Don't Flop

Last updated
Don't Flop
Industry Battle rap
Founded2008
FoundersRowan "Eurgh" Faife Freddie "Cruger" Scott-Miller
Headquarters
Website DontFlop.com

Don't Flop Entertainment is one of the largest rap battle leagues 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] Harry Baker [9] and Mark Grist. Several rappers from Don't Flop have also made appearances in the Canadian rap battle league King of the Dot, [10] [11] [12] as well as youth and music broadcaster SB.TV. [13] [14] American rappers Illmaculate and Soul Khan have also made appearances on Don't Flop, both as rappers and judges.

Contents

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. [15] [16] Don't Flop held its first USA vs Canada battle in 2011 with Jonny Storm vs Charron. [17] 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. [18] 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. [19] 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 two best battlers in the league. They battled once already, and planned to battle again for the title. Oshea defeated Sensa to become the league's first champion.

Since then the title has changed hands twice. Tony D, the second champion, is the only champion to successfully defend the title three times, subsequently relinquishing the title after the third defense. At Checkpoint 2, Soul and Cee Major battled for the vacant title, in which Soul won and became Don't Flop's third champion.

In 2016, Soul successfully defended his title against Raptor Warhurst. Soul was unsuccessful with his second title defense against Shox the Rebel.

Solo Champions

No.NameEventDateSuccessful Defenses
1Oshea
*defeated Sensa
To The Test Ten
Leeds, England
Feb 5, 20120
2Tony D
*defeated Oshea

*defended against Definition

*defended against Chris Leese

*defended against Unanymous

*vacated title after defeating Unanymous

Don't Flop 4th Birthday
London, England
Oct 20, 20123
3Soul
*defeated Cee Major to determine new champion

*defended against Raptor Warhurst

Checkpoint 2
London, England
April 25, 20151
4Shox The Rebel
*defeated Soul

*vacated title after hiatus

Checkpoint 4
London, England
April 29, 20170
5Craft-D
*defeated Unanymous to determine new champion

*defended against Shuffle-T

One of A Kind
Bristol, England
February 29, 20201
6Quill
*defeated Craft-D

Fighting Talk
Bristol, England
November 12, 20220
7Gemin1
*defeated Quill

Institution
London, England
November 5, 20230

Doubles Champions

No.NameEventDateSuccessful Defenses
1Cracker & Cee Major
*defeated Bamalam & Cystic
Verdict
London, England
June 8, 20130
2Shuffle-T & Marlo
*defeated Cracker & Cee Major

*defended against Dialect & Zen

*defended against Matter & P Solja

Don't Flop 5th Birthday
Leeds, England
Nov 9, 20132

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swollen Members</span> Canadian hip hop group

Swollen Members is a 4-time JUNO Award-winning Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only along with the other former members Easy Roc & Zodak who were only in the group for a few years and producer Rob the Viking, an official group member since 2002. Swollen Members has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits album and 2 compilations, as well as numerous other singles. From 1996 to 2016, Swollen Members were the second best-selling Canadian hip hop artist in Canada and were the best-selling Canadian hip hop group in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remy Ma</span> American rapper

Reminisce Kioni Mackie, known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. In 2006, she released her debut studio album There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story, which became a modest success, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard 200 chart. Ma's most commercially successful songs include "Whuteva", "Ante Up (Remix)", "Lean Back", "Conceited", and "All the Way Up".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soweto Kinch</span> British jazz saxophonist and rapper (born 1978)

Soweto Kinch is a British jazz saxophonist and rapper.

Scottish hip hop is the regional manifestation of the British hip hop culture in Scotland, comprising the five elements of MCing, DJing, beatboxing, graffiti and b-boying.

Gregory Poe, better known by his stage name Illmaculate, is an American battle rapper and hip hop artist from St. Johns, Portland, Oregon. He attended Roosevelt High School in Portland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madchild</span> Musical artist

Shane Bunting, better known by his stage name Madchild, is a Canadian rapper. He is part of the Vancouver-based hip hop group Swollen Members. In 2009, he released a solo EP titled The Madchild EP. In 2012, he released his first album, titled Dope Sick followed by Lawn Mower Man in 2013 and Silver Tongue Devil in 2015. In 1993, he was named a member of the Rock Steady Crew. The Darkest Hour was released in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle rap</span> Type of rapping

Battle rap is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and disses. Battle rap is often performed, or freestyled, spontaneously in live battles known as Rap battles, where participants will compete on the same stage to see who has the better verses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rizzle Kicks</span> English hip hop duo

Rizzle Kicks were a British hip hop duo from Brighton, England, consisting of Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule. Their debut album, Stereo Typical, was released in 2011. As of May 2012, Rizzle Kicks had sold over 1 million singles and over 600,000 albums in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stig of the Dump (rapper)</span> Musical artist

Steve Dixon better known by his stage name Stig of the Dump, is an English rapper from Newcastle upon Tyne, who built a reputation as a battle rapper in London. He lived in Spain for many years but has now returned to the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organik (musician)</span> Musical artist

Travis Fleetwood, known as Organik, is the founder and part owner of King of the Dot, a battle rap league based in Toronto, Ontario, where he currently resides. Organik founded King of the Dot in 2008. As the founder, CEO, and host of King of the Dot, he has been credited with developing battle rap talent, specializing in booking local talent as well as from other battle leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King of the Dot</span> Rap battle league

King of The Dot Entertainment, also known as KOTD, is a Canadian rap battle league founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The company's HQ is based in Toronto, from which it gets its name. Successful battlers such as Pat Stay, Dizaster, Head Ice, Rone, Arsonal, Charron, Math Hoffa, Madchild, and many more have battled in King of the Dot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Grist</span>

Mark Grist is a poet and battle rapper based in Peterborough, UK, who rose to prominence when his Don't Flop rap battle against Mancunian MC Blizzard became an internet sensation. The video of the rap battle became the most viewed UK rap battle of all time and Grist is ranked the third most viewed rap battler in UK history.

Alexander Buchanan, better known by his stage name Bender, was a Canadian rapper.

Nigel Bennett is an American battle rapper, better known by his stage name Hollow da Don.

<i>StarCraft II</i> World Championship Series Defunct professional esports circuit

The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) was a StarCraft II professional tournament series organized and sanctioned by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from 2012 to 2019. For all but its first year of operation, it was the highest tier of professional StarCraft II competition. Its longest-running iteration featured two regions, World Championship Series Korea and World Championship Series Circuit, with World Championship Series Global events featuring players from both regions. Grand finals were held annually at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California, except for the first year of competition, when the finals were held in Shanghai, China. WCS Circuit events were streamed on Twitch while WCS Korea events were available on Twitch, YouTube, and afreecaTV.

Reginald Sergile, commonly known as Conceited is an American battle rapper from Brooklyn, New York City best known for his recurring role on the MTV program Wild 'n Out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilla Jones</span> Musician and battle rapper

Jerome "Chilla" Jones is a musician and battle rapper, representing the city of Boston, Massachusetts, as well as New England, every place he steps. At 16, he terrorized the battle circuits across Boston, MA throughout his high school career. Eventually, he would shift focus 100% from battling into the craft of songwriting and music making. From there, he began to build a name for himself locally for his punchline ability and for having genuine and creative song concepts that most of us can relate to. Chilla released 6 solo mixtapes over the course of 3 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FlipTop Battle League</span> Rap battle conference in the Philippines

FlipTop Rap Battle League is the first and largest running professional rap battle conference in the Philippines founded by Alaric Riam Yuson in 2010. The league promotes Pinoy hip hop. FlipTop is heavily influenced by the original rap battle leagues in the West founded in 2008 – Grind Time Now (US), King of the Dot (Canada) and Don't Flop (UK), which inspired the creation of FlipTop and other battle leagues around the world. The league also branched out into several divisions after its success. The league is currently under management of a self-produced events and artist management company, FlipTop Kru Corp which was established also by Yuson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxxxymiron</span> Russian hip-hop artist (born 1985)

Miron Yanovich Fyodorov, known by the stage name Oxxxymiron, is a Russian hip-hop artist and former CEO of the Booking Machine booking agency, as well as a co-founder and former member of the record label Vagabund. He is one of the most influential and prominent hip-hop performers in Russia, and his albums The Wandering Jew and Gorgorod, are considered by the community as the most important releases of Russian rap.

David Paul Brown, known professionally as Boyinaband, is an English musician, songwriter, rapper, and YouTuber. Brown is known for his song "Don't Stay in School" and collaborations with other YouTubers such as iDubbbz, Roomie, Andrew Huang, TheOdd1sOut, Jaiden Animations, Emma Blackery, Dan Bull, Corpse Husband, and PewDiePie. His work spans various genres including electronic, hip hop and heavy metal as a producer, vocalist, rapper, songwriter, DJ and instrumentalist.

References

  1. "Don't Flop Battle League – » Blog Archive". Kane FM. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  2. Page under construction. "About | Don't Flop Entertainment". I'mDontflop.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  3. "Interview: Sensa « An Independent UK Hip-Hop Blog". Tomclementsuk.com. 2012-03-08. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  4. Pete Cashmore (2010-07-24). "OShea's got the rhymes that bite | Culture". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  5. "Lunar C is Lunacy". Boxmusique.com. 2011-08-15. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. 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. MATTER VS HARRY BAKER | Don't Flop Rap Battle , retrieved 2024-01-29
  10. "KOTD - WD2 - Charron vs Cruger". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  11. "KOTD - Rap Battle - Kid Twist vs Eurgh". YouTube. 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  12. "KOTD - Rap Battle - poRICH vs Sensa". YouTube. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  13. "SB.TV - Lunar C - Warm Up Sessions". YouTube. 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  14. "SB.TV F64 - Blizzard - F64 [S3.EP17". YouTube. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  15. TheAlbinoMoonTanner (2011-03-17). "Don't Flop Battle League". ukhh.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  16. "UGHH Presents: Dont Flop". UndergroundHH.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  17. "DON'T FLOP - Rap Battle - Jonny Storm Vs Charron". YouTube. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  18. "April Fools Rap Battle (Batman Vs Joker)". Samgfx.com. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  19. "DON'T FLOP - 3 Way Rap Battle - Suus Vs Evileyz Vs Bowski". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-04.