Recap: Surprise battle on, of all places, the RBE stage between West-coast vet Illmaculate and JC lives up to the hype with plenty of dope (Illmac: “This is terminal cancer, he knew he was dead when I hit the terminal, panicked and tried to jet soon as he heard that I landed, I let him carry on, that’s personal baggage, then take flight, that’s plane to see…”) schemes, metaphorical wizardry, personals galore, a load of small guy shit-talk, hitting gun bars and a plethora of witty (“Jay [J-eh] ain’t what he sounds like…fuck it am I speaking Spanish?!”) anecdotes. The feeling here is a 1st round draw with both battlers dispensing equal heat along with equal (JC: “This is wht greatness is, you clown’s are just plagiarists, trying to sneak a scheme past Stephen King, oh wow…well I created It!”) haymakers with steady aggression, nice performance bars and staid crowd control. And while Illmac came hard with more fiery wordplay in a (“They got me preying on Baby Jesus…Talladega Nights!”) personals-driven 2nd round, the vet rapper hurt himself a bit with dated themes and an elongated, 7-minute 2nd round that allowed for equally adept (“We need you upright, because this one night, it ain’t about increasing the peace, shit, you’ll get beat with the piece like you Pun wife!”) JC to edge the round with less dry spots amongst more of those ill (“You about as notable as a wave….in Kevin Durant hair!”; “Shit, I’ll take any shot…I’m ambitious!”) punchlines/personals the Michigan rapper is noted for. But displaying veteran resiliency, Illmac bounced back in the 3rd, what with a more versatile and well-crafted round featuring a load of lofty (“Right hook, jaw gets damaged, mouth sticking out the side like when you talking with a Boston accent!”) punches and a handful of haymakers that beat back a solid, but not spectacular turn from JC. All in all, a terrific battle that deserves to be debated.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: JC – “If you looking for a nigga to embarrass you, you couldn’t have picked a better dude, colossal impact, even at eye-level, I leveled you!”
