On April 15, the third installment of The Takeover Freestyle Battle will take place at Stonefly Brewery, bringing the series one step closer to finding a supreme lyrical wordsmith that can spit improvised raps and dominate their competition.
However, this new edition of the battle will look a little different as DJ Bizzon, the event's organizer, has added a new wrinkle -- a live art battle.
The two battling artists will be Field Lehmann and Emphatik, with both artists utilizing their mastery of the brush or the spray paint can as their weapons of choice.
"This whole takeover series, I want to incorporate all the elements of hip-hop, which includes art and graffiti. Field has a background in paint and Emphatik has a background in graffiti so it'll be cool to see their different styles come to life. I want to shine a light on live artists," Bizzon told me in a phone conversation on Tuesday.
Further cementing the stature of the event is the signing on of several new sponsors. Along with original sponsors Ill Mil Apparel and True Skool, the event now has an official nod from Re.Threads clothing store, Moda3, Hot*Pop, and WMSE. This is clearly a sign of positive progress for the event.
Performing at the event will be AUTOMatic, Malicious, and SPEAK Easy, with the latter two having recently released new albums.
Slots are still open for the event and anybody interested in trying to join Scott Summers and K.G. -- the winners of the first two battles -- as a finalist, can contact DJ Bizzon through e-mail: djbizzon@gmail.com.
"I'm always trying to find new emcees and fresh faces for the event," said Bizzon.
So, aspiring emcees or current masters of ceremonies, bust out your coldest B-Boy stance in the mirror and grab a hair brush to start practicing those punch-lines, because the battle is about to be on ... again.
Born in Milwaukee and raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Concordia University Wisconsin alumnus Poppe has spent the majority of his life in or around the city and county of Milwaukee.
As an advocate of Milwaukee's hip-hop community Poppe began popular local music blog Milwaukee UP in March 2010. Check out the archived entries here.
Though heavy on the hip-hop, Poppe writes about other genres of music and occasionally about food, culture or sports, and is always ready to show his pride in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
