19-year old Sasha sat on the front porch of her best friend Naomi's house, which she recently moved into. Her mother had recently kicked her out of the house after she decided to drop out of college to pursue a career in battle rap and music full time. Next to her was Tamina, who lived not far from them. Sasha was scrolling through her phone, reading the lyrics to the third round of her scheduled debut battle on G9 Battle League the next day.
Her best friends Naomi (22 years old) and Tamina (27 years old) were battle rappers as well. The 3 of them gained local popularity in rap battles around their hometown of Boston. Naomi and Tamina had been invited to debut on G9 about 6 months prior, when the league was first created. G9 was a battle rap league that was owned and run by a semi-famous New York hip-hop duo, JTG and Shad, collectively known as "G9".
"Stop reading it." Tamina said, almost startling her.
"Huh?"
"Stop reading your shit."
"...why?"
"You're not gonna have your phone out in the battle, you better get used to rapping without it."
Sasha sucked her teeth, and shot her an incredulous look.
"Bitch, how many times have you watched me in a battle spitting stuff I wrote the night before, flawlessly? I already have my rounds memorized."
"Yeah, I've watched you battle trash ass rappers in Beanbar in front of 30 people. G9 is totally different. They'll be more than 100 people in that building, and G9 battles get a crazy amount views when they drop. Take this more seriously."
"My debut battle is not gonna get that many views.."
Tamina pulled out her phone and went G9's YouTube page.
"Jax vs B.A.D., 17 thousand views." she read.
"That's Naomi. She always gets over 10k." Sasha shrugged.
"Gunshow vs Fox, 10 thousand views."
"You average like 7k, plus that's the battle Fox used stolen bars in, apparently. People are probably watching that to investigate."
"Mella D vs Deville, 8 thousand views."
"I know my rounds, Tamina."
"Rap your whole second right now."
"My second round?" Sasha asked, slightly nervously.
"Yeah. The round right after the first, right before the third."
"I don't have a second written yet."
"You're gonna get thirty'd."
"I've never lost a round." Sasha said confidently, as Naomi came outside.
"Yo Omi, your girl just finished writing her third, and hasn't written a second yet."
"Are you retarded?" Naomi asked, turning to Sasha.
"Y'all are acting like I'm battling Deville or Jax or something, I'm battling B-Shine." Sasha laughed.
Naomi sighed, as Tamina shook her head.
"She doesn't get it."
Tamina walked back into the house.
"If she was trash she wouldn't be on G9, obviously she's just as good as you." Naomi said, as Sasha began typing on her phone.
"I just thought of a fucking haymaker for the second."
"Wait, wait wait, you finished your first and third rounds?"
"Yup."
"Let me hear something. No phone."
Sasha smirked, putting her phone in her pocket, and turning to face Naomi, pretending she was her opponent.
"Okay, first of all-"
"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine." Becky said into the phone, playing a video game while she sat on a bed.
Becky was a 22-year old from Ireland, who grew up as an athletic and academic stand out, but ultimately fell in with the wrong crowd and became involved with a street gang towards the end of her secondary education, when she was 16. Days before her 22nd birthday, she had gone to trial for her alleged involvement in an armed robbery gone wrong, which resulted in the shooting death of a 30-year old man. It was determined that there was an insufficient amount of evidence to prove her connection to the crime, so she was ruled not guilty. Shortly after, her parents sent her to America, more specifically, Maryland, to live with her cousin Finn, in order to give her a chance to "re-start her life" essentially, with a clean slate in a completely different environment.
"There's this battle rap league in New York called G9, I sent them footage of some of my battles back at home a few weeks ago, and they responded today inviting me to come to their event tomorrow and meet the owners... Mom... Mom, I'm not going to get into any trouble, it's just words... Mom... Mom, I'm in community college, this is just something creative and constructive for me to do in my free time, I-"
Becky nearly jumped off of her bed, startled by Finn snatching the phone from her.
"Becky's gonna be just fine, battle rap is intellectual, it's like... it's like aggressive poetry, about... threatening and insulting people."
Becky cracked up as Finn shhh'd her with his hand over the phone.
"Yeah... alright, I'll talk to you later... love you too Aunt Q... bye."
Finn hung up.
"So are you battling tomorrow?"
"Uh, no, they just want me to come to the event and get a feel for the room, since I've never battled in America."
"Gotcha. Are they paying for your hotel?"
"Uh... no, BUT, I get into the event for free!" Becky smiled.
"Do you get a plus one?"
"Again, no, but it's only $50 to get in."
"50?"
"It's G9. I know their league isn't that popular yet but they're still famous."
Finn simply sighed, leaving the room.
The next day, around noon, at a venue called "Erving Place", in Manhattan, New York, JTG and Shad stood, talking to 21-year old Charlotte Flair, who was one of the battlers debuting at the event. She was from Charlotte, North Carolina, and was the daughter of wrestling legend, Ric Flair. She always had an interest in rapping, though her friends generally laughed off her aspirations to become a rapper due to her being a privileged spoiled white girl. One day she finally decided to just go for it and participated in a battle for a local league, where she got a great reception from the small crowd. After doing a second battle, she saw an advertisement online asking East Coast battle rappers to submit footage of their battles in order to receive a spot on the G9 roster.
"You think you're ready?" JTG asked.
"Uh... maybe. How many people does this venue hold?" Charlotte asked, nervously.
"Last event it was like 70 or 80 people." he shrugged, as Bayley entered.
"B-Shine!" Shad exclaimed, high-fiving her as she approached them.
Charlotte smiled and extended her hand for a handshake.
"Charlotte."
"Bayley." she said, smiling back.
Bayley was a 22-year old skater from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who had recently picked up battle rap out of boredom. She figured her quick wit and overall improvisational skills would be put to good use in the sport.
"You debuting too?"
"Yup."
"Who are you battling?"
"Banks Da Boss. That's the purple haired chick that's always with B.A.D. and Gunshow. I saw one of her battles, she's pretty good. What about you?"
"I got Shenom." Charlotte shrugged.
"Oh, I saw her battle with Fox, she is sooo fire oh my god." Bayley laughed.
"She's tough to beat. The Fox News bar was so simple but so effective."
"My favorite line of the whole battle was when she was doing the whole stolen bars angle, and she was like, 'So stop spitting bars that we know ya not writing! I'm sick of Fox stealing! Swiper no swiping!'."
Becky and Finn entered.
"Is that Becky Balboa I see?" JTG asked, excitedly.
"You actually know my name and recognize me?"
"Yeah! We watched your battles you submitted, your stage presence and ability to control a crowd is insane! Guys, this is Becky, she's a battle rapper from Ireland that just moved to the states, and we invited her to give her a little taste of the scene and the culture out here. Is that your manager or something?"
"I'm her cousin, and basically glorified babysitter."
Becky chuckled rolling her eyes.
"I had some bad stuff going on back home, so my parents sent me to live with him to keep me out of trouble." Becky shrugged.
Charlotte and Bayley introduced themselves to her.
"What's battle rap like in Ireland?" Bayley asked, with a chuckle.
"Well, pretty much just like in America, each rapper gets 3 acapella rounds, usually like a 2 to 3 minute time limit for each round, then the judges make their decision and it's done with."
"Oh, so it's basically the same, except they judge it?" Charlotte asked.
"...there's no judges here?"
"Nope." JTG said.
"Then... then how do you know who won?"
"It's open to interpretation. Some people may feel a certain battler won because they like intricate writing more than performance and delivery, some people may feel the opposite way."
"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" Becky asked.
"It changes the purpose. Now, you're not rapping to impress a panel of judges. You're rapping to impress them." Shad smiled, pointing at the area where the crowd would stand.
A few hours later the venue was full, as JTG and Shad stood on stage with some of the battlers and other VIP members who were allowed on stage. Becky and Finn were standing near the front of the crowd, as Becky read the flier for the event.
It read
"T-Bone vs X
Deville vs Fox
nZo* vs Apollo 13*
Shenom* vs Flair*
Rush Hour vs KO*
B-Shine* vs Banks Da Boss*
*denotes a battler making their G9 debut"
"Alright y'all, it's time for the first battle. Coming to the stage, this young man is repping Atlanta, Georgia, give it up for X!"
Xavier came to the stage, with his entourage, which consisted of his friends Big E and Kofi.
"Also coming to the stage, the veteran, repping South Carolina, give it up for T-Bone!"
Shelton joined Xavier on stage.
"Alright, who calling?"
"Heads." Shelton said.
Shad flipped a coin.
"It's heads, what you wanna do?"
Shelton pointed at Xavier.
"Alright, Shelton won the coin toss, he chose X to go first, round one, let's get it."
"Can y'all hear me?" Xavier asked, slightly adjusting his body mic.
The crowd cheered in approval.
"Alright. T-Bone, you're not old old OLD... but nigga you old old."
The crowd and battlers laughed.
"I said... you not old old old... but nigga you old old. Why do these senior citizens get on stage and be so bold? You get smacked in the face with the can... Stone Cold, when it comes to guns, I love the 50's I got an old soul! What you g-"
Xavier was interrupted by the applause of the crowd.
"Yeah. Let's go! Aye! Look!" he said, trying to get them to quiet down so he could continue.
After that battle, Sasha and Bayley each stood backstage, on opposite sides, as the sound engineers applied body mics to them, to allow them to perform freely without having to hold a handheld microphone. Meanwhile, JTG and Shad remained onstage.
"Alright, it's time for the next battle. Both of these young women will be making their G9 debut. Coming to the stage, repping Philly, give it up for my girl B-Shiiiine!"
Bayley came onto the stage, with a few of her skater friends.
"Also coming to the stage, repping Boston, also repping that BeanGang, Banks Da Boss!"
Sasha came onto the stage, with Tamina and Naomi.
JTG pulled the coin out of his pocket for the coin toss, as Sasha and Bayley each took a deep breath.
