Students from all around the country filled the GreekAmphitheater Monday night for a war of words when Alpha Phi Alphafraternity hosted its first-ever “Lyrical Warfare” freestylebattle.
Chris White, a psychology and sociology senior and programmingchair of Alpha Phi Alpha, said the freestyle battle is part of theannual Alpha Week.
White said Alpha Week is a week of events that allow thefraternity to interact with the campus and allows Universitystudents to learn more about Alpha Phi Alpha.
White said he was excited about this particular event because heloves music.
The battle was open to any college student who wished toparticipate.
Contestants were charged $5 to enter, and the winner received a$100 grand prize.
White said the only rule of the competition was no fighting.
“This is for people to get together and express themselves,while still remaining civil,” he said.
The competition started with 16 contestants in round one, andended with one final winner in round four.
Three judges chose who moved on in the first three rounds, andthe audience’s applause determined the overall winner of thecompetition.
Contestants battled on the amphitheater’s stage by the light ofa few cars’ headlights to the beat of different rap songs playingin the background.
Eight groups of two contestants each participated in round one,receiving two 30-second chances to defeat the other in a battle ofwords.
Crowd favorite Alori “A to tha L-O” Peyton was the only femalein the competition.
Peyton, an English sophomore, was the only participant toreceive the crowd’s full attention when she was “flowing.”
Peyton said she thought if the crowd voted instead of judges,she would have made it to the final round.
“I still had a good time even though I didn’t win,” Peyton said.”Every time I rap I have a good time.”
The remaining contestants had 45 seconds to battle each other inrounds two and three, and one minute in the final round.
A gold-toothed college student from Oakland, Calif., Donsha”Sanchez” Bethea, took home the $100 prize.
Bethea said he knew he was going to win the whole time.
“I thought it was a given,” he said. “Everybody knew.”
Ryan Bell, a kinesiology senior and member of Alpha Phi Alpha,said he was pleased with the turnout.
“It was great to see everybody come out,” Bell said. “It was areal success for being the first one and they should definitelyhave it again.”
Claire Talbot, an elementary education sophomore, said sheenjoyed the competition because it showed how talented studentsare.
“You wouldn’t expect college students to be able to rhyme thatwell,” Talbot said. “And plus, it was really entertaining.”