Battle rap in the context of "Eminem"

Rapping (also dropping, rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and [commonly] street vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The components of rap include "content" (what is being said, e.g., lyrics), "flow" (rhythm, rhyme), and "delivery" (cadence, tone). Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed off-time to musical accompaniment. It also differs from singing, which varies in pitch and does not always include words. Because they do not rely on pitch inflection, some rap artists may play with timbre or other vocal qualities. Rap is a primary ingredient of hip-hop music, and so commonly associated with the genre that it is sometimes called "rap music".

Precursors to modern rap music include the West African griot tradition, certain vocal styles of blues and jazz, an African-American insult game called playing the dozens (see Battle rap and Diss), and 1960s African-American poetry. Stemming from the hip-hop cultural movement, rap music originated in the Bronx, New York City, in the early 1970s and became part of popular music later that decade. Rapping developed from the announcements made over the microphone at parties by DJs and MCs, evolving into more complex lyrical performances.

Jahmek Levi Selassie Power (born 30 June 1982), better known by his stage name Jammer, is a British grime MC, songwriter and record producer, known for being a member of Boy Better Know and a former member of N.A.S.T.Y Crew. Jammer also runs Lord of the Mics, a grime clash series released on DVD and well known in grime.

Lord of the Mics (also known as LOTM) is a series of recorded grime clashes, headed by Jammer and Chad 'Ratty' Stennett. Each edition of LOTM features grime MCs participating in recorded clashes, in which they 'battle' each other over grime instrumentals. Various notable grime MCs have participated in Lord of the Mics, such as Skepta, Wiley, Kano, and P Money. LOTM was originally launched in 2004. The first clash to be filmed for LOTM, Wiley versus Kano, was filmed in Jammer's basement. The series was originally only published on DVD. LOTM was the first platform that released filmed grime clashes.

Clashing is considered to be an important aspect of grime music due to the influence of Jamaican sound clashing. Jammer also credited Smack DVD, an American hip-hop series, as an influence, since it made Jammer realise there was no way for the public to physically see grime MCs.