De Jesuswas acclaimed as the “First King of Balagtasan,” a poetical joust popular during the early decades of the 20th century. To the public mind, the poet José Corazon de Jesus (1894-1932) is ...

Nelland, 18, stuck her tongue out at the end of her repartee. Her head bobbed as she rapidly delivered her lines. Her hands pumped the air in the space between us to the beat of her repartee. She ...

MANILA, Philippines — Contrary to allegations that Filipinos’ “FlipTop” battles were a rip-off from American rap, even before rap was born, Filipinos are already “rapping” through “Balagtasan” in the ...

The first balagtasan took place at Instituto de Mujeres in Manila in 1924. Balagtasan, named after the nation’s foremost poet Francisco Balagtas, is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done almost ...

‘Ang talagang origin at core (ng rap), nanggaling sa Balagtasan,’ defends rapper Negatibo. ‘’Yon ang ginagamit namin sa pag-rarap, because it’s almost the same thing. As the years go by, nagkakaroon ...