The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
by Boy Villasanta
You might not be aware of it, but flip top—the modern if not the musical version of the traditional joust or Balagtasan (derived from the name of Francisco Balagtas, the Filipino poet known for his song “Florante at Laura—is taking the country by storm.
Flip top is a genre, it is the underground spoken literary creation or “bastard” verses especially of young Filipino rappers and hip hopers who defy the common, customary contents of aboveground rap artists as Andrew E., Abra, Gloc-9, Loonie and their cohorts.
If the late Francis Magalona (Francis M) would proudly dig and shout to the whole world “Mga kababayan ko…(My countrymen)…” or Andrew E. would harp and jeer “Humanap ka ng pangit…(Look for the ugly)..” or Gloc-9 would suggest and symbolize “Kayo po na nakaupo, subukan nyo naming tumayo…(You who are seated, please try to stand up)…,” a flip topper would extend to a more naturalistic, gross, uncouth and vulgar exchanges of fabricated barbs, contradictions and bashes like “…ikaw na ipinaglihi ng nanay mo sa bayag (…you who were conceived by your mom from a scrotum)” or “…parang ikaw na kulot ang mukha parang kepyas na korteng pasas (…just like your kinky face as a vagina which looks like raisins).”
Flip tops of two contending camps on a given issue or topic with a mediator (equivalent of a lakandiwa in Balagtasan) earn millions of likes and views on social media like YouTube and other exclusive digital platforms and they are the toasts of the freedom-seeking if not socially defiant youth.
There are mixed reactions on the phenomenon like respected entertainment writer Danny T. Vibas would lash out on the genre. Vibas said the forerunners of flip top are despicable.
Meanwhile, National Artist for Literature nominee Epitacio Tongohan—also known as Doc PenPen (he is a real medical doctor) or Bugtong Takipsilim or the shortened B. Takipsilim—defended flip top.
Watching “The Secret Party,” a gig of rappers who performed with wholesome images or lyrics but still unique and unconventional, held at Black Lameza in Pasig City on Saturday night, Doc PenPen said that “flip top is here to stay with us. It is a form of entertainment and poetry of sorts that defy tradition. It is a way of life, especially of the youth. We don’t have to condemn them. We have to respect and understand where they are coming from.”
According to Bugtong Takipsilim, flip top, rap and hip hop are the evolutions of literary consciousness of men.
“In particular, flip top is in a way, a revolution of the literary tradition or form. It has the elements of literature but the way it delivered something very earthshaking and revolutionary,” explained B. Takipsilim, the so-called Father of Visual Poetry.