Today I had the opportunity to attend the Latin American MC battle titled "Batalla de los Gallos" (Battle of the Roosters) held in a traditional Puerto Rican cock-fighting ring. The arena was appropriate, the facilities were packed, and I had a good time with my pals and fellow hip-hop heads Predator, Pablo, Nevermind, and all other people that we ran into on the way. Argentina took home the gold, by the way, and Puerto Rico's popular acclaimed champion, Tito Yang was eliminated in the first round. Runner up: Mexico.
Coo-kee (producer,) DJ Predator (producer and good friend,) and yours truly.
The ring.
A mutual friend of Predator and I, Bles-One (graph artist,) and Nevermind (MC and good friend.)
DJ Velcro on the plates.
Opening act. Puerto Rican "Victor Santiago" wearing a Betances shirt. (I think that's his name.)
The host of the battle, "Chingo," from the Chicano community of Los Angeles.
Peep his boots.
Opening battle. Spain (left) vs Puerto Rico represented by Tito Yang. Yang looses by a close shot.
Battle two. Mexico represented by El Ni�o vs some wack cat from the U.S.
"Booooo!"
Battle 3. Argentina vs Colombia.
Battle 4: The runner-up for the Puerto Rican championship Tek-1 (who
was included in the tournament by popular demand) vs some fat guy from
the Dominican Republic (laying down.)
One of the judges was Angel Quintero, sociologist and founder of the
Partido Alternativa Ciudadana, a local political party for the district
of San Juan.
Siete Nueve performed after the first rounds. (Read August 19, 2005.)
Semi-final round one. Argentina vs Mexico.
Money was laid out between each MC. Winner took all.
Flash takes away from the vividness of the scenes. Thus I decided to
squeeze in a motion shot. Argentina vs Tek-1 from Puerto Rico.
Argentina wins it. The representative giving the crowd another freestyle to show his thanks.
The winner invites the crowd to throw objects into the ring. He
freestyles about each object. A baseball cap, pen, bottle of water, cup
of beer, and even a shoe are thrown in.
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