So the other day, I was down my hall and I saw a flier that caught my eye. This Thursday, there is going to be a cypher in Chapel Hill called "The Pit Spit." Being the die-hard rap fan I am, I know that I'm going to be there.
You may be asking yourself "What is a cypher?" It makes sense. The only time rap fans hear about cyphers these days are during the BET Awards.
This is from 2010's BET Awards, which is actually what introduced me to the concept of a cypher. Just in case you didn't know, a cypher is a freestyle battle that relies on "passing the mic," where it moves from rapper to rapper from right to left. If a rapper steps up too early, he is "breaking the cypher."
This is just as much an essential, historic part of hip hop as break dancing and DJ-ing. Cyphers are what rappers like Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls came up on. Freestyling is so organic at its core. You have a beat and you just have to go in over it. No excuses.
So when I saw that I finally had the chance to do a cypher, I knew I had to. Granted, I have no freaking clue how it's going to turn out. I haven't given freestyling a shot in months so I only have four days of preparation in all. Better believe that I'm going to be rhyming over every beat I hear until then. I'll give you the rundown on what happened this weekend.
You may be asking yourself "What is a cypher?" It makes sense. The only time rap fans hear about cyphers these days are during the BET Awards.
This is from 2010's BET Awards, which is actually what introduced me to the concept of a cypher. Just in case you didn't know, a cypher is a freestyle battle that relies on "passing the mic," where it moves from rapper to rapper from right to left. If a rapper steps up too early, he is "breaking the cypher."
This is just as much an essential, historic part of hip hop as break dancing and DJ-ing. Cyphers are what rappers like Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls came up on. Freestyling is so organic at its core. You have a beat and you just have to go in over it. No excuses.
So when I saw that I finally had the chance to do a cypher, I knew I had to. Granted, I have no freaking clue how it's going to turn out. I haven't given freestyling a shot in months so I only have four days of preparation in all. Better believe that I'm going to be rhyming over every beat I hear until then. I'll give you the rundown on what happened this weekend.
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