The room is packed to the walls and several students stand before the crowd, ready to spit venom.

But it’s all chill because it is just another Friday to determine who stakes claim to the Cal High rap game and owns the turf in Mrs. E’s room for the month.

Cal experienced its first Freestyle Friday rap battle on Feb. 14 in English teacher Eghosa Obaiza ’s room at lunch.

It was heated and intense, which is exactly what Obaiza  was hoping for by creating monthly rap battles.

“A lot of my students are super talented and I thought that it would be a great outlet for them to express themselves,” said Obaiza, who is known by her students as Mrs. E.

Although the rap battles were originally intended to be underground, word spread quickly throughout the school and Obaiza’s room quickly became overcrowded.

Performances can range from freestyle rap to original participant-written work.

The first round begins with two or three preliminary battles involving a beat.  The second round involves two battles with no beat, and  the audience chooses whether there is a beat for the final round.

The audience chooses the winner of each battle.  The winner is determined based on the amount of noise that the crowd makes for each of the rappers.

Some notable student MC’s include senior Kamari Colon (Kuca), senior Spencer Carson (Yours Truly),  and senior Dev Banerjee (MC Wrath/Jack The Rapper), the champion from the March and February battles.

Banerjee got involved with rapping in eighth grade, when one of his friends introduced him to rap music. He likes to work with battle and aggressive rap, because it gives him an outlet for his pent up energy.

“Freestyle Friday allows me a great opportunity to hone my skill and meet other rappers,” said Banerjee.

In the March 28 Freestyle Friday, the last battle was down to Banerjee and sophomore Trevor McGeary.  Banjeree emerged as champion after the intense final round.

Junior Blaik Brown was in the audience to support his friend Banerjee.

“I think that [Freestyle Friday] is a good event for people interested in rap or those who want to come and listen,” said Brown.

Added McGeary, “It’s great to see a place for people to come together and build on each other.”

The next Freestyle Friday will be a cypher, which is a non-battle format type of rap performance in which students can display their own talent.

Anyone who wants to attend the next Freestyle Friday on April 25 must pick up tickets from Obaiza and get them signed by a parent.