Ok, this is a weird one.
Friday afternoon, Lush One sent out a threatening tweet to Alki David, the billionaire heir who financed (or didn't quite finance, depending on whose story you believe) last month's controversial "Ether" event. The two had been blaming each other publicly for the event's issues and were seemingly at odds with each other.
I'm bout to catch the fade w this punk @alkidavid
— GTX Uno (@LushOne) January 16, 2015
Several people on Twitter voiced their support for Lush and disdain for Alki.
“@LushOne: I'm bout to catch the fade w this punk @alkidavid”
— John John Da Don (@JohnJohnDaDon) January 16, 2015
@LushOne fa real dude a bitch , taken down everyone battles and whatever else he did . He on green light anybody see this big nose bitch
— YOUNG SPHINX (@BAYAREATIMEZ) January 16, 2015
If @LushOne catch the fade with @alkidavid win lose or draw he the realist white boy EVER sorry @BiggK757
— Quest MCODY 🇳🇬 (@questmcody) January 16, 2015
Shortly after, our friends at HipHopDX were at FilmOn for a tour of the studios.
And this happened:
Lush rushes into a meeting room and grapples with Alki. The two tumble off camera and there are sounds of violence.
Now, I wasn't there for this in person, but I'd say Lush is either a terrible actor or a terrible fighter. He pulls a couple of punches in the scrap and basically gets manhandled.
UPDATE: Lush has now addressed the footage.
Also, the footage opens a massive can of worms.
FilmOn shot, edited and provided us with the footage, so they definitely wanted it out. And if it is (even loosely) scripted, what does that mean for Lush's current relationship with Alki, FilmOn's continued relationship with the battle rap scene, and the emcees who are apparently still waiting on money? There's been no announcement that everyone has been paid, though the open complaints from battlers have ceased recently.
With this video, as well as the recent peek we got of Daylyt's Worldwide Antics league, there seems to be a new genre of battle rap emerging: the scripted narrative. Many fans still believe the fight footage between Tsu Surf and Hitman Holla was set up to build hype for their "Summer Madness 4" battle in September, though the emcees themselves swear the scrap was legit.
Who knows? Maybe the whole "non-payment scandal" is just a massive ruse perpetrated to set Alki up as "the evil corporate entity" for the next narrative arc they're planning, though we may be entering tin foil hat territory now.
In any case, battle rap usually has enough drama to keep message boards and Twitter humming on even the quietest days, but there has definitely been a drop in natural narratives in the scene in the last few years. When leagues were more regional, tournaments or actual rivalries between emcees formed story lines. Now though, high-profile tournaments have mostly disappeared and battle events happen so often and in such disparate regions and leagues that there's very little traction for narratives to grow.
So is the solution the WWE-ification of battle rap? (If that's even what's happening here). Time will tell.
In any case, we'll be looking into it. Stay tuned to BattleRap.com for more info.
Why not watch an actual battle now? You can't go wrong with any we've got in our battles section.
What do you think of the footage? Is it real? Let us know in the comments below.
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