There was a time when MC battles were a huge part of determining how good of an overall rapper you were. That time has passed, but not completely. Although battles may not be as popular as they once were, Olympia rapper Heretic the Heathen still continues to grow - both as a battle rapper and as a solid music maker. 

Heretic has been circulating in the battle scene since 2002, and as of now is one of the top battlers in the Olympia area - crushing opponents any chance he gets. You may recall Heretic as part of the Grindtime battles that came through Olympia last summer, proving to the touring Grindtime artists that our small hipster community has hip-hop talent. On top of staying busy polishing his battle raps, Heretic is also set to release a new mixtape, Writer's Block, on Aug. 11 at The Royal Lounge. Last week I had the chance to sit down with Heretic to discuss his upcoming release, some of his battle highlights and everything else hip-hop he's got going on. 

"I started freestyling when I was in eighth grade. Shortly after that, Puget, Dynamic and myself started a group called Diatribe and started playing various shows around town," says Heretic. "It was never easy getting your name out at that time unless you were involved in battles. You could always count on people to come to a battle and see you rap, but it wasn't always the case with your actual show. Sure enough, doing the battle thing helped with getting people to actually know who I was."

After years of Heretic and the rest of Diatribe grinding, the hip-hoppers finally started getting solid turnouts at shows around town and had people talking. In 2007 Diatribe released their first group album, Local Celebrities, landing on the front page of the entertainment section of the Olympian with an article that hyped the album and promoted their release party. 

"That was one of the highlights for me so far, but I knew I needed to keep pushing further," says Heretic. 

Although Diatribe has unofficially broken up since then, Heretic still continues to pursue his dream of being a well-known artist, not just in Olympia. "I've seen the Olympia scene come a long way since I first started rapping and it makes me really happy that I'm a part of this movement," he says. "Dope artists like Smoke, Macklemore and Dice have all lived here and have all made moves here and it's dope to know that big things can happen in my hometown."

Heretic says he is now set to really start pushing his solo work, starting with the new mixtape available Aug. 11 at The Royal Lounge. Although he's ready to celebrate his first solo release, Heretic still acknowledges that he's far from done with anything. He's already in the process of working on a full-length album, which he plans to complete by summer 2012.

[The Royal Lounge, Heretic, Puget, Cyrus, Thursday, Aug. 11, 9 p.m., $5 or $10 with mixtape, 311 Capitol Way N., Olympia, 360.705.0760]