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 | Out 4 Fame MC Battle For Supremacy Fowlers Live, Fri 27 May The temperature is rising in tightly-packed crowd braying with excitement, forcing them to take off their hoodies; hands thrown in the air and voices raised every time a punchline leaves an MC's lips and formed itself as a sound wave, while they're already moving onto their next off the dome diss; their opponent scowling, the ice grill betraying the fact that his mind is already working furiously to negate the diss while the raw energy created simply feeds on itself and the tension grows as the battle progresses towards its climax. This is why many people get into hip-hop; actually, this is why many people get into music, period; to see hungry cats desperate to impress the judges and the crowds duking it out against each other; this is lyrical warfare. Even so, there's something almost gentlemanly about organised MC battles, the way two opponents shake hands before throwing everything in their arsenal against each other, then giving each other pounds and walking away. With five national state finalists and three wildcards facing off and before the event started, there had already been controversy about the fact that the wildcards all came from Melbourne. At least Adelaide got to host the final and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn't enjoy at least one aspect of the night. With doors opening at 7 o'clock for the all-ages gig (an excellent chance for a lot of younger fans to see some of these cats), there was a fair bit going on. With b-boys performing, Reflux putting on a couple of DJ sets, and the heats to pare the eight finalists back to the final two there was certainly good reason to stick close to the front of the stage, but as with any competition, it was towards the end of the event that things really took off. While many heads had rocked up for the battle, when Time Machine took the stage it was evident that they had a fair bit of crowd support as well and they showed that they certainly knew how to rock a crowd. While their record sounded like a b-sides compilation for the groups like Tribe Freestyle Fellowship, onstage they had a charisma that transcended these influences and their cause wasn't hurt by the fact that they were obviously having a great time as well. They were rarely caught without a big grin on their faces, and when they broke into a brief b-boy routine, the front row went bananas. The MCs were just as impressive and Suffa, as Master of Ceremonies, summed up their performance nicely when he asked the crowd "how nice is it to have fun hip-hop that makes you dance instead of going like this," before folding his arms and put up the ice grill. It's almost as if he said it deliberately to reinforce the difference between the two forms of entertainment, foreshadowing the fact that the battle would be all about posturing and keeping it strictly business. Last year Victoria's Justice and Adelaide's own Moeshns both made it into the finals on wildcard entries, but more was expected of them as state final winners this year. Hence, when they both made it into the final a lot of people were expecting straight fire from the battle. The three rounds gave them ample opportunity to target each other and rebut the disses, but Moeshns didn't restrict himself to using the mic set about intimidating his smaller opponent. Lines like "there'll be no Justice, like the Schapelle Corby case," set the crowd off, and with his gruff delivery and arrogant swagger he swayed the crowd into his corner early; not that they needed much convincing. As a result, Justice was always playing catch up as he bounced around the stage, but as the battle went on he grew in confidence, and after ridiculing Moeshns for getting up in his face, even began to step to him a little, even though it quite clearly didn't suit his style. After a split second round, Moeshns faltered slightly in the third and Justice was able to take advantage of it but the crowd remembered how he had been bullied at the start and began chanting the hometown favourite's name, getting ready for a real celebration. Unfortunately for him, though, this battle was decided by a panel of past finalists, who decided 2-1 in favour of Justice on the night, so it will be interesting to watch them both at the Oz vs NZ battle in Melbourne in a few weeks. Sure, the content of the battles was rampantly misogynistic and homophobic as each contestant tried to question the other's masculinity, but there was some sharp wordplay contained within it, and the ciphers that formed outside were testament to the success of the event. Now, if only some female contestants emerge: that just might make next year's finals really interesting.  | |
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