We recently caught up with Battle Rapper Pigsty who will be the lone representative for Vancouver at KOTD’s World Domination 4 Event in Toronto later this month. Check what he had to say:
HHV:In your most recent battle with Aspire, Lush referred to you as the ‘Top Spitter of the New Generation’ in Vancouver? Did you view yourself as that guy before he said that?
Pigsty:Well that was certainly the vision I had for myself coming into King of the Dot, I wanted to bring a style of my own into the local battle scene in Vancouver while gaining some exposure worldwide through the footage on youtube. That being said, it is really cool to hear people say now that I’ve made a name for myself here in van. I’ve only been in the league for about a year and a half and people like Lush, Emotionz, La Sparka and Sketch Menace definitely set the wheels in motion for me to even be put in consideration for that designation and I’m very grateful.
HHV:Did Aspire accurately describe how you got your first battle?
Pigsty:Definitely, I had been setting up battles myself with some of my friends who work with El Cheapo and filming them. I had a battle vs Bearodactyl (who now battles in KOTD) up on youtube and my friend had seen Aspire performing at the Anza Club on Broadway. He got his info and sent him the battle, which got forwarded to Emotionz and we got in touch and that got me my first battle against Apos.
HHV:What was the first rap battle you ever recall watching?
Pigsty:Party Arty (RIP) vs Murda Mook was the first battle I remember watching. I was pretty enthralled but I didn’t really know much about other battles or how to access more because I lived in a really remote community at that time. I started rapping and recording over tracks when I moved to North Vancouver and my interest in battling peaked when I watched Illmaculate and Thesaurus on Grindtime. That battle opened me up to the nature of the scene and a lot of other battles, and thats when I started getting interested in competing myself.
HHV:You are the only person from Vancouver to have a battle at World Domination 4. Do you feel any added pressure because of that?
Pigsty:Anytime you go out of town and perform you want to make your city look good. I’m more excited than pressured, I really want to demonstrate what Vancouver has to offer and open the door for the wealth of talent we have in the city. And some tens of thousands of views all for myself while im at it, not bad.
HHV:You rep OTBVA. What is your relationship with them and does anyone from KOTD give you a hard time for that since they are known for leaking their PPV battles?
Pigsty:OTBVA is a forum I used when I was a fan of battling cause I got banned from rapmusic. They’ve supported me since I got into the sport so I show them love, they do it for the culture. King of the Dot has never had a problem with it, at least none of which has been expressed to me. I dont have anything to do with the bootlegs besides watching and enjoying them from time to time haha. I see them as more of a sign of the heightened interest in battling than anything. if nobody cared about the battles, nobody would care to release them in that fashion. Some might feel different, but I want fans to have what they want so I’m not opposed to the site on that issue at all.
HHV:There have been a lot of changes in the Vancouver division over the last year. What are your thoughts on the current state of the division?
Pigsty:
HHV:You also have musical aspirations. Are there any other Vancouver artists you’re feelin that you would like to collaborate with?
Pigsty:Im really down with the local music lately. Northwest Division have been killing it as of late, caught a couple of their performances and copped the album and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Merkules is very dope and somebody I recently started following after meeting him at events. Right now I’m really focused on the battles, so by the time I approach this music thing properly again I can have a solid fanbase to put something out to. When that time does roll around, best believe I will work with the local talent.
HHV:Who will walk away with the chain at WD4?
i got a sabermetrics-esque rap battle mathematical algorithm that says Pat Stay.