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From A Fan’s Perspective: The First Bwelta Balentong
The inaugural Bwelta Balentong is a historic FlipTop event. A fan who watched it live will share his experience.
Anonymous Battle Fan
August 26, 2025
15 years later, it remains to be one of my favorite events ever. I’ve been to many concerts, conventions, and sporting events, but nothing compares to watching battle rap live. Today, we’re going back in time to relive the inaugural Bwelta Balentong. It took place on July, 17, 2010, at Freedom Bar in Anonas.
I went here with two friends, and during this time, we were new to the scene. As rockers, our knowledge about hip-hop was very limited. We only discovered battle rap from the movie 8 Mile. We stumbled upon FlipTop when we were playing DOTA at a computer shop in Katipunan and a group of kids were watching the match between Loonie and Zaito. We instantly became fans, and when we found out that the next event would be in Quezon City, we made a vow to attend.
Freedom Bar was already packed when we arrived around 8 PM. What was even more surprising was that we saw a few close acquaintances there. If there’s an underrated achievement of FlipTop, it’s the fact that it bridged the gap between various genres. I’ve known people from the rock scene who weren’t big fans of hip-hop, but after watching battles, they’ve become solid supporters.
As a first-time attendee, of course we truly enjoyed the battles. However, there were three that really stood out for me and my buddies. Dhictah vs Fuego was even more intense live. We were still new to personals, so hearing those harsh lines definitely shocked us. Nevertheless, the battle had no dull moments at all, and their delivery also added to the intensity. We were entertained!
Harlem vs Abra was a showcase of top-tier lyricism and witty jokes. We were captivated by the multisyllabic rhyming clinic from both emcees and their angles and references, looking back at them now, they were ahead of their time. It was a very close matchup, and we wouldn’t be mad if the result were different. The main event of the evening was the legendary bout between Zaito vs Silencer. We were already fans of both artists, so it was truly a great time finally witnessing them perform up close. Their clash thoroughly entertained us from start to finish. Not only did we hear some of the best jokes in the league, but we were also treated to a perfect mixture of written and freestyle, and some innovative metaphors and one-liners. While the technical style always has a special place in our hearts, we’re also very much into comedy. Don’t deny it! You enjoy watching comedic battles too!
Another aspect that made the first Bwelta Balentong special was the musical performances. We were exposed to different subgenres of hip-hop such as horrocore, leftfield, conscious, and hardcore. It served as the beginning of our journey through various albums, songs, and videos that made us fall in love with the artform. It was at this night where we learned that life is much better when you have an open mind in things, especially music.
Since then, going to FlipTop affairs has been our regular activity. If we’re free and there’s an event, you would definitely see us there. Yes, even after 15 years, we’re big fans of FlipTop. We’ve already secured our tickets for Bwelta Balentong 12! We can’t wait. Thank you to the league’s staff for giving me an opportunity to tell my story. For those who haven’t watched live, we promise you will have an incredible time. Go try it out.
