Documenting the Gravestones: A Collaborative History Project

[Sovereign]

History fascinates me. It is a labyrinthine network of questions and answers, where the revelation of an answer only brings more curiosity. The maze can be traveled eternally, and yet its unfortunate wanderer shall never find its end; for some questions and answers are unknowable, washed away by the passage of time.

The history of Internet rap battling is a minor facet of this, but still interesting. The oldest rap website which I have personally seen is GoldMic, and then only through archives and screenshots. I have heard rumors of a predecessor to GoldMic, known as OpenMic, but its nature eludes me.

I think it is fitting that, for posterity, we bring our collective knowledge to this thread and enumerate all rap battling websites that have ever existed... as best as we can.

I am doing this for historical reasons, not to advertise websites. If you do not want to be advertised to, then don't read the list.

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For inclusion on the list, the following criteria must be met:

1. The website must have been a dedicated rap-battling website, or at least had rap battling as a primary concern. Therefore, the following are not allowed: Facebook groups, forums that had a rap battling section of low quality and little activity, and poetry websites.

2. Some proof, or at least evidence, that the website in question actually existed must be given.

3. What websites shall be admitted to the list is at the discretion of Sovereign.

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I've formatted the list as follows (I have no idea how to make tables in vBulletin):

Website Name / Link / Year Founded - Year Ended (if applicable) / Shortbar or Longbar?

I use years instead of specific dates, as dates are difficult or impossible to obtain for some websites, and I prefer consistency. Specific dates might later be added in a footnote.

?s have been placed after values that I am uncertain of, or in place of unknown values. I'm not 100% sure of what Shortbar and Longbar mean, but I think my guess is accurate.

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OpenMic / ? / 1999? - ? / ?
GoldMic / goldmic.com / 2001? - 2013? / Shortbar, later transitioned to Longbar
Netcees / netcees.org / 2001? - Active / Shortbar
LetsBeef / letsbeef.com / 2005 - Active / Longbar
Lyrical Assault (is this one word or two?) - lyricalassault.co.uk / 2003? - Active / Shortbar
RMBVA / rmbva.com / 2013? - Active / Shortbar? Holy shit. This site is immense. I don't know why I've never heard of it before.
SixShot / sixshot.com / 1997 - 2010 Seems to have existed since 1997, but not in its most popular form until later. The site displayed the same "We'll be back soon!" message from 2010 to 2015, but is now just a hosting page. / ?
BrickCity / brickcity.net / ? - "Active" The site is still reachable, but has been laid to rest activity-wise. Might make for an interesting archive-binge. / ?
BodyBags Entertainment (BBE) / 2011? - Active On the dying side, though. / Longbar

Other sites that people have mentioned that need to have their existence verified, be checked out, and added to the list:

Hollafront.com
Itshiphop.com
Rapdogs.com
Nobodysmiling.com
Rapflava.com
Hip Hop Ave (link unknown)
Rapoetry.net
Ave Emcees (link unknown)
Rapbattles.com
Raproyalty.com
Rapverse.com
Urban Prowlers (link unknown)
Aznrap (link unknown)