Who matches contenders for the battle?

         There are many ways to match up contenders. One way of matching up is by randomly matching the rappers on their list; at times the contenders will initiate to call on the organizers to be the contender for the next battle and of course sometimes by means of challenging a particular rapper that they would like to encounter.

Who usually organize and where it happens?

         Commonly, it was organized by different organizers such as Wildonestattoo sponsored by Batas, Alrightyroo.com, Guerillaradio, vlegendary.blogspot.com, Specks and more. It was typically happen in a club, they rent a particular club and it was a closed battle. Closed battle in way that they didn’t invited any guests to watch over the battle.

Well-known Fliptop Contenders in Manila

                      Batas vs. Fuego – Batas won.

                Batas vs. Dello – Batas won.

                Batas vs. Abra – Batas won.

                Abra vs. Nothingelsematters – Nothingelsematters won.

                Target vs. Dello – Dello won.

                Target vs. Luke – Target won.

                Datu vs. Cameltoe – Datu won.

                Dhictah vs. Cameltoe – Cameltoe won.

                Loonie vs. Zaito – Loonie won.

                Loonie vs. Gap – Loonie won.

How do fliptop contenders come up with their lines?

        According to an ordinary fliptop contender “Titan” lives at Mabalacat, Pampanga, who usually join an informal fliptop battle, they come up with their lines by memorizing some defenses against the other contender before the battle happen, and most of the time they just think of the best answer that could defend them during the battle, that is really a freestyle approach or on-the-spot battle.

       They get their memorized lines from listening to rap songs, watching fliptop battle videos, and they usually practice themselves and come up with the lines that they think it’s best for defense, by then they write the lines and memorize it, they are now ready for the upcoming battle they have.

       As a natural rapper when it comes to on-the-spot battle, it’s so easy for them to think of the best line that suit for the attacked lines by the other contender. They usually depend and concentrate on the physical appearance of the other contender in order to deliver a line that would really offend the other competitor.

How will I win?

      All contenders are yearning to win. The battle comprises of three (3) rounds and each competitor is given one (1) minute to express him/herself against the opponent. At times, they have over time and that depends to the judges or the audiences.

       In a formal battle, the winner will be awarded a trophy that is again depending on the organizer. If there is a judge, invited by the organizer usually by just an ordinary group of people, the one with the highest points will be declared winner, judge is present if it was settled by the organizer. In a casual or unofficial battle, applause from the viewers is very much appreciated. Whoever gets the loudest applause will be declared winner.

Criteria for Judging

For some battles they don’t have any criteria for judging, for as long as the audiences like the lines or lyrics of the contender that was considered winner, but for others they follow criteria for them to come up with the best contender. These following criteria should be observed:

•        All lyrics should be rhymed. 

•      Audience impact is important. 

•      Patience should be observed.

A preview of a Fliptop Battle. The first contender was "Insane" and the second one was "Baldo". This was the first formal battle in Angeles, Pampanga, last June 26, 2010.

How does Fliptop Battle become a Social Phenomenon?

 

Fliptop Battle was considered as fresh, latest social phenomenon in the Philippines. It was originated on Grain Assault event Quantum Cafe, Makati City, Philippines, February 6, 2010 by the group of rappers, particularly Fuego, Protege, Datu and Cameltoe. Fliptop Battle was adopted instantaneously by the crowd mostly by the rappers resembling to them, naturally through rapper communication or merely by the approach of technology such as visiting the site youtube.com. 

Due to abrupt boost of fan in Fliptop Battle, finally, the phenomenon extended here in Pampanga, by the month of June 2010. The Fliptop Battle was then experienced formally by June 26, 2010 at Bayanihan Park, Balibago, Angeles City.

Based on the rappers we had interviewed, the event was usually organized by Konektado, a group organizer for Fliptop Battle here in Pampanga.

It was essentially the social class or simply the history of Fliptop Battle here in the Philippines.

Are you a fliptop contender?

    Can you think of several different words that rhyme with "stitches"? If so, you could be the next great fliptop contender.

    The object of a rap battle or fliptop is to come up with insulting rap lyrics on the spot towards an opponent. The rapper with the best lyrics, and crowd response usually wins.

    In this battle, there are two contenders. They are going to insult one another. Though it's a matter of spitting and going with your gut feelings, and letting yourself fall into it, there are still certain rules to be followed, such as phrases you're spitting out should be rhymed, refrain from repeating the phrases, the two contender have 3 chances to show their expertise in on-the-spot-rap or the fliptop battle. Every round consists of 1 minute only.

    All it takes is a lot of practice and a great vocabulary.

    Just let your mind flow freely from one thought to the next.

Fliptop Contenders

It was taken August 2, 2010. The team members had interviewed the fliptop rappers right here in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

These are the rappers we had interviewed and they had shown us a brief sample on how fliptop battle goes and the freestyle also. They are Rolando Salas as "Baldo", Argel Gueco as "Chickbone", and Ethan Matthew as "Clazy". (from left to right)

We had asked them about the origin of the fliptop and why they love to rap on the spot.