The battles of roosters: from risking life on the street to performing at the Wanda and 'signing' for Adidas

For better and for worse, in Latin America life begins and ends in the heart of the street, where the great avenues are lost and the neighborhood begins, the tribe begins.

, it is all the world's music on a boom box, and in the immensity of so much continent it is also misery, longing for the suburbs, thousands of young people on the edge of all dangers.

But as always, in the trenches,

.

There are reggaeton and salsa invoking suffocating bodies;

and there is rap, which in its purest and most honest version does not even learn the verses;

he improvises them.

This is the origin of the battles of roosters

, without law or scores, where they seek to humiliate the adversary.

Versing, spinning, paraphrasing, pimping, answering, finishing off.

These fights

today I am a true mass phenomenon that tonight will summon 6,000 fans to the Wanda Metropolitano.

Have a seat and popcorn: after stopping in Chile and Argentina,

rapping world champions will emerge

.

«Of course I was close to violence, but music saved me.

Music and God.

«There is an invisible border, especially for young people.

And if you cross it, there's always the possibility of being shot."

Edition of God Level in Colombia.@KEVINMOLANOPH

- Improvisation is also prepared?

-Of course.

I am constantly memorizing things.

I do crossword puzzles, word searches, I read newspapers, tweets, posts... And, above all, I don't lose the practice of rapping.

The Klan's journey from Buenos Aires to here hasn't been easy either.

dancer

in the corridors of the school and he caught me”, remembers this other street poet.

«Then I joined a gang of graffiti artists, he happened to need a master of ceremonies, and...».

- A master of ceremonies?

-Yes.

an MC.

a rapper

Someone put the music for them.

And that's how I started.

I had no friends then, and rap made me feel, for the first time, loved and protected.

I come from a marginal world where I would not have had a chance, and I discovered that there was a better world beyond my neighborhood.

.

I've turned my story around.

Camilo and Nitro.ÁNGEL NAVARRETEMUNDO

The battle tonight has, however, a peculiarity.

All duelists will compete in pairs, each made up of rappers from different countries.

.

"Outside of Spain, these kids are real stars who travel to different Spanish-speaking countries, who go on tours, who have sponsorships with Adidas, with Red Bull...", explains

.

“And it happens like in football.

It is not that there are threats, but among the fans there were certain pique, certain

(hate), certain risqué revenge that we did not like, that could become dangerous.

».

Melero explains the dynamics of the contest

: «It is a direct confrontation where they challenge each other, provoke each other, follow the thread of a conversation, always improvising in verse».

For this, there are different formulas: you start with a word chosen at random (for example, Ukraine), after which you have one minute to battle.

that will also serve as

for his incendiary verses.

There is also the four-voice

mode , where each member of a

attacks another.

More watermarks: the jury can propose rappers to get into the skin of a character.

.

And save yourself who can.

Teorema -stage name, obviously-

saved by music.

A 23-year-old Chilean, he grew up in an environment full of artistic influences.

"My mother was a cultural manager and I was always nurtured by rock, folklore...", he recalls.

“The drug was there because it existed, because I saw it.

But I didn't let myself be absorbed because my family took care of me.

I have not been so much a rapper of the street, but of the culture».

, and a group of kids are waiting at the door of the hotel in Madrid where he is staying to take a photo with him.

“I have seen boys die because of the street,” explains Lancer, a Venezuelan.

"But I've also met people for whom

gave them a reason to exist.

You don't need a ball or sneakers to rap.

You just need your voice, your imagination and free time.

: «Everything you give to

, it will return to you, and much more.

Look at me.

I, right now, am here in Madrid, thousands of kilometers from my home getting to know another country.

And it's thanks to music.

Although this freestyle rap was born in the New York of the 80s -

- it has been in the Spanish-speaking countries where it has exploded as a phenomenon that continues without reaching its ceiling.

It was Red Bull, the almighty brand of energy drinks, who wanted to patent this street poetry and turn it into a brand.

In a multi-million dollar business.

In a circuit.

And from there the concept of rooster battles was born, which

.

Tonight, of the 36 participants, 35 are boys.

Marithea, a 24-year-old Colombian,

.

She knows she is one of the best in the world and she is not intimidated by battling in a world dominated by men.

"I discovered

on YouTube videos and was shocked by the speed with which they rapped, the rhythm, everything," she recalls.

«I started practicing with a friend at school, and soon more classmates joined.

We had battles in the yard or even on Whatsapp, when we got home.

One typed a message and the other replied.

-Already then you noticed that you were superior to the rest?

Yes, I guess I had something.

Talent exists, but if you don't train it...

And attention.

Like elite athletes, to tan that

, two hours a day.

Impossible not to ask him about machismo in an environment that feeds on the law of the street.

"Machismo is in all spheres of society, it doesn't have to be more pronounced in rap or because this market is strong in Latin America," she replies.

«What if they use my womanhood to answer me in battles?

.

Do not forget that the battles are a fictitious combat, like boxing.

It is not a fight that has to be taken to the real field.

That said, a matter of

.

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