P-Unit battles Yale rappers

When Nate Domingue '06 and Robert Moore '06 heard the Yale student rap group 108 Tongues, the two Princeton hip-hop artists decided they were, according to Moore, "garbage."

"[Their raps] were pretty weak, homemade, just very amaturely done," Domingue said. "We decided to tone their ego down a little."

The two seniors quickly put together a rap titled "109 Vaginas," launching a battle with 108 Tongues that has lasted several months.

Moore and Domingue — known professionally as Prodigal and Grayscale, respectively — formed the duo P-Unit two years ago when they filmed a rap video mocking popular hip-hop artists for an English satire class. The video was widely downloaded, becoming more successful than they had expected.

Though the two later separated professionally, they reunited last spring in the battle against the Yale group.

In "109 Vaginas," Moore said they criticized the rapping skills of all six members of 108 Tongues, but focused on three in particular — Grand Master (Jason Chu), Platano (Gabriel Hernandez) and Citizen Q (Quindlen Krovatin).

Three months later, Grand Master, Platano and group member Enigmatic each recorded a rap retaliating against P-Unit not only professionally, but also personally, according to Moore and Domingue.

"It was like they were like, let's insult these guys personally," Moore said. Domingue countered that "anything they say isn't massively insulting," and Moore agreed that he does not feel very offended.

Though Moore and Domingue criticized the Yalies' long delay in responding, Platano explained they were ready to record a response soon after P-Unit's attack, but were unable to access Yale's free studio until after summer recess.

Domingue and Moore continued the battle in September with yet another rap insulting 108 Tongues. The two Princeton students said that, again, they only focused on the other artists' rapping deficiencies as opposed to personal insults.

MC Platano, who says he is first and foremost a battle rapper, escalated the verbal combat by asserting in an email to various Princeton students that 108 Tongues have dominance over the "autistic individuals" of P-Unit.

Moore said the email gave him the impression that, while the other Yale rappers were just having fun with the battle, Platano was taking it more seriously.

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But Grand Master explained that the whole group was behind the email and that it was not sent out of bitterness, because 108 Tongues was not too upset about P-Unit's attack.

"I just wanted to send out an obnoxious email," Platano said. "Just trying to get [our raps] published, that's all rappers ever try to do."

He added that he received many hostile responses to the email and was even threatened with a trip to Yale's Disciplinary Office.

Yet rappers on both sides seem to be taking the bombardment of insults and attacks lightheartedly, and Platano said the battle seems to be winding down.

Though he warned the Princeton community on a separate occasion that another email might be in the works, he said he plans to post a final response on his website in the next few days.

Overall, all rappers involved said they have enjoyed these past few months of back-and-forth verbal banter.

"My main message is that hip-hop should bring unity," Grand Master said. "And just remember that this is all in fun. I don't think this is serious at all, it's nothing."

Both sides also expressed a desire to one day meet each other.

"I'd actually like to work with them. I feel like I could help them out," Platano said. "I've battled worse."