Freestyle Battling Provides Non Violent Way To Settle Disputes

The New York Daily News reports that with the tragic deaths of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay and rap promoter Kenneth Walker, the thought of freestyling offering a nonviolent way to settle scores has taken hold. “To battle, you must know about grammar, morphology, local history and politics, and have speed and wit,” Marcyliena Morgan, a professor at Harvard University who teaches a course called Hip Hop America: Power, Politics and the Word. “You must be accurate, because the audience listens, evaluates and talks back.”