Music
USA’s Reverse Is Ready for Battle at Red Bull Batalla's International Final
The 2021 USA Champion shares his excitement and technique as he gears up to compete against 15 international finalists.
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Less than a month away from the Red Bull Batalla International Final, Reverse taps in from his home in West Palm Beach, Florida—fresh off a trip to Miami where he was working on music—to give us a vibe check ahead of the long-awaited competition in Chile on December 11.
“I feel happy, good, calm and ready to go, to be honest,” he says.
For those who don’t know, Reverse is the 19-year-old Cuban MC who was crowned U.S. champion of Red Bull Batalla 2021. The young rapper exhibited his sharp freestyle abilities in September at the National Final and is eager to represent the United States at the renowned international battle that’s going 15 years strong.
When we check in, Reverse is as elated as he was minutes after his win in Los Angeles, newly confirming his presence on the international stage after a recent health scare related to a throat issue he’s had since he was young . To prepare for battle, Reverse is focusing on keeping his mental and physical health in check, spending time with those closest to him and listening to the music that fuels and inspires him. Rather than studying his opponents and digging through the archive to get inspired by the past, Reverse opts for true spontaneity.
With a quick, lucid mind and that same refreshing energy he exhibited in September, Reverse tells us about the moment everyone is talking about from his final winning round, what he believes is most important in prepping for the big night, and more.
Reverse performs during Red Bull 60 Second Freestyle in Miami, FL
© Daniel Zuliani / Red Bull Content Pool
ECLEEN LUZMILA CARABALLO: We met briefly after the event in Los Angeles. But at that point, when you won the finals, you were a little euphoric, but at the same time kind of in shock. What have the last few weeks been like for you and processing the win?
REVERSE: Well, I've had more time to take it in and believe it, so to speak. Because at the end of the day it's something that a lot of people try, and when it finally happened I didn't quite get the hang of it. But I feel happy, calm and eager to keep going, to be honest. Especially because I had a problem with my health and my participation was a bit uncertain, but everything seems to show that I will be fine, so I am happy more than anything else.
ELC: You were one of the youngest candidates in the U.S. competition and now you're going to the big leagues with only two years in the official freestyle arena. Tell me how it feels and how are you preparing these last few weeks before Chile?
REVERSE: Well, the main thing is [that] I'm trying to make my health a priority, and the other thing is that I'm already starting to try to get in shape both physically and mentally. I'm starting to go to the gym to practice and train more, rap and hang out with people that I hang out with every time I go to an important competition and more than anything else, I'm trying to get myself in shape for the competition and try to be as ready as possible for December 11.
ELC: That's great, and tell me how important would you say the mental aspect is that you mentioned?
REVERSE: The most important of all for me in a freestyle competition, the most important of all. To me in freestyle you are trying to convince people that you’ve already won. And if you don't have a mentality that convinces, that is persuasive, that makes the listener believe everything you say, it doesn't do any good if you rap well - to me that's the most important thing.
ELC: What is that process like? Before, but also on the day of. How do you prepare? Do you have a playlist? Do you have a meditation ritual or something? How do you get yourself in the right state of mind?
REVERSE: I don't really have a routine I follow - I just rap. I mean, I feel that the more you rap, the more you polish your freestyle and I don't try to make it like a routine, you know? Or like a training method, because I like the freestyle to come out natural. I want it to be as organic as possible. And I feel that the more organic and pure I can make the freestyle, the better it's going to be. And that's why I don't have a plan, I just try to rap as much as possible.
Reverse poses for a photo for Red Bull Batalla National Finals in LA
© Aldo Chacon / Red Bull Content Pool
ELC: And now that you mention that, I also wanted to touch on that topic of freestyle obviously being free and invented at the moment, but tell me a little bit about your training process and how it's changed from 2018 when you were brought to a local cypher in Florida up until now.
REVERSE: Well, in 2018 I could tell you that my training process was much more schematic than it is now. When I started freestyling, at first I thought that if I started rapping with a lot of words and all that, I was going to get good really fast, when in reality it's not necessarily like that. Nowadays I think it's a lot more laid back, but at the same time a lot less forced the way I prepare for battles. You know, I kind of don't let it turn into a tedious thing for me either, I kind of try to enjoy it a lot more than I did before.
ELC: And why do you think that has changed; why that shift?
REVERSE: I think that from the experience, knowing that you have to take it tediously and put pressure on yourself and to get on a routine and saying 'if I don't do so many words with so many minutes a day I'm not going to rap well’ doesn't help you at all. And much less in a discipline where what is most rewarded is the spontaneity of what you are doing. And it kind of gives you the experience of knowing that you take it in a different way and I think it's more effective.
ELC: Yes, I agree. And now that you talked about spontaneity, I remember the moment in Los Angeles, when you decided to have the audience give you objects for the final part. Tell me a little bit about that moment; for me, it was the best moment of the night. But tell me what yours was and what was on your mind that moment.
REVERSE: That was funny because I've been accused and praised for that moment. I've been told all kinds of things. I've been told it's right, I've been told it's wrong, I'm not following the rules. But literally that moment was an accident. I mean, a real accident. Serko Fu tells me that I have to rap with the objects in the box, but I think it's another four-by-four format. And I open my box because I think that when it's my turn I'm going to get to see them, but it turns out I wasn’t supposed to see them until the moment it was my turn to rap. I screwed up here because it gave me time to think for a minute while the other competitors didn’t have that. So, it was more for my sole honor to say 'if I win this final it won't be because I saw the objects beforehand,' you know? So in order not to fail myself, I said 'you know what, I saw the objects by accident, people; pass objects from the audience, because I want to improvise and I'm not going to win like that' and that's what I did.
ELC: And do you regret it? I didn't know you had that kind of feedback, but do you personally regret that moment, or are you proud of it?
REVERSE: No, I'm proud of it because I feel that anyone else would have taken advantage of the situation and taken advantage of seeing the objects ahead of time. I can also tell you that most people give me good feedback about that moment. They tell me that it was super cool, super awesome, that it was what they liked the most in the competition. But there is a certain niche of people who have told me that I went against the rules. But most of them are people who didn't want to see me win from the beginning, so I don't pay much attention to them either.
Reverse performs during Red Bull 60 Second Freestyle in Miami
© Daniel Zuliani / Red Bull Content Pool
ELC: Good perspective. And tell me who are some of your inspirations, if you have any, in the Red Bull Battle story?
REVERSE: When it comes to dealing with who I like the most, I don’t care so much about if they’re a champion or not, but if I had to give you an inspiration that I like a lot on a philosophical level, it’s BNET. I like the way he mentally approaches freestyle. BNET is a lot like me, he is the 'I come to rap, and I know what I'm about.... I'm not going to kill myself and I'm not going to choke like 'oh, what if they tell me this? What if that...' I just come to do my thing and whoever likes it, fine, whoever doesn't like it, fine. Let it flow.' I think mentally he's the Red Bull champion that I relate to the most.
ELC: And in terms of the musical aspect, who are some of the rappers that inspire you?
REVERSE: I started listening to rap when I was a kid in Cuba. So, clearly Aldo will always be an inspiration for me. He is the most recognized Cuban rapper in history for what he meant to our country at that time. If we talk about freestyle and its technical aspects, there is a rapper from whom I draw a lot of inspiration when it comes to adapting to the freestyle instrumentals, and even when it comes to putting together some phrases. His name is YSY A, he's from Argentina. He's not that well known, but I get a lot of inspiration from his music and how to face competitions like he does.
ELC: For those who don't know, tell us a little bit about your history in Red Bull Batalla; how have you grown in these last two years, how did you get to this point?
REVERSE: My experience at Red Bull was pretty crazy because there were a lot of things I didn't expect. I don't watch many freestyle battles in general, but I always clearly knew that Red Bull was the World Cup. Red Bull is the most important in the world. So I started freestyling with no intention of getting anywhere with it. It was just for fun. But when I started to see that I was actually good at it, I said 'well, I would like to get to Red Bull Batalla.' I imagined that it was going to take me five years to qualify for Red Bull. Before even finishing a full year doing freestyle, I qualified for Red Bull 2020 and it was a whole experience for me that did not make much sense. I was very shocked to have qualified and the experience was wonderful. The truth is that I think I learned a lot about how a professional environment works when I entered.
ELC: Nice. In Los Angeles, for the U.S. National Final, you interacted with some OGs, I imagine. Before the event, and after, and I imagine you were able to chat with them. What has been one piece of advice, either from them or another special person in your life, that you've received that you keep in your back pocket?
REVERSE: Okay, I'm going to give you two examples: I'm going to give you the example of a life lesson that I think was very helpful to me, and then advice from a Red Bull competitor that has helped me a lot. I have a mindset that was forged for me by my mom and dad. We come from Cuba, where the situation was not very good—but no matter how complicated things are, you always have to be the best version of yourself and I learned that a lot from my dad. He had a very difficult life and he got my whole family forward, that's why we are in the United States. So, no matter how difficult it was to win Red Bull, I always had faith that I could do it, you know? I always believed in myself thanks to that lesson I learned from my dad. And one piece of advice that a competitor gave me—this is just a funny anecdote—When I came into Red Bull, I had never rapped with a microphone because I was literally just starting to freestyle, so I didn't know how to hold the microphone properly and it just sounded bad because I would hold it too far away...well, it was Yartzi himself who taught me to hold the microphone before I went out to compete in the controversial battle of 2020.... He taught me how to use the microphone, literally.
Reverse poses for a portrait at the Red Bull Batalla National Finals in LA
© Aldo Chacon / Red Bull Content Pool
ELC: That day in Los Angeles, the moment Yartzi didn't win his round was when you thought 'oops, I have a chance to win,' and I know you sat next to each other that day. Do you remember anything that you said to each other at that time that was difficult for him and kind of successful for you? I can imagine a little bit of tension, right?
REVERSE: I'm competitive at heart, but I like good freestyle, I like people who rap well and I think Yartzi raps incredibly. In fact, I don't think Yartzi's battle was won by Betho so clearly. Everyone has their own opinions. And when Yartzi arrived, I told him, 'shit, you know, I thought they were going to give you the win before the first round, but don't get discouraged, bro. Everyone knows what you're capable of anyway.' I kind of tried to encourage him, because honestly, I really wanted to face Yartzi in the end because I think it would have made the whole thing more epic. I tried to do that so he wouldn’t kind of fall apart either. Yartzi has a stronger mind than a shark. The truth is, I'm not glad he lost. And I tell you that sincerely.
ELC: Well, lastly, tell me, is this going to be your first time in Chile?
REVERSE: Yes.
ELC: Obviously you're going for work, for this event, but what are you looking forward to regarding Chile?
REVERSE: Well, one of the people who travels with me the most, Milan, is with me everywhere I go. He is a close friend of mine, he is one of the people who has supported me the most. He is Chilean. One of the things I would like to do is for him to go with me to the Final and visit, because I know that Chile is a very beautiful country and has a very, very extensive culture, especially in terms of Hip-Hop. I’d also love to compete in the DEM Battle there which is a very famous rap competition held in a park called Parque Bustamante.
ELC: We wish you all the best in Chile. Is there anything else you would like to add, or you would like to say that I haven't mentioned?
REVERSE: Nothing else except that we are going to see if we can get the world to notice us a little more this year and pay more attention to the Florida scene here at the International Final. I am going to make my best effort to make it happen.
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