For anyone interested in lyricism, the annual Poets vs. MCs is a must-attend. Now in its 14th year, it’s a coming together of the two scenes that commendably broaden the horizons of both.

Wrapped up as a combative experience, its first aim is to entertain – and this it does like no other event in Brighton. Beneath all the pantomime aggression though, are some of Brighton’s finest wordsmiths, flexing their talents on a huge public platform. As a result it was an event that never stopped surprising, at times swinging sharply from the ridiculous to the serious, the hilarious to the tragic.

The MCs, led by Tom Hines, came in strong with two young but gifted performers on their side. Phonetic, Brighton’s standout new talent of 2016, gives a short but extraordinary show: only 19, it’s not her first appearance on this stage. Likewise Ebenflo, a fresh 14, hints at the flair of his later performance with some well chosen, playful lyrics. In their corner the poets, led by Rosy Carrick, could draw on much more experienced performers: as a counterbalance to the young rappers were the more considered styles of Johnny Fluffypunk, whose farcical but philosophical piece had the crowd in stitches, and Mike Parker, in full Tory persona. The latter gave a satirical ode to trickle-down economics, hammering home the innuendo with a disdainful delivery. This first-round’s performances were accompanied by Normanton Street, who improvised backing beats onstage – a first for this event, and a change that augmented most performances. Weighing the raw styles of the MCs against the more polished writings of the poets, it’s hard to tell who carried the round.

This first stage is followed by the AudioActive cypher. Chaperoned by Hines, almost 20 young performers take to the stage for an open mic – some of them look as young as 12, and all must be terrified, confronted with a full Concorde 2. However all of them jump in, get over their initial nerves, and clearly come to love the experience. They form a promising next generation of Brighton’s rappers. Not just the skills they’ve learned with AudioActive, but also the confidence it has given them was inspiring to see. It was sobering to hear from Hines that the youth services offered by AudioActive are under threat from impending council cuts.

This had all been leading up to the main event, the Battle Round, where each team would be given different tasks. The first was a speed-writing challenge where two performers had to incorporate audience suggestions into their pieces (elasticity, futuristic and clitoris). This round saw poet Robin Lawley give a darkly funny picture of the year to come, but not manage to cover all three target words. He was unlucky to go up against Ebenflo, who made his young age a weapon to embarrass his opponent. His piece was hilariously self-aware, as he joked that he didn’t know much about the clitoris – but what made him a really impressive writer was his readiness to turn the joke on its head, lamenting the state of sex education in our schools.

Fluffypunk followed with his challenge, a love story with a rapper. He expanded his repertoire from the first round, bringing in physical comedy and audience involvement, painting a ludicrous but vivid image about the rapper who would try to best him, Spliff Richards. Richards is a former poet, and turncoat to the rappers’ cause. As he took to the stage the running jokes and rivalries came to the fore, but happily all were easy to get to grips with, not excluding any new attendees. Richards was a bit more colourful with his words and imagery than Fluffypunk, and betrayed his poetic origins by the use of some neat literary motifs.

This final round was a very high quality showcase throughout. Rosy Carrick’s sharp wit and effortless style deflated the MCs’ attempts to discredit her – although later spitting across the stage did somewhat diminish her air of distinction. Slam the Poet gave the most incisive performance of the evening: to a backdrop of anguished lyricism, he accepted and addressed the regular criticisms that ‘rappers love guns’ and that rap personas are just that. He shamed the poets’ team for point-scoring and reminded everyone that violence in rap is a serious social issue. In that moment, you could hear the whole crowd stop and think for a second. On top of being a standout performance from the night, he must have pre-empted his next opponent, who seemed flustered and off his game.

The show ended with a mock tribute to freestyle from AP Staunton, an impressive medley from Gramski, and a welcome deviation from the norm by Mike Parker, who gave a tribute to, rather than a lampoon of, Gramski. Finally, the crowd were given a musical close by Spanish rap duo Sombras. Running over time, there was no vote on the winner, but it didn’t seem necessary: both teams put forward excellent performers, who treated the crowd to material that was by turns comedic and thought-provoking. In any case, it was the kids from AudioActive who really stole the show.

Ben Noble

Website: https://poetsvmcs.com/