The onion movie terrorists The

The onion movie terrorists

The lyrical duels have been around as long as hip-hop, and figure prominently in such movies as rapper Eminems 8 Mile. The popular video music show 106 Park on BET features Freestyle Friday, with rappers dueling on a stage decorated as a boxing ring. Its a chance to be a star, to emulate what you see on TV, said Russell Hill, a radio host at Norfolk State University who goes by DJ Illmatic Beats. Hill, 27, won an emcee and battle rap competition last year at NSU. Most do it because they love music, poetry and the face-to-face challenge, he said. Insults are central to the challenge. Im going to talk about all your insecurities and put them on Front Street, Hill said. More often, rappers form a circle, known as a cipher, and share lyrics to a beat. Its less about competition than collaboration, said Justin Hernandez, a Virginia Beach emcee known as J. Pharaoh. Almost every time he goes to a house party, Hernandez said, he ends up in the backyard with friends, a boombox and a freestyle stream of lyrics. Just spur of the moment he said. Theres something really true about it. However, Hernandez backs away from battle raps because they can spin out of control. These kids today are fearless, he said. Hill said it takes maturity to shrug off the insults. Controversy is good in Hollywood, he said, but not in Virginia. Daquan Hill rapped his girlfriend to sleep. Rapped to his friends, mother, anyone who would listen on the street. One morning, he rapped in the shower, pounding out beats on the wet tiles, syncopated with the falling water. Michelle King, his girlfriend, told him to quiet down. Babe, we got neighbors, she told him. Were going to get put out. Patricia Hill said Fufu, as her son was called, was the youngest of three children. They were close. Every single day I got a hug and a kiss, she said during a recent interview at her Park Place home. Daquan Hill got in trouble in school and ended up at Hanover Juvenile Correctional Facility outside Richmond. He could be aggressive and stubborn, his family said. But he matured and joined the Junior ROTC program, his mother said. He held a steady job at a restaurant chain, Patricia Hill said, and had a knack for fixing cars.