By Restore Hall
A rap battle is a very important component of hip hop culture. It is a competition of witty words and lyricism where two individuals with high lyrical skills try to outdo each other. It has been part of hip hop since its birth in the 80s in the Bronx, New York. It is from there that Hip hop spread around the world as musical phenomenon.
For Liberia, hip hop has been here since the early 90s with rappers like MC Madison, Christopher the Protector and others. In recent time, the music has been growing with phenomenal success among the youthful population in Liberia. There’s no surprise here because hip hop was started as a youth culture from the first self-titled album Sugar Hill Gang which was released in February 1980.
This album featured singles like "Rapper's Delight" which was the first major rap hit. By the end of the 80s leading to the 90s, young men were imitating rappers from the US. Fast forward to today, the first of rap battle was held on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Bubble Park in Monrovia. The event was organized by Crown of Liberia.
After several rounds of acrobatic word play between Mr. Church and Owezzy, one of them emerged as the crowd’s favorite and that was Owezzy. The were no judges selected to jude down points about stage performance, bars, delivery etc. The audience was the judge. Whoever was the crowd favorite was declared the winner. Since he has been declared as the winner, Owexxy’s rival, Mr. Church’s supporters have cried foul.
The event has generated lot of conversation on social media with supporters of Owezzy justifying his winning while Mr. Church’s supporters saying the process was not fair. Apparently, Mr. Church and his supporters might have underestimated Owezzy, thinking it would have been an easy victory for him but Owezzy who came in as the underdog was declared the winner by the enthusiastic crowd.
There are plenty of commentaries making the rounds on Facebook. Almost impossible to see who is right or wrong. What many of the critics are saying is that the winner should have been selected by panelists or judges with professional experience.
The question that has not been answered is whether both Mr. Church and Owezzy were informed that the winner was going to be selected by the crowd, and not judges. If that was accepted by both sides going into the battle, the noise now been heard by the dissatisfied supporters of Mr. Church is not justifiable. Every competition has its rule and when participants accept the rules before going into the competition, there should be no noise about the outcome.
Of the numerous Facebook postings, we find the following post from Ayouba Toure’s Music forum to be fair and balanced. According to him, “the five or so rounds, the closest was the opening round, which I think Mr. Church won despite having to restart his verse due to some technical issues.
Throughout the battle, Mr. Church delivered two memorable lines: “His name is Owezzy, sounds like an overrated version of Wezzy” in the first round and “I am building a dynasty and anybody who come up against me will die nasty” in the fourth or so round.
Mr. Church spent ample time on addressing mundane issues such as Owezzy’s wealth and the sad realities of Liberia, both of which are non-issues in a rap battle as long as there is a clear gotcha connection to opponent. Aside from the opening round, Owezzy was the better rapper in the remaining rounds. Unlike Mr. Church, he touched on several issues, including Mr. Church’s failed marriage, deadbeat allegations, and misogynistic behavior.”
“In fact, Owezzy did not even bother to mention the age gimmick since that would undermine his performance. Moreover, Owezzy was more audible than Mr. Church probably because he handled the mic better, and his performance was in synch with the audience, which suggests that he was the more comfortable and confident rapper of the two.
The question of whether the crowd was inorganic is a non-issue. This is Liberia. These things, assuming the rumor is true, are bound to happen. The onus is on the rappers to find a way to make it work to their advantage. Congratulations once again to Owezzy on being declared as the winner of the lyrical contest.”
Another post on Facebook by BossbOi Advertise stated that “Owezzy pulled off a major upset, defeating Mr. Church in a live rap battle that's left fans buzzing. Now Mr. Church is planning to leave Liberia and reclaim his Nigerian citizenship. Critics are saying a young artist like Owezzy shouldn't have taken down a big name like Mr. Church, but he did it. Plenty folks reveals that the rap battle was stage managed, almost all the organizers were in favor of Owezzy.”
Whether or not it is true that it was stage managed is besides the point because the winner was decided by the audience. If that was the rule set before going to the game, the result must be accepted. Maybe next time different rules could be set.
