“I’ve always been an avid fan of the [rap] battle scene,” says Scranton-based Jay Wirth. “I love the atmosphere at these battles, everyone’s really competitive and is going to do whatever it takes to walk away with a win.”
Since March, Wirth has been travelling to New York to participate in rap battles for Spittaz Battle League — an art, he explains, that is drastically misunderstood:
“What people, around here specifically, don’t really realize about battle rap is that it’s not your stereotypical freestyle battle where everything comes off the top [of your head]. It’s actually all, if not mostly, written and prepared. You find out your opponent usually a month or two ahead of time and are given that time to prepare and dig up as many things as you can on the person.”
Wirth currently has three battles under his belt, and you can watch his debut here:
