What's battle rap got to do with copywriting? Allow us to explain

20 Jun

Why hello there!

Hi! I’m Rory, the new copywriter here at Sookio. Thought I’d whip up a little bit of background about myself and give you an idea about how I slot into the team here.

It may or may not surprise you to learn that I somewhat enjoy writing. I’ve dipped my toe into novels, shorts, scripts, lyrics, you name it.

I also perform, and have been shambling about on stage since I was six before I found people prepared to point a camera at me. More recently, however, I’ve been exploring the booming UK battle rap scene as lead blogger for Don’t Flop, the UK’s biggest league whose main YouTube channel alone boasts over 200,000 subscribers. I’ve also stepped into the ring as a battler myself.

Now you probably hear ‘battle rap’ and envision a load of angry men rhythmically growling at each other from beneath hoodies or snapbacks, and to an extent this is true.

But the truth is that the modern scene has evolved beyond threats of gunpowder-related violence and ribald japes centred around mothers. It’s a genuine contest of lyricism, insight and presentation.

What does this have to do with copywriting?

I'm glad you asked! If you’re the creative type you’ll know that writing is a competitive game. Now imagine that instead of a withering ‘tsk’ from your editor when your work isn’t up to standard, you get doused with water and booed off stage by dozens, sometimes hundreds of bloodthirsty fans. They came to see someone’s character get a thorough dusting and they don’t mind one bit if it’s yours. It promotes a certain level of self-criticism when it comes to your writing, trust me.

Likewise, modern battles are mostly done a cappella which lets you get highly creative with form, structure and patterns of language. It encourages experimentation and a free, open approach to what might otherwise appear a fairly pedestrian job.

Above all, though, it’s a scene full of outrageous and sometimes unbelievable characters. Does your business sell wigs for frogs and trade out of a cave in the woods? Don’t worry, you’re not the weirdest person I've met this month. Come see me if you need something written and I'm sure we’ll get along famously.

I might have gone off on a bit of a tangent there. To summarise, it’s great to be here at Sookio and I’m raring to get stuck into things. I’ve already covered writing content for about seven different industries in my first day so it’s exciting to see what the future might bring. As long as I don’t get pelted with water again I'm hoping it should pan out alright.