Random Fact: The Original Rap Battles

When you think of rap battles, maybe you also think of Eminem in 8 Mile. I do too!

However, did you know that there was a very different similar thing to rap battles back in the day called “flyting?”

People have been throwing around insults in a public setting for CENTURIES!

Flyting is a stylized battle of insults and wits that was practiced most actively between the fifth and 16th centuries in England and Scotland. Participants employed the timeless tools of provocation and perversion as well as satire, rhetoric, and early bathroom humor to publicly trounce opponents. The term “flyting” comes from Old English and Old Norse words for “quarrel” and “provocation.”

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