Battle
anybody…
by SCOTT C
Wanna battle? I mean really, wanna battle? Unlike our headstrong neighbours
to the south, who seem to have MC battles coming out the yin yang, somehow
we haven’t exactly been successful in creating a regular forum for
hungry Montreal MCs to cut their teeth and keep their chops. No disrespect
to the HHF battles or the dudes up on Off the Hook at CKUT giving away
“careers” on the radio, but if the DJs and turntablists can
get organized with the head-to-heads, why can’t the MCs? And no,
I’m not talking about a club night “disguised” as a
battle. I can’t tell you how many times cats come to town looking
for a place where they can just walk in and sign up, or some sort of regular
occurrence that works on a week-to-week basis, where MCs come and go...
Anyway, enough complaining. If you’ve got the skinny on something we should all know about, get on the high-speed horn and let a brother know.
If
you’ve got a BET feed up in your house, then you’ve probably
seen the show 106 and Park, where they regularly heat the place up with
a live MC battle on Freestyle Fridays. Celebrity judges choose the winner
based on a 30-second round of spit ’n’ polish, in which MCs
do their best to not only articulate the shortcomings of their opponent
but to get the audience fired up as well. Recently, a shining star has
emerged from the show after going seven weeks straight undefeated. Miami
native Jin Au-Yeung, aka MC Jin, has set himself up nicely, not only attracting
the attention of the Ruff Ryders camp but stealing the show as the first
Asian MC to really blow the lid off nationwide (sorry, Kish). The 24-year-old
Jin has won Miami’s Grab Tha Mic, Braggin’ Rites in NYC, Hookt.com
Battle in NYC, 4 Corners Hip Hop Summit Battle in NYC and Rutgers Hip
Hop Summit in New Jersey, as well as competing in Scribble Jam and the
Superbowl MC Battle. You can actually check out this kid and see if he’s
really that nice this Labour Day, when he’ll be performing at Sona
as part of Power Jam, Sunday, Sept. 1. Oh, and check the MC battle judged
by MC Jin in which you could win a $500 gift certificate and the chance
to rip with Jin live on stage. Any takers? We’ll see. :
“Yeah I’m Chinese/now you’ll understand it/I’m the reason that your little sister’s eyes are slanted/if you make one joke about rice or karate/NYPD be in Chinatown searchin’ for ya body…” (Jin vs. Hason, week 1, BET)
My life is a movie, and I’m fast-forwarding to the good part…
>> Music Listings