History of Versus Battle. Versus Battle - What is Versus Battle? History of Versus Battle When will the Versus Fresh Blood finale be released?

Versus battle is a duel between two participating performers (Rappers, MCs), who, over three rounds, must verbally, in a close circle of spectators, “take out” the opponent. In this case, profanity and profanity may be used. The fight (versus battle) is judged by judges - experts from the hip-hop industry, rap artists or famous public figures.

Versus Battle - History Versus Battle

Battle has always been an integral part of human history.With their help, the world gained leaders by weeding out the weak.Became stronger and more perfect. Times passed, and the attribute Battles no longer required bloodshed.

The battles were embodied in competitions. And they, in turn, creativity.

First shoots similarities to poetic duelsoriginated inScotland16th century, when two poets, in a tavern,insulted each other with unpleasant rhymesfor the amusement of the public.

Reminds me of something, doesn’t it?

Interesting facts about Versus Battle:

• Since 2017, all participants receive a fixed fee of 70.k. rubles
• The phrase “Make some noise, f***ing!” came to the restaurateur came to all the feasts
• Initially, “Versus” could be called “Suprotiv”
• Initially, SLOVO could have been called “Versus”
• Nationalist, religious and political inserts are not allowed in Versus
• The first years of the battle paid off at zero

The history of rap battles

Hip-hop culture gradually filled the information noise, transforming from street performances into a full-fledged musical genre.

Besides rap starswho boldly took their place in the pantheonlegendary artists, on a par with Hendrix and Morrison,local points appeared around the world where newcomers gathered,honing your freestyle skills in fights.

These were offline battles in whichrappers met with an opponent, causing the enemydamage with rhyming lines, punchlines and extraordinary flow.

“Go forward where they are not expected; attack where you are not prepared.”

Sun Tzu

By the end of the first decade of 2000, this phenomenoncomes out of the shadows of the underground, becoming publicly available.

In the USA, Canada and European countriesthe first battle platforms are born -KOTD , GringTimeNow And Don't Flop who will become ideological inspirersVersus Battle , increasing the scale of each of them.Opponents battled with prepared texts, competing with each other.

“Versus Battle is one of the unusual ways of handling language, a way to look at language, at versification differently, because in the end it is also versification, just with different meters, sometimes without meter at all, there are just rhymes, there are special meters - for I found this a very interesting experience working with language. . ”

Versus Founders - Restaurateur Founder of Versus

Behind the appearance of suchphenomenon How Versus Battle , which radically changed the culture,there was a team of peoplewhich ultimately came down to two individuals -Alexander Timartsev, he is also Jan .

Firstis involved in the organizational part of the event,second— Internet promo.

Besides, to the ideological component and primary organizations put his hand in with whom I was well acquaintedRestaurateur .

He helped the guysbring together and interest rappers before Versus became national treasure.

How did Versus Battle come about?

At the beginning of 2010, returning from the armyRestaurateur was a regular at variousfreestyle battles, simultaneously keeping an eye on their foreigncolleagues on already formed platforms.

One day he saw a battle between a teacher and a student on “Don't Flop”, which sparked the idea in his head that it was time to create a local equivalent of the event.

On that moment Restaurateur was cookin a restaurant, and the first organized battle(even before Versus)went right there. It's funny that nick Restaurateur was invented by a rapperJubilee when he came to visitAlexandru .

For 2.5 years, the restaurateur hatched the idea of ​​a full-fledged battlebefore the first one took placeVersus. Moreover, the first 200 thousand rubles for providence were borrowed from Ilya Mamai, general director Booking Machine - label Oksimiron .

With the embodiment of the ideaRestaurateur the Krasnodar guys managed to overtakePLC and Hyde , releasing the first episode“Word Battle 2012” , six months before “Versus ”.

“On Versus there is a more comfortable atmosphere... As for the battles themselves, there is no difference: at these moments you forget about everything, the venues, views, etc. do not bother you.”

Bar 1703 - Where is the Versus Battle held?

This is now a St. Petersburg bar“ ” impossible to imagine withoutVersus , and a couple of years ago he wasn’t the same at allhome of battle as we know it today.

For a long time Restaurateur was looking for place, which would be durablepeople associated with his brainchild, considering that holding battles indifferent locations will have a bad impact on the brand image.

And he was right. As a result, his acquaintances introduced him todirectors of bar 1703, named after the year of foundationPeter the Great of St. Petersburg.

In the meantime, howVersus Battlecontinues to gain popularity1703 sells outany day of the week.As the Restaurateur noted, before Versus is herethere were practically no people, and now the place has deteriorated a little...

Versus Battle: The Beginning

First issue of Versus Battlestarts on September 1, 2013, and its participants areand Billy Milligan (ST1M ).

Restaurateur admits that if not for authorityOksimiron , hardly guysagreed to come . Media support waspublic pages and VK pages dedicated to hip-hop.

Episode by episodeVersus is gaining momentum.Its members includestars of the first magnitude — , Johnyboy, Noize MC and others.

In one of the episodes of the show Evening Urgant Versus became the theme for the sketch. We met in a battle Ivan Urgant and Sergey Shnurov.

“The last time I spoke at the versus was about a hundred years ago. At one time this happened so often that I was so sick of it all that I not only stopped going there, but also stopped watching the episodes. Now the battle culture has definitely changed (they said), many superstars have appeared (they said), but I’m watching a video here where blogger Larin can’t hit the beat for 5 minutes, and I’m amazed.”

Versus Battle - Main Event

In December 2013 Restaurateur starts first attemptsmonetization of your project,organizing battles on a large platform with ticket sales. The format of this event was calledVersus. Main Event

The rappers met thereone on one or in groups on a big stage. Soon from this formathad to refuse, because the organizers were faced withpremature “leaking” of results to the network by people from the crowd.

“Here, just like on the football field, you throw out a lot of emotions. I am standing in a close circle of people, looking into the eyes of my opponent. Battles are the same sport! There is both excitement and a competitive component here. People around you look at you and worry with you. I like it! I always liked to compete in what I can do, and not just talk about what I don’t have or measure myself against something.”

Versus Battle Fresh Blood

March 5, 2014spin-off launches this yearversus, entitled: “Fresh Blood” league, which aims to identify young talents.

Judging systemstructured in such a way that participantsfighting with each otherdefeating opponents andround by round, climbing up the standings.In the final, the strongest rappers fight for the titlewinner of the season.

To dateFresh Blood totals 3 full seasons.

Fresh Blood “Battle of Styles”

Not so long ago Restaurateur announced a new seasonFresh Blood “Battle of Styles”, in which a still unknown format will be appliedmentoring.

The battle will be divided into two recruited teams, for each of which an experienced MS is responsible:

Versus Battle BMP

At the end of 2016 Versus Battle introducesanother format -BPM.

If we haven't heard music in battles before (except round 3 against ), now it has become possible.

BPM- abbreviation forbeats per minute/beats per minute. In it, MCs battle to fastgrime beats.

The first participantsVersus BPMbecome representativestwo competing sites- from Versus and from Slovo.

One of the most striking performances in this format can undoubtedly be called the battleDrago vs No Limit. Such charisma, artistry And pressure more battles did not see.

Versus Battle Crowd - how to get to Versus?

An interesting fact is T olpa on Versus. From the very first release thereIt was possible to get in only through exclusive lists.To do this you need to befriends of the performing rappers, the Restaurateur or someone who was invited to Versus.

True, there are funny exceptions, such as withSerega , which slipped unnoticed ontoevent, causing surprise to everyone present. Especially Oxy .

Strict adherence to this rulealmost always guarantees safety of resultsbattle before release. Besides, the crowd found its heroes, whose faces appear time after time onVersus— Ivan Grachev a.k.a Hindu And Ekaterina Crazy a.k.a Horned Woman

Versus Battle Judging - Judges at Versus Battle?

Judging at Versus Battle has always been Achilles heel of the event. Remembering the first battles, we can conclude that inthe judges were almost always people who had nothing to do with rap.Like the group “Amatory ”.

Now the situation has leveled out, although at times there are also gaps. Like a comedianRuslan Cherny, judged the legendary battleOksimiron and Gnoyny.

On standard VersusThe verdict for the winner and loser is given by an odd number of judges.On BMP, the crowd decides.

Many rappers have voicedpositionwhat judges arelast century. Must It's up to the listeners to decide.

Versus X SlovoSPB

2016 was rich in new formats.The next thing is a battle between battles, no matter how strange it may sound.

Restaurateur And Dan CHEYNannounce a high-profile event - venue battlesSlovo SPB and Versus Battle , in which the best participants will collide.

The most striking and memorable meetings can be called battlesPurulent against and the same against Oksimiron. An event that made the world look at battles from a different perspective.

Versus Battle Now

Today Versuscontinues hisrapid development, attracting attentionall over the world. In addition to rappers, famous bloggers began to participate in battles. For example,Dzharakhov, Larin and judge Yuri Khovansky.

One of the permanent judges on Versus is

After all, not one Western site can boast40 million views of your videos,how it was at the battleJohnyboy vs Oxxximiron.

The sponsors of the event arebookmakers, banks and even cars.

No one will be surprised if after a whileEminem or Busta Rhymes will judge the next battlepurulent and , A Lamar decide to battle with . The truth for thisdinosaurs will have to improve their Russian.

For Russian rap, Rickey F is a controversial figure, but definitely unique. Few battle participants manage to gain popularity outside the community and engage in solo work. Gennady Farafonov – that’s the actual name of the performer – is one of them. Rickey F on the Versus platform and Rickey F as the author of the debut album “Fantome-1”, released at the end of 2017, are like different people.

So far, the artist is having a hard time uniting the audience of fights in the 1703 bar and fans of solo tracks. But this does not stop the rapper from collecting clubs and periodically going on tour with concerts in Russian cities.

Childhood and youth

Gennady Farafonov is a native of Yekaterinburg. Born on May 23, 1994. I preferred rap to other music already at school. He considers the American performer to be the idol who inspired the first tracks. He started rapping at the age of 14-15, changing his name to the pseudonym Rickey-BIFF. Later he shortened it to the one familiar to hip-hop fans, Rickey F. As a high school student, he tried to make it to the finals of the hip-hop.ru portal battles, but failed.

The first significant page in Farafonov’s biography as a rap artist is meeting like-minded people. Together with rappers performing under the pseudonyms That Same Kolya and Oxide, he creates the association “Neuro664”. The artists even manage to gain a little popularity in a narrow environment, but this does not bring Rickey F any benefit. As Farafonov admitted in an interview with The Flow, he was in this team

“the guy about whom they write in the comments: “Dudes, he’s no good!” Let’s cut him out of the group.”

Music

From 2012 to 2015, Rickey F released three mixtapes. The debut – Optimus Versus – was received controversially by listeners; negative comments concerned the performer’s timbre. Later, Farafonov meets Viktor Geviksman, performing under the pseudonym Vitya SD. The members of “neuro664” record joint tracks with him, and in 2014, their mixtape “UnderWater Vol.2: Bring the Chekist Back to the Streets” was released on the “UnderWHATer?” label created by SD.

The collaboration between Rickey F and SD in 2015 resulted in a joint mini-album “Moscow Doesn’t Believe”. The aspiring rapper's third mixtape is released in April. The record, called "For Good", includes 11 tracks.

Guest verses were used, performed by the participants “neuro664”, as well as Masha Hima, Alphavite and Lodoss. It is noteworthy that Rickey F met the latter a month before, when he entered the Versus battle, replacing the same Kolya.

Rickey F learned about the upcoming replacement on the eve of the performance. The text was prepared in one night. The rapper partially used his own old lines. Among them was the future meme - the phrase “I didn’t clap for you, I gave myself a high five” that runs through Rickey F’s tracks. A performer wearing a monkey mask performed. A year before the meeting, the rapper participated in the capital’s version of the battle project “SLOVO,” but the video of the fights was never made public.

What makes Rickey F truly famous is his participation in the second season of the project “Versus: Fresh Blood”. Farafonov writes the text for the qualifying stage, in which the performer opposes the capital’s rapper Tvoigreh, a week before the event, adding relevant rhymes in recent days. The performance receives approval from the audience and colleagues, but what really hits home is the first round battle against Sin.

Harsh, rude jokes, including on the topic of oncology, become the “calling card” of Rickey F. He expresses support for the participant, emphasizing that Farafonov’s rounds are the best in the entire history of battles in the Russian language. Rickey F also speaks positively about him.

The rapper successfully performs in subsequent fights against contestants Lekha Medya and Booker D. Fred. However, in the semi-finals he is eliminated from the season. The leader of the battle is the future winner of Versus, Volgograd resident Konstantin Lopatin, who performed under the pseudonym Hip-Hop of the Lonely Old Woman.

In an interview with The Flow, Rickey F stated that he himself was to blame for the loss of the fight, since he did not take into account the stereotypical thinking of the public and gave away all his trump cards in the first battles. Thus, according to the artist, he has declared himself a strong opponent, and the drama of any conflict is built on the audience’s expectation that sooner or later such an opponent will lose. Seeing a defeat is more interesting than watching another victory.

At the same time, after the loss to Rickey F, attention to his accounts on social networks increased. The number of visits increased several times compared to the days after the victorious battles. The artist used the attention to Versus’s fights to promote creativity. Watching the first season of the project, Rickey F was surprised that the participants were not trying to transform the audience of the fight into listeners. Therefore, before being selected for the second season, I started creating solo tracks.

The songs were laid out taking into account the upcoming traffic. So, on the day of the meeting with rapper Tvoigreh, a remix and video for the song “Crown me”, the original of which was performed by Hopsin, were released. Also, simultaneously with the battles, the tracks “Shadow” (with Alphavite) and “Final” (with Milky) are released. The premieres are accompanied by clips. In the last song, Milky and Rickey F criticize the “lackluster” finale of the second season of Versus.

Soon after Rickey F left the project, he was challenged to a battle by Sonya Marmeladova. Vyacheslav Mashnov, also known as Slava CPSU and rapper, performs under this pseudonym. To begin with, Farafonov responds with a diss. In November, he released the mini-album “Five” and a video for the track “Free Fall”. And already in December 2016, the fairly warmed-up audience received a video of the battle to the beats.

In the same year, Rickey F finds himself at the center of a scandal between video bloggers and. They got into a rap battle, and later Larin accused his opponent of buying the text from Farafonov. Rickey F did not hide the fact that he makes money from ghostwriting, but he disowned cooperation with Khovansky.

“Well, and from the obvious: I, of course, will not go on Versus against a video blogger who decided that he is a battle rapper and has already proven the opposite once,” the performer wrote in

It's time to present the long-awaited release within Fresh Fornication - the final performance of two MCs: Ernesto Shut Up and Alphavite, each of whom we already know a lot about thanks to past releases.

20-08-2015, 14:42

20-08-2015, 14:13

20-08-2015, 13:49

19-04-2015, 22:30

19-04-2015, 22:03

19-04-2015, 21:22

19-04-2015, 20:56

The day has finally come! Today the final episode of the third season of Versus Fresh Blood was released, which was watched by millions of viewers from Russia and the CIS. Two participants managed to reach the finals, namely: MC Pokhoronil and Teeraps, and today they will compete for the main prize of 200 thousand rubles. In order to win, the participant will have to surprise everyone with rhymes and punches in 3 rounds, without giving the opponent a chance to win. Which of them succeeded - watch the video.

Watch the battle "MC Buried vs Teeraps":

Brief description of the battle:
Type: FRESH BLOOD 3 FINAL.
Participants: MC Buried vs Teeraps
Release date: July 16, 2017.
Duration: 42 minutes.
Winner: Teeraps.