Quote

The Fork

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

• Robert Frost

Introduction

Behold the MC, which is commonly referred to nowadays as the Rapper.

Given the mantle of master of ceremony and dubbed as the speaker for the new movement of Hip Hop, the rapper is the foundation through which Hip Hop flourishes.

And with such a huge responsibility, the Rappers of old were given an incredible burden.

Like Robert Frost and the fork in the road, they were given two options.

On one side was the Cypher – a road that led to collaboration.

On the other side was the Battle – a road that let to competition.

Now let’s go deeper into each option and understand why Hip Hop reaches a fork in the road and which option holds the promise of better days.

Hold on, I’m sorry, before we discuss Cypher vs the Battle, we must understand a key concept.

Transparency!

This is a key ingredient in Hip Hop.

Say it with me – transparency.

Make sense?

A Human Being, when they enter Hip Hop, has two types of armor.

The first one is metallic, coarse, making it hard to breathe.

The other one is colorful with a divine texture that radiates with a person’s soul.

So why would someone wear the metallic one?

That’s easy, they prefer to live by their EGO.

When you are transparent, the Divine Source is able to come into you and work through you, which is a key concept in CRUNK and TURNING UP.

At times, you must stop your life and look within and ask, what armor am I wearing?

Now armed with the right armor, let’s move on to your favorite subject.

That’s right – Cypher or the Battle.