It is official! The world’s largest Spanish freestyle battle known as the Red Bull Batalla is bringing together the best Spanish rappers on stage. This global competition will allow former winners and emerging talent to improvise lyrics and demonstrate their artistic repartee.

While freestyle competitions have existed for decades, Spanish rappers are now finding a new platform to demonstrate their improvisation skills while opening the gap for other freestyle artists around the globe. Emerging artists and the top three finalists from the 2020 competition – Yartzi, U.S. champion from Puerto Rico, El Dilema a 2020 finalist from New York, and Jordi who ranked third in 2020 – are participating in this year’s battle.

Red Bull Batalla’s contestants will have to freestyle in the Twitch Battles on August 12 and U.S. Finals on September 18th before qualifying for the World Finals in Chile. Not only this is one of the most-watched live streams in the world, but a tournament that is placing Latin American and Spanish talent on the map.

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The competition has grown exponentially thanks to the evolution of social media but former freestyle tournaments required certain techniques unbeknownst to a music fan. From throwing shade to your opponent and quirky punchlines, each rapper’s mission is to disarm their opponent. “When you are freestyling, you have to be prepared for everything. The letters are always going to be there. No matter how much preparation you have, you have to go with the flow,” mentions JaycoElLeon, who has years of experience in freestyle. Also, the delivery is as important as the pace of their words.

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In Puerto Rico, where urban music reigns as a lifestyle, freestylers are opaqued by the media and don’t give space to on-the-rise artists for mainstream promotion,” mentioned 2020 winner, Yartzi. However, thanks to social apps like TikTok and Instagram, freestylers have found a voice and audience to deliver their talent.

Aside from freestyle, “Chisstyle” (also known as Chiste Freestyle) was a sub-genre that referred to MC’s using jokes to beat their opponent – “This new style disappointed me and I stepped back from my art,” adds JaycoElLeon. While there will always be challenges and bullying during a competition, ADONYS, a Dominican freestyler, suggests that cadence and the delivery of words are more important in winning a battle.

As this pre-pandemic zeitgeist adapts to new rhythms and styles, these freestylers are always reading, connecting with pop culture, and building their trend repertoire to win each battle. Freestyle is here to stay and Red Bull Batalla is supporting the artists with a battleground worth the witty exchange of words.

Watch the 1v1 battles on the Red Bull Batalla Twitch channel here.