Emcees battle at Teter Quad

Emcees went head-to-head Friday night in Teter Quad, showcasing their freestyle talents in a competition organized by the Hip-Hop Congress.\nThe sign-up started at 7:30 p.m. as nervous emcees walked in, sizing up the competition. There were people playing video games at the entrance while others crowded around waiting for the battle to begin. \nBloomington resident Chad Richardson said he had his own reasons for coming. \n"I am doing it just to do it," he said. \nRichardson said he used to practice freestyling frequently but doesn't consider himself great. \n"I am assuming defeat," he said. "Why not test myself?" \nA.J. Jeoffroy, "MC Halfblown," has won many emcee battles in Bloomington. \n"I'm not worried about tonight, as long as the D.J. keeps it fresh," Jeoffroy said. "It's all about the D.J." \nThe competition kept in tradition with old school emcee battles, where the competition is judged by the loudest response from the audience as the host yells out emcee names. \nIn the third round, Jeoffroy upset "MC D-Nice" with intense lyrics that made the audience laugh.\nOne of the surprises of the night was junior Andrew Shaw. Shaw showed his skills when he flowed incessantly to a beat that his competitor, "MC AG" couldn't adapt to. Although Shaw had to rap on a microphone that had a short in it, he flowed over "MC Dwela," who was also highly ranked in the competition. The two emcees went at it to "Shook Ones" by Mobb Deep, but had to stop because of microphone trouble. Shaw finally claimed victory to "Welcome To New York" by Jay-Z.\nOne of the heavy hitters to step up was freshman Mike Chun, or "MC Versatile." Chun won the crowd over during his battle against "MC Big Test," calling him a "Ghetto Urkel."\nThe final round arrived and it was down to three men -- Shaw, Chun, and Jeoffroy. Jeoffroy and Shaw battled three times in order to decide out the winner. Jeoffroy came out on top and went on to face Chun.\n"I actually didn't expect to make it to the finals," he said.\nIn the first battle, Chun dominated the microphone, with his graphic lyrics. His rhythms made the crowd go wild as both flowed to the same old school '90s beat. In the second championship round, the crowd voted for Jeoffroy to go first against Chun. Jeoffroy came back with a heavy response, dissing his Korean competitor's race. \nChun said he doesn't mind the racist jokes and ignores them. \n"Obviously that's the first thing they see, but I joke and laugh it off," he said "It's all good." \nIn the final round, both Jeoffroy and Chun faced-off again. The crowd voted for Chun to go first, since he lost the previous round. Jeoffroy won the battle and told the crowd to praise Chun for being the only real emcee there. After the battle was over, Jeoffroy rapped to his girlfriend as she looked on and smiled. \nAfter the competition, Jeoffrey sized up the competition by saying, "there is none," walking away with a $50 prize.