Spittin' Writtens

"The best way to get at somebody is by going after their looks, their name, their weight, size, shape, what they are wearing, their mama, or their girlfriend," says 24-year-old Bryan Mason, an organizer of freestyle B-boy battles. He has staged competitive rap shows at a couple of North County nightclubs and downtown at the Static Lounge on Broadway.

"Battle rappers have trouble getting into the music industry," says Mason, who performs as Jedy (pronounced Jedeye). "If you just spit writtens [repeat memorized lyrics], you're just a fake-ass gimmick.... Just the other night we had this guy walk in named AJ. He's, like, 'I'm the baddest rapper. Let me get on up on that mike, let me spit that fire.' "

So Mason called him out. "I said 'Your name is AJ/ You ain't no DJ/ You're so wack I wouldn't even sell your ass on eBay.' He choked after that. He was afraid to come up. He was shell-shocked."

Mason's aggressive nature behind the mike cost him his December 16 show at the Static Lounge.

Venue owner Lupe Matthews says, "The police came here and said [Mason] was disturbing them [the night of his December 8 show]. They said they were out front ticketing somebody and he started calling them names.... They threatened to take away my entertainment license."

Mason replies: "Two cop cars showed up right in front [of the Static Lounge] at about 9:30. They had their lights on. Nobody wants to come in with two cop cars out front. I asked them if there was any way they could go somewhere else -- that I had a show to do. They said, 'I don't give a fuck about your show.'

"I walked in, grabbed the microphone, and started freestyling about how fucked the corrupt cops were. They came in and started threatening an employee, saying they were going to go to the ABC and have their license revoked. The cop said to me, 'Say you're sorry.' I was shaking my head no. I told them to go ahead and go to the ABC, since I knew everything was legal. They took off."

Now Mason says he wants to go to court over the canceled December 16 show.

"We have a contract. I've never taken anyone to court, but I told her I will sue her."

"He doesn't have a contract," Matthews said by phone. When details of a contract Mason had were outlined to her, she said she had to look for it, and then she found the contract. "I guess I have to give him a show," she said.

Mason (http://www.myspace.com/bryanmason) says he's arranging a January 28 battle at the Honey Bee Hive.