FlipTop Battle League

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FlipTop Battle League

Type company

Industry Battle rap

Founded 2010; 10 years ago

Founder Alaric Riam Yuson

Headquarters Cifra Bldg, Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong, Philippines

Area served Philippines

Website www.fliptop.com.ph

FlipTop Rap Battle League (Fliptop for short) is the first and largest running professional rap
battle conference in the Philippines founded by Alaric Riam Yuson (known as Anygma) in
2010.[1][2] The league promotes Pinoy hip hop. FlipTop is heavily influenced by the original rap battle
leagues in the West founded in 2008 – Grind Time Now (US), King of the Dot (Canada) and Don't
Flop (UK), which inspired the creation of FlipTop and other battle leagues around the world.[3][4] The
league also branched out into several divisions after its success.[5] The league was currently under
management of a self-produced events and artist management company, FlipTop Kru Corp which
was established also by Yuson.

Contents

 1Battle
 2Format
 3List of events
 4Noted battle emcees
 5Isabuhay Tournament Winners
 6Dos Por Dos Winners
 7Guest emcees
 8Impact and criticism
o 8.1Controversy
 8.1.1Sinio vs. Shehyee
 8.1.2Pistolero vs. Luxuria
 9References
 10External links

Battle[edit]
In general, the contest consists of three rounds with a time limit for each contender set by the
referee. Sometimes time limits are agreed on by the participants before the battle. For 1 on 1 and 2
on 2, time limits are generally 1 minute to 3 minutes (with 30 second increments) and 5 minutes
respectively. Odd number of judges are selected to judge the battle to prevent draws. Early iteration
of rules allowed judges to vote for overtime. In early years, majority of judges voted for overtime or if
no definite winner emerged from judges' votes.
However recently, the judges are not allowed to vote for overtime, they should pick a winner. The
first turn is determined by a coin toss or prearranged agreement between two emcees who will took
the first turn before the battle start. Written or non-written lines are allowed. Both sides can also
bring props for the event. Filipino language is the primary medium although other languages or
dialects can be used. Choking in any rounds increase the chance of losing the battle. The winner is
determined by the decision of the judges.
The criteria for judging are the usage of words, content, performance, audience impact, delivery, and
rapping style depending on judge's perspective.[3][6]
There are different conferences in FlipTop such as the Filipino Conference, Bisaya Conference, and
English Conference among others.
The league has an annual tournament called "Isabuhay". A series of matches consists of undercard,
non-tournament matches and tournament matches running for a year where the finals occurred
every month of December. The emcees appearances on the matches depends on their availability.

Format[edit]
FlipTop has three different battle formats which sometimes combined with Freestyle:

 Written - This format allows use of written lyrics along with freestyle and is now the standard
format used in battles.
 Freestyle - At first the most common in all FlipTop tournaments, this format is now rarely done
and has generally been replaced by the written format. Lyrics must be thought of during the
battle.
 Old School - Is essentially the freestyle format but is accompanied with an instrumental, and is
commonly used on tryouts.
There are also different variations of rap battle within the FlipTop tournament:

 Dos por Dos - Tag-team freestyle rap battle. It can be Emcee or Femcee, Freestyle or Written.
 Five on Five - Five-member team freestyle rap battle. It can be Emcee or Femcee, Freestyle or
Written.
 Femcee Battle - All-female rap battle. It can be Freestyle or Written.
 Intergender Battle - Male vs. Female battle.
 Royal Rumble - A rap battle consists of more than two emcees randomly attack or bash each
other.
 Secret Battle - Same as the other battles but with limited audience. Sometimes it surprisingly
appeared in the day of the tournament unannounced.
 Won Minutes - Strictly one-minute per round format.
 Promo Battle - A rap battle without any judging occurred. For theatrical performance and
entertainment purpose only.

List of events