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8/18/2019 BARS Media

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K-Awaii, thank you for joining us! You’reone of Don’t Flop’s most notable and pro-li c rappers; you’ve battled against Ven,Shotty Horroh, Soul, and you’ve appearedat King of the Dot for World Domination6 on behalf of the UK. Where does yourcareer stop, do you think?That’s a pretty big question to begin with,

ooh. To be honest, I’m not entirely surewhere I want to go with battling. I knowdoing it allows me to express myself in themost creative way I know, and I’d like tocontinue doing that for as long as I possi -bly can, but as far as doing it as a career,I think every battler knows they’ve met theend of their road when they stop beingreferred to as top tier.

Do you think your recent loss to Uno La -voz has in any way knocked your perfor -

mance, considering it’s been your rst lossin the past year?The thing with battlers like Uno Lavoz is,

all of their schemes when battling peoplelike me are based on sexism and shockfactor. In hindsight, it was a mistake tobattle someone like Uno; I predicted everyone of his name ips and rebuttals andyet I never parried any of them effectivelyenough. All he did was spit gimmick barsabout how I’m female and that somehowmakes me inferior to him. I know in myheart I won that battle.

Do you think sexism is a big part of battleculture?It’s de nitely one of the biggest problems

in battle culture. For rappers like myself,Lyv Winter, Rapunzel, Dekay, or any otherfemale battler in the UK. We constantlyhave to prepare ourselves for the skepticcomments and the everlasting wave of‘she’s good – for a girl.’

What do you think of the all-femaleleague ‘Queen of the Ring’?I really admire how prominent that league

has become; it truly shows that this culturede nitely has more of a gender divide thanpeople seem to think, though that doesn’tnecessarily mean it’s not still dominatedby a male demographic, because, it is.Still, I’d love to battle there, provided Icould actually make it out to the US.

How do you think we could sort of tacklethe ideals behind gender culture in rapbattles?My opinion, personally, is that there really

is no way to force better attitudes into bat -tle rap. No matter how diverse a roster aleague has, the crowd will always eat thesame old stuff up; gun bars, gender bars,race bars, corny multis, anything that willmake them laugh or cringe. I think in time,with the rise of female rappers like myself

things will de nitely get better, but thecontroversy will never leave. For all thosewho, like me, are interested in holdinghip-hop up to serious scrutiny, maybe weshould also get serious about challengingthe pervasiveness of sexism, misogynyand homophobia in the larger society.Perhaps only then will the images thatcirculate within hip-hop be exposed for theabsurdities that they are.

You obviously hold very strong views onthe matter, and I personally admire that;would you consider yourself a prominent

gure for female rappers in the UK?I think I’ve de nitely proven myself to be

a formidable rapper and a testament tothe capabilities of a female battler, despiteall of the disadvantages I face. I think thatin itself should be enough proof that I’m aprominent gure in this industry. If othergirls see me as some sort of inspiration,then that’s up to them, but I’m just in this

for me and my love for battling.

Do you think battle rap could be any big -ger?Honestly, I’m not sure if that would be a

good thing. One of the best things aboutbattle rap is that the people that are into itare so into it that it’s become a dedicatedcult; I think if we were to take that andstreamline it, it would de nitely be a lotbetter for companies like Don’t Flop andKing of the Dot since, obviously, more fansmeans more events and more income. Buteven with that income and better busi -ness, I think the fans would just becomealienated. It wouldn’t be something peoplebond over anymore if it became a com -mon thing, you know?

Absolutely. Do you think that if rapbattling was made more popular, morefemales would take up arms, so to speak?Well, streamlining it would certainly mean

a lot more people like myself who got intobattling through watching rappers like LyvWinter would certainly take a lot moreinspiration, and I think from that therewould certainly be a larger in ux of femalerappers; but also male rappers, too. Nomatter the ratio of male to female rappers-slash-fan demographic, there will alwaysbe those elements of misogny in there. Assad as it is, it’s just something we’re goingto have to battle, no pun intended.

Are you looking forward to battlingShuf e-T at Don’t Flop’s Seventh BirthdayWeekend?Oh yes, Shuf e is one of the only rappers

I’m aware of that wouldn’t go for any an-gles about my gender, since his comedy ismore satire than anything. And I’m readyto rebuttle that!

What’s your standpoint on rappers likeShuf e-T?... I was just about to ask you what

exactly you meant by “rappers likeShuf e-T”, but then I got it. Yeah, rapperswho don’t spit gun bars or try to front likethey’re something they’re not. Mos Prob,Harry Baker, Stowaway, Marlo, hell evenUnanymous has started to t into thatsort of category since he lost to Tony Dand he’s switched up his style. I person -ally rate their sort of style, and it’s such abreath of fresh air watching them performas compared to your typical sort of “hard

man” act that a lot of rappers, not to namenames *cough* Raptor *cough*, like to puton for the crowd. That sort of stuff is onlybig in places like America, where gun barsare actually kind of justi ed.

Alternatively, what’s your opinion on Ven?Hahaha, Ven. He has some amazing

pen game, he’s usually quite respectful tohis opponents, but his attitude is the typeof attitude I personally try to stay awayfrom. Such a toxic guy - his ego’s one ofthe worst I’ve ever witnessed from such aproli c rapper. Thinking you’re some sortof gift from God because you dropped aclassic is wack. That kind of thing is justcringeworthy. I don’t rate people who thinkthey’re actually above others just becausethey have a lot of views on a battle. Fairenough, he’s a good rapper on stage, buthe’s not much else off.

Do you think you’d ever battle him in thefuture? Maybe for Checkpoint 3?If it comes down to it, I’d love to be able

to battle him, since I know he’d also comeat me with something a bit fresher than

just the same old gender bars. But, thenagain, I don’t know if it would really bewise, since he’s also been on quite thewinning streak. I reckon he’s on the way tothe title shot.

Quite a bold statement! I’m afraid thoseare all my questions, but you’ve been agreat sport and I can’t wait to see yournext battle!Thanks, that means a lot. DFAFD.

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“It’s de nitely one of the biggestproblems in battle culture. For

rappers like myself, Lyv Winter, Ra-punzel, Dekay, or any other female

battler in the UK.” “That kind of thing is just cringe- worthy. I don’t rate people who

think they’re actually above others just because they have a lot of

views on a battle.”

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BIG J /LEFTY VS MATTER/P SOLJAIMPACT VS FLEX DIGITSDOUBLEL VS ADAM THERAPPER

HERETIC VS STOWAWAY

SATURDAY

SHUFFLE-T VS UNANYMOUSPAMFLIT VS HARRY BAKER

SOLJ ITSUVS J UAN

ARKAIC VS TALIBRU-C VS P SOLJASHOX THEREBEL VS KIDVERBAL

J SHORT VS CRAFT-D

SUNDAY £30 1-DAY / £50 PASS

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DAY ONE 1PM - 10PM - SATURDAY 14THDAY TWO 3PM - 10PM - SUNDAY 15TH

sub-articlesPAGE 21/53 - Shotty Horror speaksout against Charlie Clips and retirement.PAGE 11/13 - Rumors of a Don’t Flop All Star vs King of the Dot Clash rise out.PAGE 15/17 - Are there any otherleagues out there? Bars explore the

smaller UK rap battle collectives.PAGE 35/37 - Guest interview

with Astroid Boys, discuss-ing the importance ofGrime in the Cardiff

FEATURESPAGE 15/16 - Goon talks about his new mu-sic and discusses future Don’t Flop Battles.PAGE 30/31 - Don’t Flop’s top femalecontender talks about her Gender, oppo-nents, and other rivals.PAGE 42/43 - Ven talks contendingfor the title against Soul and battlingin America.

PAGE 42/43 - Eurgh talks on Don’tFlop’s 7th Birthday Event.

CHIEF EDITORCN

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