[Reflexion]

This has been partially taken from a previous thread, but revamped and updated.

I also know a lot of new people are comin' and want to rush into things, but listen here first:

First off : Welcome to the freestyle rhymes session. Don't let the word freestyle scare or fool you, because people have some time to think things up and drop them.

We'll start out with some basic lingo or terms used around the forums (without getting into the latter sections):

Line- This is simple, just one line... an example would be:
this is what a line is, now gimme a star/

Bar- Simply 2 lines= 1 bar:
this is what a line is, now gimme a star/
correction.. it's no longer a line, now it's a bar//

Verse- This is basically an entire single post. If someone dropped 4 bars or someone dropped 20 bars in a single post, both would be considered verses.

Rhyme Scheme- This is basically the guideline you drop a line to. It can change from drop to drop or even from line to line.
Examples of rhyme schemes can be as followed:
I drop shit hot like I'm steam/
Peep this example of a rhyme scheme//

this is the basic scheme with _________A/ ________A

As you progress, the rhyme scheme will be more detailed such as ___A, ____A/ ___________A to make it sound and flow better.

Take a look through battles and observe different rhyme schemes and how they work. Experiment, but try not to blaintantly bite.

> Also as a sidenote, notice how lines are seperated by /.. this is just to show seperation between lines.. some people use this method in battles because it clearly seperates lines and gives the reader an easier read.

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Voting - this is what decides the outcome of a given battle. The criteria of voting changes as the type of battle changes, but in general, battles are evaluated by voters by 3 things: wordplay, flow and punches.

Wordplay- This is self-explanatory, but a play on words. Some people confuse this with similes and metaphors (even though they can be wordplay, but not always). Wordplay comes in a variety of forms, but it should show some general creativity and originality. This term is better illustrated through use of examples:

"ooo...so youre a big boy...been rappin for a whole year?? damn.../
ya clique is bland...C.I.C is like 'iraqi diehards'...frankly, nobody 'GiveSADAM'/" - Lunatic Lines

giveSADAM is SADDAM and "Give's a Damn". It's a play on words.

"Don't need to rip ya audios, you're already dissin' ya tracks
And ya personals like 'outdated businesses'..cuz they're missing the 'FAX'" - reflexion

FAX refers to the outdated businesses but also means FACTS of his personals (explained later)

These are both examples of wordplay but to see it more thoroughly used and how it plays a role in a battle,look @ almost anything by Lunatic Lines, but particularly this batte with him against Awe-dio (which is also a great battle in general also) and where wordplay is explicitly shown from both sides: Inf, Razor and Boog vs. RAH Flava

Flow- How well the verse adheres with meter and tempo. Some may think that there is no flow in text, but there is. Though flow is complicated to explain, everyone has their own methods of improving their flow. You will start to see a difference between good flow and bad flow as you progress though the forums and read better matches.

Example of good flow:

"… Yep, pessimism reigns; my optimisms in chains
Subliminal rage, expressed through this pen and a page
But it’s hard to explain; the feelings, thoughts, and views that I have
...This isn’t a show toon- I’m straight from the heart with this man! " - razorbrain

Notice how there is several rhyming words and words that sound similar. This particular excerpt contains multies and inners which will be discussed later.

For a particular battle that had good flowing all around from both sides, check out Razz Vs. Mode

> A good way to get a good idea to what your flow is like, try your verses to a beat and see how it fits. Though beats are different, you can find a general pattern through most of them.

Punches- Lines which are used to poke fun at the opposition. These are what usually determines the sway of the battle. Example:

"spit lead, when I rip threads, make ya columns for wins shorter//
shits dead, awedio couldnt flip heads with a stack of trick quarters//" - Boog

For further info for good punches, check out almost anything with Hangman because he usually brings good punches to battles. A particular good punch for punch battle can be found here: Razz Vs. Mode

> Good punches can include personals (which we will get into later) and/or wordplay.

GOOD VOTING- this is where u break things down very well. This should be done ALWAYS. People usually comment on the criteria for the given vote for both participants and frequently include highlights of the battle followed by why they chose a given person over the other (ex. slightly better flow, harder punches, etc). This doesn't have to be long but give some good reasons (you wouldn't want a shitty vote on ur battle would ya?)

BAD VOTING- actual examples:

my vote goes to puertolumbian because he had more flow at the end of each bar?? is that what you call it?? anyway he used more commen sense and more of his rhymes were more in the dissing place, like he used the kind of diss better"

and

Xeno: i liked your disses.

JROC: i like the flow,



Vote : JROC(weldone)

tisk tisk, that's all I can say...

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Types of battles- Though battles are generally evaluated on for the above criteria, there are sometimes themes to battles in which new criteria is added. Here are some examples of different types of battles:

Verbal Violence- Try to be as violent as possible here. You want to show aggression, anger and downright sickness. Here is where u can shine if ur a sick mother fucker.. ahah. Some lines from verbal violence are these:

"Helping ya die like Dr. Kevorkian by flooding ya brain with baby scorpions
Snap ya feet so you’ll never walk again while the stings remove endorphins
Lose pain absorption while I’m drilling your temples with spinning pencils
My grinning dentals taking chunks out of your neck like gripping tentacles
Filling your ventricles with corrodin fluids and drown you in floatin sewage
A screwdiver’s poking a screw-in to leave both eyeballs grossly skewered" - Subject

Goddamn sickos.. heh, but u can peep a good verbal violence match here: VV semi-final subject vs. reflexion

> Verbal violence isn't usually pure senseless violence, but some clever sadistic shit too. A good combination of gore and creativity boosts the level of your verse.

Topical- This is how well u can stay on a particular topic in addition to the normal criteria. This is the same as themed battles. A great example would be this topical: Topical - Finals: Aura vs. Anaktix

> The most important thing, I find, is to STAY ON TOPIC. It is a topical battle for a reason.

Scripture battle- Though I haven't seen one of these in recent memories on this site, it is basically a session (independant drop), usually with a topic, that each emcee drops. There is no punches against in each, it is just what would otherwise be in a session or cypher thread. It should be evaluated on flow and coherence to the topic (if any) among other criteria. An example of this would (though it is topicless) is The Session Competition that we had a while ago.

Team battle- This is self-explanatory. You can team up with people through private messages or anywhere else such as The Battle Box. Team battles are the same as crew battles except a crew is a group that has been previous been formed and usually has a name. Voting should be based on the drop of ALL teammates rather than just one. What I mean is that if it is a Handicap match say (2 v 1) and the one person drops someone good, but the other two together drop better verses together than u should give them credit for that.

I guess a clear example of what I am trying to say can be illustrated with my vote on this WAR-themed battle here

Another great team battle (and a great battle in general) is Inf, Boog, and Razor vs. RAH flava. Notice that the second team has a name identifying them as a crew (though crews can remain nameless).

> Team battles can be an interesting way of testing your abilities with others and the dynamics certain people may have. Try and team up with someone you don't know or maybe have read a bit and see if you can team with him/her. Try to battle another such team and see how it goes.

Foreign object match- A certain set of objects are outlined @ the beginning of the battle (usually by a mod) and emcees are also evaluated on encorporating the outlined objects. An example of this would be here: Angel vs. Xeno

> Use the objects creatively. Say if it was a rubber band, don't just say "I'ma kill you bitch with guns.. RUBBER BAND motha fucka!", use it in a more intelligent way.

Audio Battle- People upload their shit here or on an internet site and people download it.. The battle is evaluated on the same criteria, but it will obviously change the form of the criteria because u can hear it. An example is Awe-dio vs. Razorbrain and Mode vs. Anaktix

> Flow becomes paramount in audio battles. Voters also have to evalutate mic presence and quality among other things.

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Types of Punches - There are several types of punches you can utilize:

Personal- A type of punch, personals are basically hits you can only use against one specific person. They can be making fun of their information, what they did in the past, their avatar or profile or anything of the sort. Use of personals in a verse makes it harder hitting and proves that it hasn't been something totally pre-written. It should be mixed with other types of punches for an overall well-rounded verse. Example:

I'll stop bullying kids, but who do I gotta rip on next?
A guy who calls him self "audio," but half his shit is TEXT - InfinitE (me)

I couldn't have dropped this punch to anyone in here except Awe-dio because it has to do with his name and part of what he does.

so listen up Inf, if i can't show you ur wack, the voters'll
cuz ya know that ur fake... when ya sig is a 8 Mile quotable - Awe-dio

My signature was a line from 8 mile and Awe-dio couldn't have dropped it to anyone but me.

> Use personals and it will set u apart from someone who doesn't use 'em. They up the level of your verse and try to throw a few in if u can.

Flipping- or 'flipping the scripts,' this is a technique you use to flip something back at an opponent that they said in their verse. Though this can be easy and sometimes people can obviously see some flaws in another's verse, it takes a degree of intelligence to use the flip well. Take a look at this well-used flip:

this fool has two brains - one is lost...n the other is lookin for-it/
so forfeit...ya childish lyrics need 'Pull Ups'...and ill more than top-pull/ (Lunatic Lines)

the flip:

See all you spit is fiction, there's an abscence of the facts-there /
Yeah- I lost half my brain- but just to make this fucking match-fair / (Hangman)

> Flips can a good way to get the opponent vexed because u don't always have to use them for what the other person meant. Basically u can take it to mean something else and flip it that way. If the opponent tries to flip the flip, it usually gets redundant and stupid, bringing their own verse down in turn. Sometimes (and I know this now aha) you just gotta take a hit and move on. Also, don't compose your verse of purely flips because it lacks creativity.

Outro/Enders - Well I call them outros, but it's just the last bar/line of the battle.. I think they are very important and should just make jaws drop if possible. Some nice ones are here:

"So spit your second verse, and I'll predict how the peeps-vote /
The only thing your winning round here, is "best at deep-throat"..."

"Your worse, see, no punch of yours can hurt-me /
Quit talking smack before I smack ya right into verse-three..." - Hangman

> These last lines are usually paid attention to the most and what the reader is left with. If you can make these good, you will most likely have a good general effect (provided you have at least something decent in your middle verse)

Wordplay Punches- this is simply using wordplay in the form of a punch. Example:

"When Mode drops it's 'elderly judo', cuz the 'flippin is weak'
He couldn't leave his 'mark' in this forum if he 'came off a streak' " - InfinitE (me)

General Punches- basically punches that can be used against anyone. Example:

"bump ya head to this, i know ya like my stee-lo but i don't care how ya feel ho',
still won't get it if i spit slow, split the dough and bet this bitch'll bark if i say so." - Jroc

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Verse Tools- there are many ways to improve your flow and verse in general.

Multi's- A method of meter where you rhyme a phrase, usually with the same syllable count, which typically goes AB-AB. Example:

"I'll break-ya-neck and rake-ya-check." - Awe-dio

For further reading of multies, look @ almost anything by Awe-Dio. Here is a link where there is profficient multie usage: Razz Vs. Mode

> You often hear people say multies are the best and if ya don't have 'em then your shit, but that's not necessarily true. Multies are excellent tools and become almost impossible not to use once you get better, but explore other things too.

Inners- It really means 'internal rhymes.' They are rhymes within a line before the end. If you have 2 multies in the same line, they are multie-inners:

Teachin "rooks n the users", "look at these losers".. i roll wit the winners
from "sunset to sun down", "son's set gets gunned down" .. now those are some inners (Awe-dio)

[i]I know the "pain" the "game" "bring", I did the same "thing" - Wu Tang

> Inners are great, but don't use too much of them or your shit will sound messed. The latter example of inners here shows one that's close to that (try to say it quick), but it still works.

Alliterations- Words after one another that have the same starting sounds. Examples are here:

"Terminal tactics taken in Time, like tortured turmoil toasted in twine.
Twisted in tricky troubling whines, wondering whom what where when and why." - the amazing K

> I think this is the easiet thing to get into first and help you improve flow. In my opinion, try these before other shit liek inners and multies if you're new.

Power wording- this is basically saying the same thing in less words. This is usefully because you can either add more stuff or leave it as it is so it flows better. New people almost never use this and it can take some creativy and time to perfect, but it's very useful. This is just an example of how to use it:

You want to say: I'll put a gloc to your eye sockets and shoot 'til the brain comes out of your head

Obviously stretched, try power wording: A gloc shoots ya eye sockets 'til ya brain leave ya head

Since sockets implies it's means eye sockets from the rest of the line, u can take it out and 'a' at the beginning can be taken and it'll still make sense. 'comes out' can turn to 'leave': Gloc shoots ya socket 'til ya brain leaves ya head

Then, you may notice that 'gloc' rhymes with the first part of 'sockets' and is part of an inner. You can further make it an inner and make it most effective: Glocs-get hot with ya sockets 'til ya brain leaves ya head

Thus, from: I'll put a gloc to your eye sockets and shoot 'til the brain comes out of your head

comes:

Glocs get hot with ya sockets 'til ya brain leaves ya head

> USE power wording, it is one of the major way to seperate u from the newbs.

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FDS (frequent dumb shit) - Many many people when they first come do dumb things and this is a head's up so u don't do the same..

Thread name: WHAT DO U THINK OF THIS GUYS?!? ah, young newb. A lot of people start off and post a new thread sayin' they'll take anyone or they bring the illest shit. Boy o boy.. but if ya really want feedback on your things or just a place to drop random shit, there are several places where you can put your post (see Rules/Master Thread List

I'LL BATTLE ANY BITCH! BRING IT!.. post count=1- Newbs usually say this and rush into things. Again, you must have at least 1 vote on another battle to battle and at least 30 posts to cast a vote (on a regular match). So basically.. no battles for u unless u have > 30 posts and at least 2 votes.

Everyone had good stuff, but my vote goes to ______- As was said before.. DON'T BE A SHITTY VOTER! DON'T VOTE ON BATTLES THAT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO EVALUATE! Please break it down and look how other vets break shit down and vote well!

OOOo, ___ is my hero... I mean we are friends and he's good, so I know his drop was just a sample of his illness, therefore he gets my vote- my god, GET OFF OF HIS DICK! This is called a Dickriding vote because the person is so highly acclaimed by the voter and the voter is going to basically vote for that guy no matter what. VOTE FAIRLY.

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FAQ- These are some commonly asked questions:

Q: How can I get my 30 posts?
A: Refer to the threads I posted earlier under 'FDS' for a place you can both practice and build your post count. Though it's probably better for u to get most of ur 30 posts in the FRS (freestyle rhyme session- the name of this forum), you can also get posts counts from posting in other forums.

Q: How can I tell what is dope and what is shit?
A: Though it ultimately comes down to a matter of opinion, it is obvious that some stuff is better than others. My advice is to look at some really good battles and then look at (most of the time) a newb's battle and compare the punches and flow and what not. It's just like if you want to write a story well, it usually helps if you've read other things that are well written. In addition to helping you distinguish the good and bad, it can up your game as you will grow more accustomed to what good stuff is.

Q: What's a 'mod' and how do I become one?
A: 'Mod'erators look after the forum and make sure everything's in order. Right now, there are enough mods here but u never know when something can come up. Anaktix and I just became a mod after we contributed some shit in here, but for now there are a lot of mods.

Q: Who the hell are Tane and Blaze?
A: Tane is the administrator/creator of bboy.org and he doesn't come around a lot but he does come on once in a while for admin duties mostly. Blaze is the guy who started this forum and he doesn't come on much either.

Q: Who holds the titles around here?
A: Text Battle Champ: Mythology
Verbal Violence Champ: Subject
Audio Champ: Anaktix
Topical Champ: Anaktix
Cypher Champs: Bboy Jroc and Yosh One

Q: How can I get a title?
A: Well normally tournaments are held and then finals, etc. The winner of the tourney usually faces the peson with the title. Alternatively you can challenge them to a title match but they do not have to respond or accept.

Q: How can I sign up for a tournament?
A: Moderators regularly hold different types of tournaments and feel free to suggest doing one. If there is enough interest then a tournament can run.
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If there is ANYTHING that u would like to add or want me to change, please tell me and I will encorporate it into this thread.

Thanks to the other people who helped contribute to this thread: Awe-dio, Soviet, Angel and Talent.

Hope that helps + good luck!

-reflexion aka !nfinitE_