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Following their success in the Jump Off, World Rap Championships, the Freestyle Masons’ have exploded on to the battle scene, providing us with some of the most entertaining rap battles the UK has seen for a long while. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, Possessed, Reain, Stig and Respek BA have each brought their own style to the Masons. I caught up with them at WTW studios to ask them their thoughts of the UK battle scene and in particular the Jump Off, which has had a major influence on their battling careers
Firstly, for people that don’t know, let’s have a quick introduction on yourselves and the Freestyle Masons
[Respek BA] I’m Respek BA, a.k.a. Djinntruf from South Scotland now living in Glasgow and representing the Glasgow hip hop scene.
[Possessed] Yeah I’m Possessed a.k.a. Eugene Twos…representing Freestyle Masons and Rhyme Asylum and I’m from South London
[Stig] I’m Stig of the Dump, a.k.a. Stigasauras Rex, Stevie Dickhead from Newcastle by way of many other postcodes and I’m repping the Freestyle Masons, Live Poet Society, Fatty and Specky and more importantly me.
[Reain] I’m Reain a.k.a. Whas’his’face a.k.a. the Terrahwrist a.k.a. the King of Spades and I’m from West London representing Lynx-Eyed and the Freestyle Masons a.k.a. the Metaphor Fathers
[Possessed] We’re not too bothered about the UK scene at the moment; we are all about pushing ourselves…
[Respek BA] I think battle wise, we feel were pushing shit forward in the UK but on a musical tip, we’re just doing our own thing.
[Possessed] Freestyling as well, we feel we kind of brought that back in the UK
[Stig] Yeah, not enough people are freestyling these days and recently we’ve found out that certain heads who we put at the top of the game use pre writtens, I won’t mention names but they know who thy are, its bullshit. But as for freestyling there aren’t enough people doing it and its something we all feel we’re good at. Essentially, I care about the UK hip hop scene but as Possessed says, fuck UK Hip Hop I’m all about pushing me and our boundaries. You can put limits on yourself but not on us…
[Reain] It’s like anything in life, people do it their own way…personally I haven’t got anything against someone using pre writtens against me but in a ‘freestyle’ battle environment it’s definitely better to freestyle as much as possible. The problem starts for me when people play off writtens like they are freestyles…
[Stig] Or when it makes up the main bulk of your rap. They’re not really rules but it’s what’s encouraged…certainly in the Jump Off, people shy away and pretend they aren’t but pre writtens are to some extent actively encouraged.
[Respek BA] It becomes evident in someone’s performance…
[Stig] Sometimes it’s a personal issue, when freestyling people don’t care as long as its entertaining, not to sound staunch and not let people bring what they are but if u put two boxers in a ring and one takes enhancing drugs, it makes for a more entertaining battle but at the end of the day it’s still cheating…
[Possessed] Not that we’re saying they’re cheating
[Stig] Well if they make up main bulk of raps it sort of it is, but essentially you have to be able to prove you can pre write as well you can freestyle
[Respek BA] Personally, I have no problem saying it but as a battler who sees it as a competitive sport, if I know who I’m battling, I’m obviously going to think of lines but there are people that over step the mark. I maybe only pre write maybe 2 lines per minute verse amongst all the other freestyle. And as a battler I think my best lines, tend to come from flips, which aren’t written obviously. If you’re able to multi freestyle as well as you can write multis and interweave it all perfectly there isn’t a problem; but it’s when you get people like Iron Solomon who disguise pre writtens as freestyles…plan 4 bars at start of each verse for 2 flips then go into a written verse every round that’s bullshit…
[Stig] And then gets sussed and pulled on it for so many occasions, that he now hides behinds like he doesn’t give a fuck and never did
[Stig] Since the original street battle I think we all agree it lacked credibility.
[Reain] I used to battle at the beginning before the street battles and it definitely lacked credibility and the talent levels were low but it was the only battling event around at the time.
[Possessed] There was no one good then and there’s hardly anyone good now!
[Reain] Since the street battles have started the credibility has gone up and more people have become interested in it
[Respek BA] The only person I really rated was Pro Green…
[Stig] He’s an example of that pre-writing stuff though…
[Stig] The only issue that really remains at the moment is talent wise, it’s there but minimal and then we end up battling the same heads 4 or 5 times and no matter how hard you come, its still going to be the same people battling
[Reain] I think what they need to focus on is a way of cultivating talent, the UK battle scene is still growing. Where as people come and go, if you find an MC and see potential there, don’t throw him in with the top guys because he will get crushed and lose confidence but instead to find a way to cultivate his talent
[Respek BA] Promotion wise we feel we owe the jump off a shit load and credibility wise, not just the Masons, but us and a few other heads, they owe us as well
[Stig] Without that credibility there wouldn’t be that hustle and bustle. A battle promoter is essentially nothing but a good idea; although they have done a lot for us…Spin the Mic was a genius concept but at the same time they owe us equally as much we owe them.
[Respek BA] Especially if its not ‘Premiership’…No one wants to see the ‘Vauxhall Conference’ no matter how big of a stadium its in.
[Stig] Or Scottish football…
[Respek BA] Or Geordie hip hop…
[Stig] The tag element was something we actually all suggested to the Jump Off on separate occasions, in fact we had to sit and explain the concept to them for however long…but saying that, they ran with it, they took it to a whole new audience and the actual day in itself was ones of the best experiences I’ve had.
[Possessed] It really has showcased the best of UK talent.
[Reain] The UK league is better than the US…
[Stig] Especially as 5 months ago, there was no talk of a UK rapper standing up to a US rapper, but now the with the tag teams its obvious that there are 3-4..in fact all the British teams have shown they can outclass and contend with the US.
[Possessed] It may be seen as biased though…but yeah, there are some shit Americans, they don’t seem to have grasped the concept of battling…It’s all ‘my guns, my guns’…I don’t care about your guns…
[Stig] Its not a cipher or showing how well you can rhyme words …at the end of the day you’re there to exchange insults and Americans on a whole their league isn’t on the same par…obviously they have The Sauras and Illmaculate who are talented, we’re not discounting any of the rest of them though….
[Reain] The US and the UK have embraced battling in completely different ways…where as in the US focus more on charisma and a showcase of words and the UK is more about bare face insults, as many ways to gun a man down…
[Stig] But not without charisma…like my man Possessed for example he can drop a line…which if next man said it, it wouldn’t sound as good
[Possessed]It’s just kind of a mode I just go in to…and when I’m in it, mo’fucker it’s on!
[Stig] My aggressive style is something that’s come on without me thinking…I had more of a joker, laid back approach instead of straight up in your face…insulting and aggressive…but in an acapella situation where there’s no music to flow to and nothing to bounce off…its just me making up for that…because it just doesn’t sound good without a beat….and its about insults…when I’m battling you…fuck you…
[Respek BA] We all learnt how to rap the same but we put our different elements on it
[Possessed] I think all our personalities tend to shine through when we battle…
[Stig] I’m not an aggressive dude in person….maybe condescending and a dry sense of humour, but aggression isn’t part of my day to day personality…
[Possessed] He’s lovely really…
[Stig] I can give out some amazing hugs...!
[Reain] For me, I had to give it a little thought because in some of my earlier battles I was laid back, partly because I was nervous and didn’t know how to come…people asked how I managed battle with that laid back style…in some of the battles I lost I think I lost them because I was too laid back and thought maybe if I was more aggressive I would have won…it wasn’t so much a sit down and strategize, I just wanted to try something new.
[Respek BA] I get offended when people talk to me as if it’s a boundary but I don’t see as it a big one personally…I was doing tours with Blade when I was 19…he didn’t see anything against it…only idiots, dickheads and spiteful motherfuckers would ever have a problem with it…because hip hops about music and skill and I can do both well
[Stig] I appreciate how you can enjoy one accent more than other…I think the Nottingham accent is ill…but at the same time to discount it because of it….
[Possessed] It’s definitely down to personal taste…but all we’re saying is don’t dismiss it because of that
[Stig] Tomorrow I’m going to find myself a nice kerb, polish it down and rest my head…personally I feel like a child…All I want to do is rap, I don’t care how that immature that sounds….but even though I’m broke, I haven’t got anywhere to sleep, I can tell you now I’ve had more fun in the last 6 months than anyone in a 9-5 job…the future just holds me rapping….even if I blow up…ill still be at open mics chatting shit…projects galore to come
[Reain] I’m working on some stuff with Lynx-Eyed and I want to build my solo career as well…in terms of battling …to be honest I don’t think I want to do that for much longer, because it’s short lived…
[Stig] Yeah and fickle…
[Reain] I’m not saying I’ve done it all but at this point battle wise, I’ve done a lot more than I originally intended to and I’ve done the most I wanted to musically but now I need to move on and focus on the bigger things…In terms of the Masons…like Stig says we blow up or whatever we’ll still be chillin’ and freestyling
[Possessed] I’m just working on an Rhyme Asylum E.P. and a 12”, and am probably going to stop battling soon as well….and last of all world domination…
[Respek BA] I’m working on a solo E.P. which may not be out till the end of this year…and as these boys are saying we aren’t on this battling thing for too much longer.
[Reain] It’s just a feeling, you can sense when the time comes…
[Respek BA] I’ll keep repping for the masons on the Jump Off tip even if say were going to quit the likelihood is something will come up and one of us will phone the other and be like…have you seen this shit and we’ll all be on it again…We genuinely believe that in the UK we can compete on a level with anyone and nobody can compete on a level with us.
Look out for Stig’s ‘Homeless Microphonist E.P. available on Dented Records and forthcoming collaborations with Fatty and Specky, Rhyme Asylum and Foreign Beggars and watch out for solo projects by Rhyme Asylum, Reain and Respek BA. Find freestyles galore on youtube, search for them individually or look for jumpoff.tv
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© ukhh.com 2006
Freestyle Masons Interview
As far as UK hip hop goes, are you looking to push the scene forward bearing in mind its state at the moment or do you try and disassociate yourselves from it?
[Possessed] If a battler can’t freestyle and needs to use pre writtens, that’s his loss I don’t care what they do.
[Stig] It still is…
[Respek BA] The tag element also erased the need for filler lines due to the 4x4 or 2x2 bar format that most teams took so it had a high punchline content, and all the teams that showed up on the day is a testament to the new wave of battle style coming up in the UK
Talking of charisma, you all have different styles of battling and bringing this presence to your bars...e.g. Respek is generally seen as the ultimate punch flipper and Stig your style is generally aggressive and in your face, is it something you thought about before or does it just come naturally?
[Stig] My accent has a lot of different influences in it and after living for 15 years in Newcastle where my family’s from there are definitely elements that come through…I think the barriers are bigger for BA in that his is a strong…accessible…but a strong accent where as mine is only certain words and sometimes its not been an issue of people not understanding more people being stupid and saying…I didn’t think people in Newcastle rap….there’s probably people in Kuala Lumpur rapping and you think in Newcastle maybe they think we all wear flat caps, walk whippets and beat our women…we rock flat caps and beat our women…but whippets are so last year…it has been a boundary but no one I’ve ever given a fuck about; its down to people to put restrictions in your face and down to you to ignore them
[Respek BA] We definitely want to work on a musical project at some point though
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