Battle rap: Quips and insults galore at NI event

"To be in that situation where it's dead silent and everybody in the crowd is looking at you; everybody's paying attention to what you're going to say, that's so different to just going up and singing a song."

Strabane native Scott Moore is a battle rapper.

Later this month, he will take part in a battle rap event, Acquisition, in a Belfast bar.

For the uninitiated, battle rap is the exchange of quips and insults between two or more performers with an accompanying backing track.

While battlers have different styles and approaches, champions of the genre include Busta Rhymes and even chart topper Drake, who has spent the last decade co-hosting and funding Canadian battle rap events.

Eminem's 2002 semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile depicts how he gained notoriety by outperforming some of Detroit's best battle rappers.

The genre has evolved over the last 40 years. Nowadays, the majority of battle raps are prewritten, rehearsed and performed acapella for three, 90-second rounds.

However, modern battlers can still respond to insults or accusations from their opponents, with freestyle lines still featuring in many performances.

It's a structure Scott Moore, who performs under the alias Scomo, believes makes the genre accessible.

"I was always into rap, I always saw it as a creative outlet," he told BBC News NI.

"But music doesn't come as naturally to me. I see music as having a lot of hoops to jump through, a lot of barriers."

Six years ago, Scomo stumbled upon an old-school battle rap video in a Facebook group. Since then, every spare moment is spent noting down bars he could use in upcoming battles.

"I didn't do that well whenever I started battle rap, I struggled a bit because it was just a case of figuring out what do people consider good," he said.

Although he participated in online battles during Covid and flew across the Irish Sea for events, Scomo admits it was not always plain sailing.

"I was, at times, the butt of the joke, I was the token bad Irish battle rapper," he said.

But practice makes perfect and in August a clip of Scomo's performance against rival Mellow D went viral, racking up thousands of views on social media in a matter of hours.

Perhaps most notable is the clip featuring Scott calling out his opponent for making fun of his autism.

"One of the genre's advantages is that it allows for people to be held accountable," Scomo said.

"Battle rap provides that space if someone says something or does something that you don't agree with or you object to, then you have that space where you can say your piece."

For a genre well known for insults and attacks, perhaps most surprising is the admission that battle rap events can be a confidence boost for up-and-coming performers.

"These events, they are places where you can go and you can watch people battle. For me, they're a place where I can go and perform in front of a crowd," Scott said.

"It's a chance to see people that you maybe have been talking to online, it's a fun day out."

Over the last four years, Michael Largey, otherwise known as Vizual, has been establishing himself as a household name within the battle rap scene.

First influenced by his brother's love of rap music, Vizual, originally from the Oldpark area in north Belfast, stumbled upon battle raps on YouTube when he was 14.

"It got to a point over a couple of years instead of listening to music, I would listen to battles. I wouldn't even watch them, I would just listen," he said.

"The intricacy of the writing itself was something that I couldn't find as much of in music and I think battle rap allowed for a much higher level of complexity and writing."

Since becoming involved in a league in 2018, Vizual has won several battles and was even offered the chance to fly to New York to compete before the trip was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

Now, he is planning to offer the same opportunities to others closer to home.

"There's so much talent here that deserves to be put on.

"I want to give that same professional platform to people here that I know have the same amount of talent, if not more."

This has manifested itself as Acquisition, a rap battle event to be held in Northern Ireland on 22 October.

Featuring up-and-coming and established Irish talent, organisers have taken the decision to fly professional battlers from England and America over for the event.

"I'm so conscious of the fact 90% of the crowd will never have seen a rap battle before, they're not going to have a clue what's going on," he said.

"So I really want to hand-pick ones that are going to show what this culture is and what it's about."

For those who want to cut their teeth, try outs for a rap battle league will also be available as a way to nurture new talent.

"For anyone who is intimidated, come to an event, see the vibe that's there and how nice everyone is," he said.

"We're constantly looking for people to come in."