Experiencing Fliptop Rap Battles Live
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: BERT BAINTO
Fliptop is a rap battle league that puts two people in a match to have them insult each other with the cleverest punch lines and sharpest rhymes.
You can say it's one of the biggest youtube sensations of 2010 because it has gone viral with several of their videos hitting a million views in just a couple months.
Last July 17, they had a gig at Freedom Bar in Anonas, QC. FHM checked it out, and put the man behind the league, Anygma, on the hot seat.
Be sure to check out the gallery below as well, for a photo-by-photo account of what happened that night. You can also check out their Youtube page by clicking here.
How did Fliptop start?
It was as simple as applying some format from America to the Philippines. We’ve had battling ever since also in the Philippines, but when Grind Time was shown—the American league, probably the biggest in the world too—and when their format, the concept of it was introduced to the greater public, I picked up on it. I applied it here.
How did you put it all together, from inspiration to execution?
Grind Time they have the exact same format, in the sense that, it’s free battles on Youtube. In a sense, you cut out the middle man, you don’t even have to look for someone to air this or think about making a DVD and selling it. Profit is really not the priority.
I’m aware of the talent here in the Philippines. I just put two and two together, like “So, if we have this kind of talent, what would it take for it to work?”
Would it be wiser to divide the Filipino and English conferences? Would it be wiser to have these many divisions all around Manila? Like, would it be wiser to go with this or that? We just went with whatever works in the Philippines.
It’s an entirely different paradigm. I don’t even market anything, and that’s not to be cocky or anything. All we have is one Facebook, one Youtube, and one Formspring. I just go online, and answer questions, or post a poster if there’s an event coming up.
When did this start?
Our first event was in February, if I am not mistaken.
Are you the sole organizer of Fliptop?
Well, I guess, with the logistics and everything, and the actual organizing, yeah, I do majority of the work. I have some partners too, the cameraman, Kev, and DJ Umph from Miscellaneous, who is like my second-in-command. He takes the footage and edits it.
Of course, I get a lot of moral support, and brainstorming help from my camp from my homeboys and everything.
