Don't Flop

Don't Flop
Industry Battle rap
Founded 2008
Founders

Rowan Faife

Freddie Scott-Miller
Headquarters United Kingdom
Website DontFlop.com

Don't Flop Entertainment is the largest rap battle league based in the United Kingdom. It was founded by longtime friends Eurgh (Rowan Faife) and Cruger (Freddie Scott-Miller) in 2008.[1][2] Since then, notable performers include Oshea,[3] Sensa,[4] Lunar C,[5] Rizzle (of Rizzle Kicks),[6] Tony D (of Poisonous Poets), Blizzard,[7] Mercury Music Prize nominee Soweto Kinch,[8] and Mark Grist. Several rappers from Don't Flop have also made appearances in the Canadian rap battle league King of the Dot,[9][10][11] as well as youth and music broadcaster SB.TV.[12][13] American rappers Illmaculate and Soul Khan have also made appearances on Don't Flop, both as rappers and judges. Don't Flop events feature all elements of hip hop culture, including cappella emcee battles, freestyle battles (sometimes over beats), grime clashes, DJ sets, live performances by hip-hop/rap artists and more recently at the 'BLAM' events there has been live art and breakdancing.

Format

Don't Flop battles are usually three rounds, with each round being 60 to 90 seconds, although significant main event battles will sometimes have 3 minute rounds, there have also been instances of unlimited rounds. A coin flip typically decides who goes first, and the emcees alternate after each round. Sometimes however, the battlers will decide between themselves off camera who will go first, and in a championship match, the Champion will decide who goes first. A panel of 3-5 judges then decide the winner (there have been instances of a 7 judge format in title matches). Up until recently, an overtime round would settle a draw. However, this has now been removed from most leagues and a winner has to be decided after the 3 standard rounds.

Events

Don't Flop events are often divided across England. Mancunian rapper Chronicle organised Don't Flop North events To The Test 1 to 9, with Don't Flop co-founder, and London/Norwich based promoter and battle rapper Eurgh stepping in to organise the tenth event. A London rap battle event entitled "Blood in the Water" was thrown every year from 2009 to 2011. Emcees from other rap battle leagues such as Grindtime, King of the Dot, and Basementality Battles came to the UK to battle other opponents.[14][15] Don't Flop held its first USA vs Canada battle in 2011 with Jonny Storm vs Charron.[16] Today, there are a minimum of 2 events each month and are held all over the country.

Innovation

In recent times Don't Flop has led the way in introducing new forms of battling. In 2012, Don't Flop hosted its annual April Fools event.[17] Here, many new formats of the written battle style were introduced. At the same event, Don't Flop also hosted its first ever 3-way battle.[18] Then, at the "Second Quarter Try-Outs" event in Manchester, a battle which involved both rapping and guitar playing was showcased for the first time. Don't Flop has also shown innovation in the way battles are judged to ensure the right decision is made. Moving away from a traditional format, in the 2013 tag team tournament, judging was done after the event by judges that video their decision, which was then edited in to the battle video. Also in mid 2015, Don't Flop introduced a new format of battling known as "Freestyle Royal Rumble", a format that has a non specific number of participants (that can be increased or decreased in the span of the rumble) all freestyling with & against one another in either a tag team or free for all objective.

List of Champions

Until 2012, there was no crowning achievement within Don't Flop, many people thought that Oshea and Sensa were the best two battlers in the league at the time, and they had battled once already, so they had a rematch for the title, Oshea won the title, since then the title has changed hands twice, from Tony D, to Soul, Tony D was only champion to successfully defend the title, he defended the title three times before retiring it. Soul then beat Cee Major for the vacated title, and became the third champion. In 2016 Soul successfully defended his title against Raptor.

Solo Champions

No.NameEventDateSuccessful Defenses
1 Oshea
defeated Sensa		 To The Test Ten
Leeds, England		 Feb 5, 2012 0
2 Tony D
defeated Oshea, defended against Definition, Chris Leese, Unanimous		 Don't Flop 4th Birthday
London, England		 Oct 20, 2012 3
3 Soul
defeated Cee Major, defended against Raptor		 Checkpoint 2
London, England		 April 25, 2015 1

Doubles Champions

No.NameEventDateSuccessful Defenses
1 Cracker & Cee Major
defeated Bamalam & Cystic		 Verdict
London, England		 June 8, 2013 0
2 Shuffle-T & Marlo
defeated Cracker & Cee Major, defended against Dialect & Zen		 Don't Flop 5th Birthday
Leeds, England		 Nov 9, 2013 1

References

  1. ↑ "Don't Flop Battle League – » Blog Archive". Kane FM. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  2. ↑ Page under construction. "About | Don't Flop Entertainment". I'mDontflop.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  3. ↑ "Interview: Sensa « An Independent UK Hip-Hop Blog". Tomclementsuk.com. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  4. ↑ Pete Cashmore (2010-07-24). "OShea's got the rhymes that bite | Culture". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  5. ↑ "Lunar C is Lunacy". Boxmusique.com. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  6. ↑ "Rizzle (Rizzle Kicks) Vs Ceezlin *RAP BATTLE*". YouTube. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  7. ↑ "DON'T FLOP - Rap Battle - Blizzard Vs Mark Grist". YouTube. 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  8. ↑ "DON'T FLOP - Rap Battle - Soweto Kinch Vs Stowaway". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  9. ↑ "KOTD - WD2 - Charron vs Cruger". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  10. ↑ "KOTD - Rap Battle - Kid Twist vs Eurgh". YouTube. 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  11. ↑ "KOTD - Rap Battle - poRICH vs Sensa". YouTube. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  12. ↑ "SB.TV - Lunar C - Warm Up Sessions". YouTube. 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  13. ↑ "SB.TV F64 - Blizzard - F64 [S3.EP17". YouTube. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  14. ↑ TheAlbinoMoonTanner (2011-03-17). "Don't Flop Battle League". ukhh.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  15. ↑ "UGHH Presents: Dont Flop". UndergroundHH.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  16. ↑ "DON'T FLOP - Rap Battle - Jonny Storm Vs Charron". YouTube. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  17. ↑ "April Fools Rap Battle (Batman Vs Joker)". Samgfx.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  18. ↑ "DON'T FLOP - 3 Way Rap Battle - Suus Vs Evileyz Vs Bowski". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-04.

External links

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