How Women Are Fighting For Representation in Latin American and Spanish Battle Rap

By Thor Benson


They mention an enormous crowd of people is capable of anything. As I entered Red Bull’s Batalla de los Gallos International Final, a freestyle battle rap tournament that took place in Buenos Aires on December 9, this particular crowd felt more unified and decided than any I’ve witnessed. They filled the stadium to the brim. The synchronized chants of the crowd sounded like an approaching army. Fists were raised into the air, demanding that the show begin.


Batalla de los Gallos features freestyle rap artists from all around the Spanish-speaking world. Rappers from Spain, Colombia, Argentina and elsewhere congregate in front of those audiences to be able to see whose skills are best. It’s been going on since 2005, and these events that happen during the year often draw well over 10,000 people. The judges pick a winner who does not receive a tangible prize, nevertheless victory can launch a career. Arkano of Spain and Aczino of Mexico, for examples, are two performers who have become bigger in the Latin American and Spanish rap scenes because of those battles.


Across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, both artists have reached over a million followers, and in 2016, Arkano set the Guinness World Record for longest rap freestyle by performing for over 24 hours in a public square in Madrid.


Though the collection of girls attending these battles is growing every year, the audience at these events is largely young gentlemen, and also a woman has never been among the international tournament's final competitors, including this year in Buenos Aires. It’s indicative of the culture that surrounds the battle rap scene where Latin American and Spanish machismo goes full-bore.


Guillermo Rodríguez Godínez, 24, who performs as Arkano, informed me that several of the boys competing tend to use sexist language. He admits that girls can typically objectified and hyper-sexualized. Yet, having been introduced to hip-hop by his older sister who was a rapper and graffiti artist herself in their Spanish hometown, Alicante, Arkano tries to do things differently.


“I habitually attempt to avoid falling into the trap of using sexist language in my freestyles,” he mentioned. “If my rival in a battle begins to mention sexist things, I do the opposite and call it out.”


Arkano performs at the 2018 Batalla de los Gallos International Finals.


Though none of the competitors in this year’s tournament were females, Red Bull did ensure the event featured female emcees. The DJ for the event was Nicole Atenea Nazar, a Chilean woman who performs under the name DJ Atenea. I talked with DJ Atenea and other ladies at Batalla de los Gallos. They were quick to confirm that sexism is a major supply in the scene, nevertheless they often hesitated to intricate, perhaps worried about being shunned for calling out the provide. It was as if they were concerned about being seen because the “other” by speaking out about the obstacles girls like them face.


DJ Atenea mentioned she sees sexism in the culture, yet she tries to disregard it. She did note she’s the initial woman to DJ a Batalla de los Gallos — perhaps a sign of progress — however it didn’t come with little effort. Females need to fight hard to get into play, Atenea explained.


“It’s true that girls struggle to be included, although you shouldn’t let that be something that limits you,” she mentioned.


Mary Ruiz, 38, a Spanish emcee who also helped host the event, mentioned males don’t trust while you attempt to get into play. You have got to prove yourself as a performer first, and then, eventually, they begin to accept you as another rapper. “When girls come into the rap-battle scene to compete, they look at you like you’re an alien,” she mentioned. Though not a rapper herself, Ruiz, who performs under the name Queen Mary, has seen it happen repeatedly to others.


Queen Mary emcees in Buenos Aires for the 2018 Batalla de los Gallos International Finals.


Luyara Cerena, better referred to as Tink, an emcee and rapper who lives in Argentina, agreed, adding that females have to mixture in with the boys to some degree and can’t be also aggressive. Things are getting better for girls, yet it’s taken a long time.


“It’s a struggle daily — meeting new people and fighting your way into the scene,” she mentioned. “You have to give it your personalized, female touch however also fit in with what the scene is about.”


Some don’t visualize it as an issue of the battle rap scene specifically, though. A Mexican rapper named Cerco, another emcee at the event, blamed Latin American and Spanish culture usually. “It has to do with society and why things are done,” Cerco mentioned. “It’s sad, although every year you visualize more girls.” As Cerco implied, Latin American and Spanish society have faced a distribute with what @we could call toxic masculinity for several years.


What’s depressing about the lack of ladies in these competitions is that the major rap battles like Batalla de los Gallos can change an artist’s life. Like playing soccer competitively in this region, doing well in rap battles can take you from rags to riches. Cerco himself mentioned he comes from an impoverished, dangerous town in Northern Mexico, and he had little to his name before he got into the rap scene. Right now, he says, he’s more financially stable and gets to travel the world for rap events. He mentioned several of the other boys in the scene are just like him.


In America, immediately after years of misogyny in a male-dominated scene, females like Cardi B and Nicki Minaj are right now topping the charts alongside their male counterparts. Girls in Latin America and Spain are still waiting to achieve this status. For years, lists of the top Latin American and Spanish rappers have been nearly entirely dominated by men. And though rappers like Roja, Rebeca Lane, and more have been talking about the sexism in this culture for years, they have however to earn the credit they deserve.


In the end, the latest Batalla de los Gallos was won by a talented, local Argentinian rapper called Wos, who himself has a crowd of 1.2 million followers on Instagram alone. Though his efficiency was its own spectacle, and matched by the intensity of the energy in the arena, one hopes some girls will be seen competing with him at the next Batalla de los Gallos International Final in Spain. A culture that only hears half of its voices misses out on some of the perfect ideas.