I recently joined a partnership with Illspokinn for Upcoming Hip Hop to sponsor Freestyle Mondays. For those of you that don't know, Freestyle Mondays is one of the most challenging and entertaining rap battles in the city, the Freestyle Gameshow Gameshow Competition. A single-elimination 8-MC tournament sees rappers go one-on-one. Reminiscent of a game show, a wheel is spun to determine the scenario…giving combatants far more compelling topics to rhyme about than their adversary’s looks or style. A culture based on mutual respect is rare for any event that features “battles,” but the format of Freestyle Mondays is specifically designed to inspire an emcee’s ingenuity, rather than their ability to insult their opponent. The first rule is no pre-written rhymes. For instance, if the wheel lands on “Food Chain”, each emcee may be assigned an animal, with only 45 seconds to battle from that animal’s perspective. From pop-culture to politics, no subject is too taboo as neither the rappers nor the audience knows what to expect. The only way to really know what the event is like is to go to one. Freestyle Mondays has events regularly in New York, New York and and Strasbourg, France AND Prague, Czech Republic. The next New York City show is on July 31st at Pianos (158 Ludlow St.). Do you have what it takes to beat the current champion Osyris Antham?

Photos by @BoardinOgilvie