As we're all aware, pop culture and media references are paramount in battle rap to create layered bars and effective punchlines. Whether it's movie references, music references, sports references, current events, etc., battlers need to have some kind of awareness about what's trending and what people are talking about. Similarly, fans do, too. I had a random thought the other day while I was on a plane: would literature/book references go over well? Or would they go over heads?

I ask the question not to insult people who may not be into reading much, but genuinely because I'm curious as to what others think. For example, Dracula is actually one of my favorite books ever, so any reference to the story or the methods used to weaken/kill Dracula that get used against Tay Roc, I usually catch. I know Rum Nitty made some references to Misery in his battle against Steams, but I'm not 100% sure he was making a reference to the book rather than the movie.

What do you think, though? Do you think book references would go over well? Can you point me to any really good book references in battle rap?