Remember the heated battle between dumbfoundead and tantrum? AR sat them both down and got to discuss everything in detail. The interview offers great context around theses artists and the battles.
Here’s an interesting excerpt:
Were the lines you used against each other all off the top of the head?
Dumbfoundead: some of the lines were freestyle but most of it was written. I mean I can freestyle my ass off and so can tantrum, its just that these types of battles almost all cats come prepared and why wouldn’t you?
Tantrum: Noooo. Grindtime is specifically structured so that you HAVE to prepare for your opponent. I mean they usually let you know at least a month in advance who you’re facing to practically give you time to think of material. Although there is no official rule that restricts freestyling, you would be a fool to neglect proper preparation for a top notch opponent such as Dumbfoundead. However, like I said they don’t say that you CAN’T freestyle so if you have time during your round to slip in some freestyle rebuttals or whatever, then by all means do so. As for my battle, it was supposed to happen a lot earlier that day but Dumbfound was driving up from LA to the bay on that very morning and had to take a 3 hour detour due to the fires. So I came up with something on the spot to bring up his tardiness and incorporated it into my 3rd verse.
Peep the rest, it’s a great read.
a-Tunes 