How St. Louis Conquered Battle Rap
The history of battle rap is forever changed. What started just about a decade ago as a battle cry for respect from a few bubbling underground St. Louis emcees, has manifested into a hostile takeover. Within a week, the city’s Hitman Holla and Aye Verb have slayed two titans in the battle rap world. First, Ultimate Rap League’s (URL) August 11th Las Vegas event pitted Hitman Holla against URL top dog Tay Roc. Followed by Aye Verb vs battle rap legend Murda Mook in a Rare Breed Entertainment (RBE) August 18th event in New York. Both St. Louis vets are respectively being crowned the winners by an overwhelming margin on fan polls in the days following the pay per view match-ups, and given the ever-present debatable and subjective nature of the culture, this is a surprise. Majority of their respected battle rap peers also share the same sentiment as the fans. The old guard of battle rap will now have to accept that their country cousins aren’t merely guest anymore, they are the foundation of the current culture which is at its height. This ascension is years in the making and well deserved.
Verb and Holla started a movement years ago that invigorated and brought a new excitement to the sport. While they may have just been hungry for respectability at the onset, their energy corralled other emcees from nearby cities like Detroit and Chicago to shake the establishment. New battle leagues from Columbia, MO to Milwaukee, WI to New Orleans, LA emerged along with increased interest and views from fans in markets the New York gatekeepers never knew existed. This also put pressure established battle leagues like URL and KOTD to step their game up and elevate the sport. Before this new energy, battle rap was still a niche regulated to MTV2 and YouTube recommendations. A large amount of this credit is due to the contributions from 314’s own. But that road traveled wasn’t easy by any means.
In New Jersey battle rapper Arsonal Da Rebel infamous 2009 Worldstar Hip Hop rant, he spewed “You niggas is from St. Louis…” This said with a disdain and dismay as if he took exception to these unknown battlers from Missouri who even had the gall to challenge him. Any honest person would have to pardon his ignorance, not much was known about any extensive rap history from the area. Only a true Hip Hop historian would know that the 1st time Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” was ever played on radio; was on East St. Louis’ WESL-AM (with WBLS-FM in New York City being the 1st stations to receive copies) . While that was a monumental footnote, the 1st St. Louis rapper wasn’t signed to a major label until Sylk Smoov (“Trick wit a Good Rap”) by Mercury Records in 1991. “Getto Jam” and “Sweet Potatoe Pie” rapper Domino had high charting hits in 1993, but unless you ran the streets with his family off of Grand & St. Louis Avenue, you had no idea he was Lou born as he only repped his new home of Long Beach, California in public interviews back then. Besides shout outs from a few major rappers like DJ Quik , Ice Cube, and Master P, the River City would be fairly quiet for the remainder of the 90’s. That would change in the year 2000, when Nelly exploded out of the city dropping “Country Grammar” which went on to sell over 8 millions records to date. His catchy songs and thick accent would take the nation by storm. Rappers like Chingy, J Kwon and Jibbs would follow the melodic party-friendly formula laid down by Nelly & the St. Lunatics and all gained nationwide success in their own right.
As exciting and proud as the new wave of notoriety brought to the city, there was still a lack of respect on the outside. Dances like the “Nina pop” and “Chickenhead” that accompanied the hits coming out of the Lou lent itself to more of a gimmick. Furthermore, Nelly’s conscious decision to make safe non-violent music wasn’t representative of the city around him. Truth be told, St. Louis is a heavily impoverished and crime-ridden town. Gang culture has been woven in the fabric of the city going back to the 80s due to drug connections, long before it became a popular trend in other cities outside of Los Angeles. After the catchy songs and popular dances wore off, the underground rap community felt there was a need for a rebirth. This led to a “New St. Louis Movement” in the mid 2000s which produced a grittier sound, but was ultimately short-lived.
The tide started to shift when St. Louis’ own Big Will traveled to New York in 2006 to tryout for BET’s Freestyle Friday segment of the popular 106th & Park show. Big Will states other rappers laughed in the auditions when he announced where he was from. Most weren’t ready for the delivery, wittiness and punchlines to come from a guy from that neck of the woods. He would go on for weeks remaining undefeated and win election into the program’s Freestyle Friday Hall of Fame. He shares this same honor with battle rap legends Jin, Hollow Da Don and Loaded Lux who all touched the BET stage.
But yet again, the city would go quite for a few years. However, during this period the St. Louis DVD scene would make rounds in a very similar fashion as SMACK (URL) popularized in New York. The curator was Owe Weston, who organized battle rap events in small clubs and showcased a variety of rappers on a local DVD series. A standout on the series was a sh*t talking, cocky rapper from the Pagedale area by the name of Aye Verb; who boasted if we didn’t know him…we should. He spoke in a manner of an already acclaimed veteran, who was stepping aside to give lesser known rappers an opportunity. Owe and Verb connected to promote young hungry emcees from all over the city and compete in Word War battle rap events. Standouts were G Souldier, Remyd, Juicezilla, Metta, Cashola, and a young Hitman Holla. The local star of the bunch seemed to favor Yung Ill, who had an obvious talent for doing everything well.
Miles away, Loaded Lux of Harlem would take notice to the underground STL scene as he was eyeing talent for his own growing Lionz Den league. His home stable already included Goodz, Arsonal and Head Ice, and he had the foresight to envision a Lionz Den vs STL super matchup. The St. Louis stable eagerly accepted the challenge with fire in their eyes, they were starving for the bigger opportunity presented. On one end to prove their worth and also because the hometown could only get you so far. The buildup turned out to be the real classic of this saga, both camps went back & forth in epic video rants, which may have been a precursor to current vlogs of today. This war of words brought to light the potential star power of Hitman Holla. At a young twenty years old, he had keen sense of performing for the camera and knowing exactly what to and not say. That flair came natural and showed early on in his Yung Holla days where he started his call & responses mid-battles. He was ready for the big stage. Lux would go on to fumble a few dates for Lionz Den vs STL but did eventually settle on a date in 2009. St. Louisans loaded flights and packed cars for a 17 hour drive.
Harlem, NY had never seen so many Cardinals fitteds in one place. Inside the venue a young Tay Roc buried under his own fitted would hit the stage in an opening battle. Unfortunately, this would be the only battle of note to grace an actual stage that day. For unclear reasons, the venue was forcibly evacuated spilling the entire crowd into the cold New York night. Many people left upset, disappointed and others had better things lined up for the rest of the night. This could have been the end for St. Louis before it even started. A few battlers remained, most importantly Murda Mook who begged and pleaded for some sort of show to go on right there on the New York streets. This of course where he built his pedigree and earned his name in the proverbial GOAT conversations. Eventually unknown South Bronx rapper SB obliged and stepped in the circle to earn a name for himself. Aye Verb cut in still visibly disappointed, but wanting to leave whatever he brought for New York right there. He would spit bars at SB originally intended for Head Ice, nevertheless the Bronx MC would suffer the wrath of an angry Verb. In an irony, this is one of Verb’s most quoted performances and a go-to for the model of the signature aggressive style.
Failed event and all, the Midwest wordsmiths had done enough to earn a shot. Fight Klub made last ditch efforts and SMACK (URL) also pounced on the opportunity and locked in multiple events (misspelling the MO state abbreviation in the process) which featured St. Louis battlers.The few from the Lou wouldn’t disappoint, they would go own to make some of the most classic battles in the history of the culture. Classic matches like Yung Ill vs Tsunami Surf stand the test of time and was quoted for years following the performance. Hitman Holla would finally get his shot at Arsonal in a highly anticipated battle two years in the making, going in an underdog but coming out on top in impressive fashion. Aye Verb didn’t waste time either, going straight for the top in battles with Hollow Da Don, Marvwon and Math Hoffa as his introduction to the big stage. Stripes were earned, and it became clear that they were here to stay.
Personal issues would eventually derail Yung Ill’s promising career. Owe Weston likens it to a Penny Hardaway trajectory, never seeing the potential coming to fruition for a bright star. But where Ill left, other MCs from St. Louis emerged like lyrical wizard B Magic. One of the most dynamic punchers the sport has ever seen with a certified classic in his Proving Ground (URL) battle against Qleen Paper. A true bar fest. The two produced the type of performance that if someone had no idea what battle rap was, this is the battle you should show them. Another very important South St. Louis rapper by the name of Ooops emerged around this time, a local well-known artist who jumped in the battle arena. Ooops is now more well known for his given name of Bruce Franks Jr. due to his personal commitment to turn towards social activism following the 2014 unjust Michael Brown killing in Ferguson (St. Louis County). In 2016 Franks Jr. was elected as State Representative for the 78th District in St. Louis.
A coalition of a Midwest Movement would eventually die down, not due to any failures but because the goal had been accomplished by now. Battle rappers from anywhere could now advance based on work ethic and talent, this due to the doors opened by the St. Louis group.With the New York giants slayed, Aye Verb & Hitman would even cross paths producing yet another classic battle. Hitman would take his performing talents to television with Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘n Out on MTV trading in gun bars for shots at celebs. Another door opened from the sweaty tunnels of battle rap. Behind the braggadocio of Verb’s persona, many battle rappers will credit him with being a source for advice ad respectability. But his growth shows the most in his current music, which has been a stigma most battle rappers have had a hard time breaking. Their battle rap status is cemented, Hitman alone has 5 of the top 10 most viewed URL battles including the top spot. From fighting for respect in 2008, to now; the two biggest rap battle events of the year featuring St. Louis emcees. Take a victory lap.
