Four initiatives to encourage women’s participation in freestyle battles

If you look at the list of competitors for the six leagues of Freestyle Master Series (FMS) during the 2022 season, only one of the 72 participants was a woman: the Spaniard Sara Socas. In the case of Red Bull, the national final with the most women in history was the 2021 Argentinian edition, which included the participation of Saga, Brasita there AT. And as for the list of national champions, the Venezuelan Kim MC and the Colombian Marithea they are, to date, the only two rappers to obtain this title.

Despite the fact that globally the number of women in freestyle battles is much lower than that of men, the big competitions – sometimes called “elite” – do not reflect the reality of the big picture. In the plazas, it’s much easier to find girls rapping and signing up to compete.

“We realized that all the time there was only one girl who was placed in the big, let’s say, important battles. It was like there was only one quota and it turns out that we have girls who are very good,” she said from Argentina. Camila ValienteVenezuelan host and content creator. It occurs with gey oropeza, Ardiendo Barras, a written combat contest for women. In the words of Camila, Ardiendo Barras had two main objectives: to make known all the women of the Venezuelan scene and to organize the battles written “so that the girls have a space where they feel comfortable”.

Also, this 2023, the writing contest has joined the organization United we are more organize a series of workshops and conferences. “All the doubts they already had have a way of clarifying them because we try to get trained people to answer them,” says Camila Valiente. And he comments on the impact: “New girls have appeared thanks to this, who have dared to participate. It was what we were looking for. It’s very professional because that’s how they join the group and we all support each other a little bit.”

The Colombian organization rot mill he also led workshops for women in the world of rap battles. La Chitti, who takes care of the organization with Blassfemmia, notes the same results: “When we were able to start developing our face-to-face workshops, we realized that many girls were coming, much more than all those we know or we see in The circuit.”

But what keeps some women from participating in rap competitions? For The ChittiOne of the reasons is that these were “very masculinized spaces”. From there came the idea of ​​creating Rot Mill and L’atelier Du Rap. She explains the situation in Colombia that led them to found this organization: “The girls tried to participate in battles or freestyle spaces. It was really very difficult and there was a lot of stigma towards the women who participated in it”.

The Rap workshop It was the contest of written battles in Colombia that accompanied this initiative. Fortunately, virtuality has allowed the organization to have a national reach. “There we also had the opportunity to find out a bit about what was going on and what girls were there, not only in Bogotá, but in Colombia in general”, says La Chitti.

“I have the impression that it was a space that put the women at ease, which allowed them to train”, explains the host. In addition to being a safe place, these workshops sought to provide concrete tools, as La Chitti points out: “We talked a lot about how to deal with certain types of situations that can arise in the context of freestyle, because it is a masculinized sport anyway. space.”

Another initiative to support more girls appearing in the parks to compete was the Women’s Qualifiers which started in 2018 at hip hop mission, the organization led by the missionary master of ceremonies. “El Misio told me he wanted to open a category for girls and he wanted Las Chicas Del Free to air it so it would have appeal,” he says. Tatu FranchiArgentinian judge, founder and broadcaster.

Communicate on this women’s qualifying round, called “Queen Mission”, led Tatu to take over his organization. This body awarded the winner a place in the general competition. If they lose, they could also feature in the mixed qualifiers as a second chance. That’s why every date had at least one guaranteed spot for a girl. Tatu recalls that the date that took place at Parque Centenario (Buenos Aires, Argentina), “was the first date of a plaza contest that managed to bring together 18 girls”.

Mission Queen has also served as a springboard for many freestylers. “Although Roma or NTC have already come from other competitions in the market, I think they ended up consolidating them a lot in the movement,” says Tatu. In fact, the following year both qualified for the Red Bull Batalla national final, where at the age of 17 Roma became the first Argentine woman to reach the semi-finals. “For a while we had Abby, also super full. She qualified for National Mission Hip-Hop and ripped it.”

Tatu Franchi also explains that seeing all the girls together had an added effect: “It gave a lot of people the idea that there was not just one girl who fell to compete. Seeing old-school rappers — La China, Reina, among others — showed that there had always been, there had always been girls interested in competing. But we also had a new breed that was also very strong, so I think that marks a bit what the great era was and the great break in the presence of women in freestyle.

Later Master Battles (BDM) would replicate this idea and incorporate a female qualifier in several countries to ensure the participation of at least one female freestyler in their national editions, called Gold BDM. On the other hand, competitors who gained exposure in Mission Queen and Mission Hip-Hop, like Roma and NN, got the call from Triple F, the premier women’s freestyle league.

Triple F is an initiative created in 2019 by Taty Santa Ana, Fosh and Mirna, a team that emerged from working hand in hand during the Las Vegas Freestyle competition in Buenos Aires. “We ended up realizing that a dream, literally a dream, was a necessity and a toolkit,” says Taty, Battle Host and Producer.

The women’s league in Argentina also had two fixed women on the judging panel throughout the season, Tatu Franchi and Mirna, plus a rotating third place; with a female DJ, Sista V, in charge of the beats; and with Taty Santa Ana as presenter. In addition, the league had a promotion system that served the visibility of a new generation of female freestylers who competed for position in the league.

Although Triple F came to a halt the year of the pandemic, the impact is still evident. That same year, women’s leagues were created in other Latin American countries, such as the Women’s Freestyle League in Peru. On the other hand, the champion of the season was Brasita, who in the following two years obtained a place in the national final Red Bull Batalla and a place in the regional final of Buenos Aires in 2022. Taty assures: “We always want the return of Triple F, but we have to see what happens in 2023.”

Although it is a masculinized space, as La Chitti rightly points out, in the world of freestyle fighting in Spanish,there is no shortage of talented women. Many contribute to this culture from places other than the competitor. There have always been great presenters, casters, judges, DJs, producers and event organizers, without whom freestyle history would not have been the same. Many are opening up these important spaces to bring more and more female rappers to the stage.

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