Last night, eight freestyle MCs from around Detroit competed in Red Bull EmSee, a freestyle battle of sight and sound that took place at St. Andrews Hall. After a night filled with piercing punch lines and lyrical acrobatics, it was Hostyle who dominated the stage and was crowned the Detroit champion. Later this year, he will advance to the Red Bull EmSee National Championships in Atlanta, GA.
Hosted by rapper Bun B with special performances by judges Too $hort, Casual and Crooked I, Red Bull EmSee is an invitation-only battle series designed to find the best freestyle rappers in the country and give them a national platform to show their skills and earn acclaim. This year’s nine-city tour continues on to its second stop in Seattle on July 28 at The Crocodile with The Trill OG: Bun B playing master of ceremonies. West Coast rap legends Too $hort, Casual (Hieroglyphics) and Crooked I (Slaughterhouse) will be doing double duty as judges and performers while DJ B-Mello of KUBE spins labels on the turntables throughout the night. The winner of the Seattle qualifier will advance to the finals in Atlanta this fall where he’ll vie for the national championship and an opportunity to record with a headlining producer of his choice.
“My name is Dirtbag Dan, I’m from San Jose, CA and I am the best rapper in this bitch.” Normally, I would talk some smack about such a gloat when spoke by a hirsute man bathed in that ruby glow which emanates from the roof of the Echoplex in Echo Park. But we’re cool, considering that only a break beat later this particular clairvoyant MC smoked 7 other regional competitors in front of distinguished judges Kurupt, Chali 2na and MC Supernatural to earn his ticket to the Red Bull EmSee finals in Hot-lanta to battle in front of B-rabbit himself, Eminem.
Red Bull EmSee, a less street chump invitation-only affair, builds upon the traditional head-to-head battle by flashing random images and key words on the plasmas above. Each MC has to then spit that lick somewhere in their flow for it to count in that round of 3. “In these freestyle competitions, it is much more like an out of body performance than me in control of the performance,” So says Dirtbag Dan.
In the end, 8 men enter, one MC leaves.
It seemed as though every hip hop fan in Detroit made his or her way down to St. Andrews Hall last night to witness the National Championship of the most talked about emcee battle of the summer —Red Bull EmSee: The Road to 8 Mile. When judges Eminem, Mr. Porter and The Alchemist named 18-year old hometown favorite FowL as the national winner, the crowd of over 1,000 fans went bananas. Hip hop legends Bun B, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Xhibit were among the VIPs that came out to support.
Eminem just released his new album, Recovery, last week to absolute rave reviews. Personally I can’t stop listening to “Not Afraid” as well as “Love the Way You Lie” feat. Rihanna. Both have insanely infectious grooves and strong messages, no surprises there. After years of silence, threats of retirement, substance abuse, divorce, re-marriage, and god only knows what else, he’s finally stepped back in the spot light and we’re happy to see him shine.
On June 22nd, Eminem also took the stage to not only show the world he’s still relevant, but to pay homage to his roots, the MC battle. Red Bull EmSee is a new competition focused on the truest form of rap competition while highlighting the modern freestyle spirit. The event was hosted by Angie Yee. Judges Alchemist, Just Blaze and Craig G will gave their thumbs up or down to a stellar line-up of the freshest MC talent.
