Fliptop: the modern balagtasan

A few years back, fliptop rap battles gained recognition in the Philippines quickly after several videos of
such went viral on YouTube. Millions of Filipinos trouped to the popular video sharing website to watch
two men test each others wit with rhythmic and clever lines delivered in an impressive tongue-twisting
manner. The men also test each others tolerance for insults.

Fliptop rap battles do not feature your usual nursery rhymes. Its common for colorful language to find
its way in the prose of participants. Derogatory remarks occasionally pepper their prose. The constraints
of rhythmic flow free participants from the burden of being politically correct. Words you wouldnt dare
say in front of your mother are spitted out in fliptop rap battles, without hesitation and without a blink
of an eye from the participants.

These two issues, afflicting American youth in depressed communities, are popular subjects of rap, even
among rappers that broke into mainstream media. One can say fliptop rap battles serve as a medium
through which Filipino youths decry their condition.

That same year, fliptop rap battles first broke into mainstream consciousness after becoming such a hit
on YouTube. Anygma was interviewed by a popular mens magazine, which decreed fliptop battles as
one of the sensation of the year. Today, his YouTube channel FlipTop Battle League has 141,143
subscribers and 192,570,918 likes. The fliptop rap battle between Ejo and W-Beat I watched has almost
100,000 views.

Participants in fliptop rap battles display an awareness of Filipino popular culture in their prose. Though
interjected with colorful language, rappers often have a clear grasp of the conversational, if not formal,
form of the Filipino language. Its a healthy development in a country where local music is fast
vanquished by imported tunes. It affords innovationwhich leads to developmentin the Filipino
language through the experimentation and exploration of rappers. - inquirer.net

FlipTop :

The First Filipino Battle League History Popularly called FlipTop or FlipTop Battles, is the
Philippines' premier rap battle contest joined by underground and amateur rappers.

FlipTop is sometimes described as a modern day Balagtasan, where two rappers are pitted
against each other in a battle of a capella rap.

Founded on 6 February 2010 by Anygma (Aric Yuson), FlipTop gained prominence through
video-sharing site YouTube. As of November 2011, all videos uploaded on its official YouTube account
"fliptopbattles" gained 107 million views and is the third most viewed and sixth most subscribed channel
in the Philippines.
 Though it has an English-language conference, the FlipTop Battles are popular for its use of
Filipino in its lyrics. Though delivered in freestyle, lyrics are loosely structured and rhytmic. FlipTop lyrics
are commonly spiced with Filipino vulgar and cuss words since, like most rap battles in other countries,
the common aim between competing FlipTop rappers is to debunk each other's notions through insults
and expletives.

How is it Played?

FlipTop is not just an ordinary rap battle. It is a battle among two individuals insulting each other
through rap. In FlipTop, you are free to say anything. You can say explicit curse words as much as you
want. But you have to follow several rules in fighting in a FlipTop battle.

First and foremost, your statements should have rhyming words in their endings. If you have any plans
on fighting on a FlipTop battle, make sure you know a lot of words so you can say many verses without
breaking the most important rule.

Second, you have to think as fast as you can. In a Fliptop battle you are given one minute each round to
say everything you can. Once your time is up, it is your opponents turn to tease and insult you. Usually,
there are three rounds in a FlipTop battle. After the three rounds, the judges will state their opinions
and vote for the winner.

The guy with the most number of votes wins the battle. But what if the judges cant decide? They can
vote for an OT (Overtime). In OT (Overtime), each sides were given another minute to say anything they
can. After both sides said their statements, the judges have to pick one and later on Anigma, the host,
will declare the winner.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Even though filled with risk and flagrant language; it seems that the videos were successful in educating
the masses both on a hip-hop-cultural level and on a commonsensical level. Anygma and the FlipTop
crew were basically able to achieve their goals of improving skills and hip hop community, hands down.
After the heavy punch lines and bombardments of words, astonishingly, emcees remain friends... that
are respect.

Disadvantage

The only disadvantage to this game is they curse through raps and insult its opponent which should not
be recognized over the popular Youtube and internet networks as there were minors who might
influenced with these activities.
Though insulting and poking fun of your opponent draw more attention in FlipTop, the audience is
aware that the entertainment they gain from it comes from the skill of the emcee of choosing words,
weaving lines, and rhyming them. As a minimum, it influences the youth to study language, music, and
stage performance. Virgilio almario

Surpassing the fame of Balagtasan, FlipTop is breeding more frontliners and followers, acquiring an
esteemed spot in our countrys oral literature and as a performance art.

Though battle rap is a verbal joust, it is far from being the modern Balagtasan. As Almario had noted,
Balagtasan poets are expected to entertain their audience with bits of humor, with witticisms, with the
spice of sarcasm, and moreover, with theatrics like actors in dramatic presentations.

FLIP TOP ARTISTS

Raymond Abracosa, better known as Abra, is a Filipino hip hop artist and occasional actor. He gained
popularity in his song "Gayuma". The music video for the song shows Abra being given a potion only to
realize that his love interest is in fact transgender. When the video reached more than 26 million views
on YouTube, it was hailed as the highest number generated by any local artists. Songs: Diwata (2013)
Dedma (2014) Diamonds and Gold (2015) Needsumbody (2014) Crybaby (2016)

Christopher John Rosales Ongkiko, who records under his stage name Shehyee, isa a Filipino rapper and
occasional actor from Mandaluyong, Philippines . He is known for his 2013 hit singles "Trip Lang" and
"Inspirasyon"He first garnered recognition by participating and battling in the rap battle league Flip top
several years; his battles were uploaded on the social media video sharing site Youtube that garnered
millions of views and shares. Shehyee and his friend Smugglaz rose to fame by winning the 'Dos Por Dos
Tournament' of the said league.He later rose to prominence as a rapper, releasing several singles and an
album. Songs: Trip Lang (2013) Samalamig (2013) Inspirasyon (2013) Halika Na (2013) Suplado (2013)

Andrew Ford Valentino Espiritu, better known as Andrew E., is a Filipino rapper, record producer and
actor. He is best known throughout the Philippines for his 1990 debut hit single "Humanap Ka Ng
Panget" (Look For Someone Ugly). Espiritu won a 'Rap Album of the Year' award for his latest album
Clubzilla at the 2010 PMPC Star Awards for Music. Songs: Banyo Queen (1999) Humanap ka ng panget
(1990) Mahirap maging pogi (1992) Alabang girls (1992) Binibini (1992)