DGV Rap Battle ready to take center stage once again

For a good 3 years now, the event has held its own and become a beacon of hope for hiphop artists, not just from Bulawayo alone but the nation at large.

It has been a platform and launchpad for artists who have gone on to make a name for themselves locally and regionally as well.

What started as just an idea for founder, Naboth Rizzla has become reality and one of the initiatives that have been at the the forefront of putting local hiphop on the map.

Thus far, the DGV (Da Grape Vine) Rap Battle deserves its kudos!

The monthly event is set to take center stage for one more time in 2016 when the Bulawayo Public Library Hall plays host to the event on the 10th of December.

Urban Craft magazine caught up with Naboth Rizzla and below are excerpts from that interview.

Can you give us a detailed background into what exactly the DGV Rap Battle is?

DGV RAP BATTLE was started in August 2013 after noticing that the rap battle culture in Bulawayo needed a consistent platform to showcase the abundant skills. we put together our resources and have never looked back since. Though plenty of challenges have always there, we continue to soldier on nevertheless.

The good news is that we are realising most of the of the goals that we had set for ourselves slowly but surely as people from all over the world can watch the rap battles on ZTV during our Hiphop 263 tv show every friday from 21.43hrs or on channel 280 on DSTV.

What is it that you aim to achieve through this initiative?

We aim to showcase the rap battle artists and the culture as a whole to the rest of the country and the world.

In your 3 years of existence, what have been some of the major highlights for you?

Some of our highlights so far include having rap battles on the Intwasa Arts Festival (Bulawayo) & Shoko Festival (Harare) in September 2014. We also got to showcase our skills live on ZIFM and recently on Skyz Metro Fm (Byo).

Who are some of the artists that have come through your hands?

So far Siriboy, who is now based in SA and has been doing well in the Scrambles 4Money rap league. He started participating in our battles earlier on with us and we are more than happy that he came through our stage and used it as a launching pad to bigger and better things.

We also have 5-time Zim Hiphop award nominee Asaph and Psykotek who has toured Germany and is also nominated for a Zim Hiphop award this year.

Besides Bulawayo, where else have you taken the DGV Rap BattleS to?

We have taken battles to Harare and to Chitungwiza in past years and hope to spread the culture to other parts of Zimbabwe first and then Africa.

How do you keep your target market informed as to the DGV Rap Battle is concerned?

We use the internet to get more people to know more about the rap battle culture in Bulawayo, across Zimbabwe and beyond.

What are your plans in as far as this platform is concerned?

We hope to expand fully to the rest of zim and expand to Africa in the next year.

What has the response from the artists themselves been like?

They appreciate the platform and hope to someday make a living through it just like what happens in the USA and United Kingdom. We do hope we will get to that level sooner rather than later..

Looking at the bigger picture, what part do you think this platform/event plays in the fight to establish the hiphop genre locally?

It has managed to bring in a more creative and entertaining element to the hiphop culture as well as the lyricism and content, its safe to say that the art is starting to get  the respect that it deserves. Word play, metaphores and punchline usage has definitely increased since as artists become more and more skillful as they work hard to outwit each other on the microphone.

What can the fans expect on the 10th?

10Dec is going to be explosive as Aykay vs OG Dallas takes center stage... but we will also be having the cyphers that will be filmed for tv as well.  Artists to lookout for include Ozzbit, J Dumza, Benny Jones, Neville Sigauke, Valzie Veinz, Nashverb, Young Stan, Vic Jita, N-icey and many more...

So come through in your numbers, lets make history together as we showcase and celebrate hip hop culture through rap battles and cyphers at the Bulawayo public library hall.