round of two-minute-long rap video clips sent to the Dirt Mouth team who then edit them into a combined clip. The clip will then be released to the viewers who will vote on their preferred artiste on the Versus Lesotho Facebook page.
One of the organisers, Sekila Molapo aka OG Skillz, told the Weekender that they were happy to be back having last held an event last October. He said the time off gave them a chance to introspect.
“In all honesty, we never anticipated to be absent for this long,” OG Skillz said.
“We initially thought we would be back with another show in December but that wasn’t to be. We therefore believe that we are on the right course to a self-sustainable project soon.”
Last year Dirt Mouth enjoyed sponsorship from Vodacom Lesotho which allowed the organisers to reward the rappers financially. They however, failed to renew the contract.
OG Skillz hopes they will land a new sponsor soon.
“There are no prizes for the winners. One can also look at this as a friendly contest for rappers to sharpen their skills.”
He said their objective was to open the stage for new acts so that the audiences can get acquainted to them.
“The Lockdown Sessions serve as a recruitment process to unearth new talent that can hopefully be cultivated into something that can be considered world class someday.”
For Deezy, the battle was challenging because there was no audience present and he also had to record his own performance.
“I tried harder than usual to get in a state that showed aggression and would intimidate the opponent. This is unlike on stage where your presence is enough to get your opponent to choke through their rounds,” Deezy said.
For his part, veteran rapper and Dirt Mouth alumni Futuristic said despite approaching his battle as he would any other, “the lack of an audience, whose presence and participation can influence a battle MC’s individual performance and the entire battle itself” was a challenge.
He also encouraged both rappers and organisers to collaborate to grow the battle rap movement.
“I also think battle MCs must understand that it doesn’t have to be so personal all the time; all that hate is bad for the culture,” Futuristic said.
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