Recap: In this 3-rounder from Any Body Can Die Battle League, an altogether solid and gritty punch game from Hustle gets upended by the stinging punchlines, piercing name fips, fiery wordplay, caustic mayhem and rich braggadocious darts from Ave. The more haymaker-lit and consistently hard-hitting Mr. Straight Like That handily taking all 3 rounds for a Gentleman’s 30.
Verdict: Ave (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ave – “See home, he’ll probably slide with his crew when the pressure on, but he’ll buckle outside of the room like a leprechaun!”
Recap: From The Ilustration, battling almost every other day it seems like nowadays, a prolific Chef Trez stil manages to put forth a top-notch effort. Once again using some fiery gun bars, hard-hitting/witty personasl and a bunch of gritty punchlines to take the first two rounds for the win here against a less haymaker-lit overall, but pretty solid (his bet round in the 3rd got hin the edge there), fkexing at times with both the personals and punches EA Zay.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Ever see an angry bitch tweet?, it’s a sub-machine!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Let’s InstiGate TV “Capital Murder” card, a gritty but elongated with the set-ups and mostly mediocre-punching Celly Cell gets handily beat back by the seismic gun bars, witty freestyles, stinging punchlines and the unabashedly nilihistic darts from JC.
Verdict: JC (W) 1-0
Favorite line: JC – “I let clips go, big chrome, we consider you dead weight, you could run till your leg break…like a Flintstone!”
Recap: Damn, thought that the often punch-lit Quis had a chance there. But once showing that there’s levels to this, Chef Trez’s (on one day’s notice nonetheless) steady barrage of glistening gun bars, scorching set-up/punchlines, stinging wordplay, bullish darts and flippant personals/name flips prove to be too much in this competitive 1-rounder from No Entourage.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I told my hitman it was a 5-10 nigga with a nerd posture, but he gonna put you 6 feet by 7, 6 2 like the Spurs roster!”
Recap: If 40 B.A.R.R.S. could ever get out of her own way with the unforced errors and habitual choking, she would so be on top. That’s just a testament to how dope 40 is with the pen she’s on her A-game. And she’d need her best material here, against a versatile and aggressive Viixen The Assassin battling in front of her hometown Milwaukee fans for 3 rounds inside the cage at Black Ice Cartel. A competitive donnybrook from beginning to end, despite a crazy, fiery, punch-lit and bullish round 1 from Viixen, a slightly more condensed 40 would edge the opening round with a gang of salacious personals, some stellar lyricism, jaunty storytelling and killer similes. In round 2 Viixen would return the favor and tie things with more of the aforemntioned darts in addition to some dope name flips and even more fiery gun bars that altogether combiend to beat back a pretty solid, but not as substantive turn by 40. The deciding 3rd round however would see 40 get back on her grind with a bunch of fervent lyrical haymakers, righteous punchlines and feelgood wordplay/personals to earn the win over an opponent who while still lit with passion, couldn’t quite match her energy when it came to a steady punch game.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 2-1
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “Nigga, I lost it, I watched it but then I tried to replay the clips, but it was nothing but a white bitch with a black pussy…Sabrina a Teenage Witch!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Full Effect Battle League, Chef Trez uses a gang of hard braggadocious raps, some mean 4-bar set-up/punchlines, a couple of brash freestyles and stinging gun bars to beat back a street-themed, aggressive and pretty solid, but not nearly as steadily potent Vino Collins.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “But I had all kind of clientele, I’m a real hustler, I even served the Asian’s dog food, I’m a myth buster!”
Recap: From Bags and Bodies, nice to see T-Rex try out some rebuttals. Even nicer and distinctive was (at Rex’s suggestion) was Rex and opponent Swamp deciding to only use drug bars in round 2. But damn if Swamp (who really did overdo it with the cap slams on the floor) didn’t get a bit lucky here as after clearly taking round 1 with a consistently gritty, lyrical, braggart and gun bar/haymaker-lit opener, despite a wide array of real street shit/trap talk, delivered what was an elongated round that was often hit and miss. Still however, thanks in part to Rex coming with a surprisingly half-ass and mostly subpar turn of his own, Swamp would edge round 2 for the win. And while Rex would finally up in the 3rd with his most punch-heavy round, an equally efficient Swamp would do enough to make the final round debatable.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swamp – “I really hope that your pistol stay with you nigga, I’ll really connect the Dots and have all of ’em lay with you nigga, or I’ll get this guy sent up, Kawhi Leonard, I get paid big bucks not to play with you nigga’s!”
Recap: From Any Body Can Die Battle League, a rare bodybag here as a lyrically potent, versatile and for all 3 rounds punch-lit Swamp mixes up a gang of salacious/mocking personals, sturdy punchlines, disrespectful burners, solid wordplay, lofty gun lines and gritty, braggadocious darts to beat back a mostly unprepared 40 B.A.R.R.S. who choked away both of her opening rounds before saving some face with a shortened 3rd.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “Got me away from my family on Thanksgiving, you gonna at least gobble this dick!”
Recap: “It gets gayer!” Nu Jerzey Twork wasn’t lying about that. As in this NOME 14 battle from URL against J2, a relentless barrage of witty gay puns/personals do most of the damage for 3 rounds, while a gang of stinging/graphic gun bars and rambunctious punchlines do the rest on his way to a 30 over an opponent who while able to deliver some very hard-hitting punches/gun lines here and there, still can’t perform at a consistent enough level to compete against the likes of top tiers like Twork.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “What would your grandmother say if she seen you right now?, she be like ‘Baby, you know you ain’t supposed to be with them naked men, you know the Lord the only man you supposed to be receiving and taking in!”
Recap: 10 years after first battling in a URL/UFF tournament round that Chess handily won, Prep gets his chance at some payback during this rematch. And in this 1-rounder from GOTG the Maryland vet proved that he came to win, using a boatlaod of righteous/witty personals, heavily-armed gun bars, performance-heavy darts and gritty set-up/punches. Good thing for Chess that he showed up too. In light of maneuvering around several water breaks just in case you know what happens, the Young Gawd’s combination of fiery schemes, flexing name flips, sturdy (“‘Cuz my patience like your choice of skinny jeans, they wearing thin!”) punchlines and stinging, mayhem-lit darts are formidable enough to earn him a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Prep – “Like arm wrestling, I ain’t wanna bring the grip down, but you forced my hand!”
Recap: Chef Trez might disagree, but members of the crowd screaming ‘1-1’ after two rounds of this dope KOTD, 3-round matchup between Trez and Xcel, had it correct. As the slightly more efficient and haymaker-lit Trez edged round 1, before (despite some solid freestyles/rebuttals that took place during a jaunty turn from the Chef) the ever wordplay/punch and name flip-heavy Xcel returned the favor in round 2 to split things up going into the 3rd. And that’s where Trez really turned it up, got versatile and had a classic, utilizing some more salacious personals/gun bars, fierce off-the-dome heat, fire set-up/punchlines and graphic/mayhem-lit darts/name flips to take the 3rd for the win in light of another competitive and gritty turn by his opponent.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “But you still act like a bitch do, the boy hating, act wrong the toy blazing, I’m for sure waving, the handle wood, but the slide chrome, it got a nickleback, peep the formation!”
Recap: SMH, hard to believe that after all this time battling, Bad Newz still remains clueless on how to end his round on a hot bar. However, give him credit for putting on in front of his hometown, NC crowd. As he does here, keeping all the onlookers amped with a dope performance in this fiery 1-rounder from URL. But therein lies the problem with Newz: can his bars consistently match his energy? As witnessed here, not so much. As despite a hearty effort littered with plenty of hometown linguistics, fierce crowd control, rugged gun bars, gangster talk and some gritty (that “relax” bar was fire) punches/name flips that combined for a pretty solid showing, one too many mediocre punches from Newz and an opponent in Woosaah who delivered steady, unadulterated heat via a boatload of fire punchlines, potent name flips, bullish street darts and stinging wordplay, gives the newbie the win.
Verdict: Woosaah (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Woosaah – “Man listen, you ain’t no gangsta, I got him nervous to answer, we all know you dead pussy like cervical cancer!”
Recap: Haven’t seen much of Cortez on the battle scene lately, but here in this 1-rounder from the Gates, the Brooklyn, NY, vet uses a bunch of solid name flips, some gritty punchlines and flexing street aesthetics to score enough haymakers and handily take this bout from a witty at ttimes, but mostly subpar with the punches Chuck Book.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “Sucker, stupid muthafucka, yellow tape and homicide, you in the gutter, and I know you dead, the white sheets gonna help me judge Book by its cover!”
Recap: With all the “controversy” surrounding this battle, let’s get two things out of the way. First, outside of round 1 where Tay Roc rapped a couple of minutes or so longer than him, Reed Dollaz making such a huge stink about Roc not sticking to the supposed time limits, doesn’t hold much water. Second, as been stated numerous times on this platform, we’re about quality over quantity here. And essentially that means that just because your opponent raps longer than you, doesn’t quite mean that they rapped better than you. Lastly, Reed rolling his eyes and/or shaking his head at Roc using so many name flips against him is funny when you realize that the Philly legend used quite a bit of name flips against Roc too. That being said, while the gritty, Rambo-themed stylings of Dollaz (who also got off to a stellar, personal-lit start to his 3rd round before running into a couple of slip-ups) made for a competitive round 1 and 2 of this Battle Academy 3-rounder, the Gun Bar King’s more efficient and consistent usage of piercing name flips, potent gun lines, steely wordplay/metaphors, righteous darts and hard-hitting punchlines throughout his 3 rounds, even while a little elongated, still earned him the 30.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “I want him for sure dead, I don’t need no assumptions, I don’t want his heart beating it ain’t a reason to function, I really don’t want him breathing or nothing, I want his casket, him inside a box like Reed [read] the instructions!”
Recap: From Hitman Holla’s Bags and Bodies league, taking advantage of a Bigg K not only battling the noisy crowd, but also equipped with a shitload of (for him, anyway) of basic raps, an emboldened Nu Jerzey Twork goes nuclear with a gang of rambunctious/hard-hitting punchlines, witty/piercing personals, stinging gun lines, fiery schemes, rich trap/street talk and searing performance bars for all 3 rounds (only the 3rd round was somewhat competitive) to handily earn a haymaker-lit 30 before leaving the venue and perhaps finding that guy in the glasses from the crowd who heckled him earlier.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “I seen my man’s take a head shot, I had to get his brain matter off me, my mama told me words will never hurt me but then I had to get his name tatted on me!”
Recap: A slow start and an early slip-up in his 2nd round, but outside of that, this 3-rounder from The Battle Academy is all T-Top. The Bear utilizing a boatload of dope name flips, hardbody punches, boastful barbs and piercing personals/trap talk to take all 3 rounds and beat back a gritty, but mostly so-so Topfloor Lut.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T-Top – “But I like dawg so I don’t really wanna call it beef, we just separating North from the South like Market Street!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, Harlem Vet Clarlie Clips is helped by some solid freestyles towards the end of his round that coupled with a gang of fiery schemes, spicy wordplay/personals and wicked/witty punches kept him competitive. That performance by Clips allows him to stave off opponent Dre Dennis’ boatload of mayhem-lit gun bars, eerie (“See the pussy in his eyes when I grip the pistol, I’ll put the fear of God on you like Just Essentials!”) set-up/punchlines and flippant name flips/personals (the latter of which took advantage of themes concerning Clips taht we’ve long heard and seen) and earn a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “You’re not a fucking star, we don’t listen to your bar, you lost all this fucking weight so you could sit inside a car!”
Recap: From iBattleTV/NLBL, while Chilla Jones’ opponent Kash Kidd clearly did his research on the Kingpen, utilizing Chilla’s battle rap resume throughout his raps with steady aplomb. The earnest and hitting at times, but mostly pedestrian iBattle battler would not only fall victim to his own mediocrity, but in this mostly one-sided 1-rounder, Chilla’s fierce tenacity when it came to filthy gun bars, stinging schemes, lofty name flips and righteous punches.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “No good remarks or compliments I’m toe-tagging, I touch down and make a run, I’m Bo Jackson!”
Recap: From The Battle Academy, in between dapping up his opponent Bill Collector a gazillion times for a variety of unknown reasons, JC utilizes a hard-hitting barrage of steely wordplay, fire/mayhem-lit set-up/punchlines, flexing gun bars, piercing metaphors and even a few solid personals to handily take all 3 rounds and the win from a BC, who while often potent with the wit and wily personals, otherwise was way too mired in subpar punches and meandering/mediocre schemes to stand a chance.
Verdict: JC (W) 3-0
Favorite line: JC – “This the same nigga who brought a fake gun to a fake beef?, oh he wilding, you get one take, you come around us and pump fake?, we fouling!”
Recap: From KOTD, Yoshi G. versus Cheyraq turns out to be an altogether fierce, competitive and dope 3-rounder that certainly kept the crowd buzzed throughout. Yoshi with her salacious and unapologetic ‘thot bars’, solid wordplay, gritty punchlines and hitting personals kept it ‘G’ for all 3 rounds. While the underrated Cheyraq flexed her skills with a bunch of hardbody punches, wicked/witty personals and hitting trap talk. And while Yoshi came out with a banging round 1, the more haymaker-lit Cheyraq would take the opener. The latter two rounds, however, would be a different story. As while Cheyraq kept it close with her fiery punches, the Massachusetts battler would succumb to not only some challanges with her flow, but also an opponent who stayed more consistently-lit in both rounds 2 and 3 to come back and earn the win.
Verdict: Yoshi G (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Yoshi G – “I’m really lit, he gonna pull up gimme some…dick…head on some Philly shit!”
Recap: She raps so well. Confidently dishing a gang of raucous punchlines, gritty gun bars, clever name flips, righteous darts and astute character assassination hits, outside of a close round 1 that she still managed to win via a handful more haymakers, First Lady Flamez dominates in both of the latter rounds of this Black Elite Battle League 3-rounder for the win over a competitive at first, but mostly pedestrian afterwards LL Coogi.
Verdict: First Lady Flamez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: First Lady Flamez – “I can’t stand this nigga, that’s the truest shit, so I slide through like a spin cycle and fuck up Coogi fit!”
Recap: Plenty of gritty punches, fiery schemes and well-induced mayhem in this competitive 1-rounder from GOTG between O-Red and Cincinnati, OH, up-n-comer Marqo Mazii. But a downward turn on bar effiency by Mazii (who also came with some solid personals) towards the end of his round and a slightly more haymaker-lit Red also scoring with an abundance of fire gun bars, boastful barbs and violent-themed wordplay, earns the Jersey vet the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “Do you actually believe what you rapping could have O ducking?, exactly my nigga you have no substance, your bars be lightly handcrafted…like shadow-puppets!”
Recap: From ThirtyTwo Barz, now that might be a first: a battler singing to begin his round. Nonetheless, despite the aforementioned harmonies, in this competitive 1-rounder, BoogieFromDa4 manages to deliver a pretty solid turn laced with a bunch of piercing gun bars and other mayhem-lit punches. However, it’s a slightly more versatile and steadily explosive Swamp, who with an intense round of witty personals, wicked punchlines and steely street bars, earns the win.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “I didn’t come here to dance Boogie, but I will cut a rug!”
Recap: From KOTD, in what was a gritty, aggresssive at times and competitive punch-fest, with the help of some fly name flips/schemes, a couple of solid rebuttals, piercing personals/gun bars and a festive parlay when it came to storytelling, an also steadier-hitting (esp. in round 2) Danny Myers does enough to take the first two rounds of this 3-rounder for the win before opponent Elijah Strait got back on his grind, after a mediocre 2nd, to out-punch Danny in the 3rd and avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I smoek rappers, the Glock’s gonna touch ya, I got shots for this fucker, we hid bodies where nigga’s be parking at, it’s lot to discover!”
Recap: From KOTD, I’m guessing that after forgetting most of his bars in round two and freestyling the rest of his way through, in what turned out to be a killer final round, Marv Won might have combined lines from his second round into his 3rd. But hey, I could be wrong. Either way, after dazzling with a gang of hard street lines, potent battle vet darts and fiery braggart raps to handily take round 1 from a suprisingly long-winded and pretty basic Geechi Gotti, the Detroit vet gets obligerated in round 2 thanks in part to the aforementioned freestyling, but mostly due to a Gotti who came back and got on one with a boatload of stinging punches and hardbody personals that excellently challanged his opponent’s “legend” status. Tied going into the 3rd, the final round would be a mostly one-sided affair what with Gotti reverting back to mostly pedestrian bars when he wasn’t just getting by with soldi off-the-dome heat while witnessing Marv Won get back on track with a blistering round packed with a bunch of fire punches, witty barbs and righteous zingers that earned him the win.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “Marcus, in all your rounds you made nigga’s dissappear, that’s a parlor trick, plus there’s rumors going around that you ain’t Cripping right ‘cuz…and I started it!”
Recap: In a gritty 3-rounder brought to you by The Battle Academy and littered with plenty of flashy gun bars, braggadocious darts, witty barbs/personals and mayhem-lit punches by both battlers, with the addition of some gritty trap talk and solid name flips, a more efficient overall and less filler-prone Shotgun Suge manages to edge all 3 rounds and get the win over Shankk Prezzy.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “I do real estate deals in Philly, I’ll turn ya mama’s crib into a trap house!”
Recap: A bunch of sturdy 4-bar set-up’punchlines, rich similes and fly, assorted name flips allowed Real Sikh to edge round 1 of this URL “Bars & Politics” against Rum Nitty. And then it went all downhill from there. As while Sikh continued to deliver a solid punch game throughout, way too much filler and choice at righteous darts that weren’t always on the up-n-up kept the Jersey battler from staying close to a Nitty on his A-game when it came to steely gun bars, stinging punches and potent name flips/personals in the latter two rounds, which in turn gave the more efficient Rum the 2nd and 3rd rounds for the win.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “You better get down fast, you ain’t gotta wait for ya boy, I’m straight to the point like an inbound pass!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Next Level Battle League, Swamp uses a bunch of flexing gun bars, some fiery punchlines and a plethora of mocking/witty personals to handily beat a solid and gritty, but not nearly as substantive effort from fellow South Carolina battler Cino Savvy.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “I refuse to OD off the perks of battle rap for all of my Rich homies, but I will die on this stage doing what I love like Fatman Scoop!”
Recap: Even with a rarely seen/slip-up prone 2nd round that he chalked up to having written his rounds that same morning, Rum Nitty finesses with enough sturdy gun bars, stifling wordplay/name flips and piercing punchlines to take the 1st and 3rd rounds and get the win here over an earnest and gritty, but mostly pedestrian Quis in this 3-rounder from Rooftop Newz TV.
Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Fans asking if I’m gonna come in here and check Mark, I said you got it right!”
Recap: From URL’s “Bars Over Politics” card, a close and highly competitive 3-rounder between Hollow da Don and JC gets lost in acts from the latter that were both uncanny and frankly sanctimonious. That said, it’s JC who edges round 1, the ever-confident Michigan vet getting busy with a boatload of death-gripping raps, braggadocious darts and hard-hitting punches to score enough haymakers and take the round from a pretty solid and versatile, but a bit filler-prone Hollow. Ironically however, after JC daps up Hollow at the end of round 1 in an apparent gesture of congrats for an excellent turn, then proceeds to call da Don’s opening round ‘wack’ as he’s about to start his 2nd round, the battle would take a subtle, but very efficient shift. With JC sticking to a gameplan that challenged his opponent’s ‘legend’ status with a syrupy mix of boastful barbs and righteous personals, while the unorthodox stylings of Hollow stayed loopy when it came to potent wordplay, solid freestyles and rebuttals, some flexing punchlines and witty/mocking personals that even featured a round 3 modeling session on how to dress. Close throughout and a bit of a head-scratcher when it came to angles utilized by JC, it’s the slightly more versatile, methodical and haymaker-liit Hollow who edges rounds 2 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Hollow Da Don (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Hollow da Don – “My nigga, your teeth been outgoing lately, they think they all that, they been coming out without your permission, tell them to fall back!”
Recap: We gonna keep it consistent here. As for the umpteenth time: a choke is when you totally forget your bars and thus have to end your round. Secondly, a slip-up (which should still be penalized) is when you forget and/or mangle your bars during a round, but are still able to get it back and finish your turn. So miss me with Tay Roc telling the world (and his opponent Chef Trez) that he lost this 3-round URL Bars over Politics 3-rounder because he “choked” during round 3, when instead he slipped up midway and got it back to deliver what was still a pretty solid round. And while Roc did get edged in the 3rd, thanks in part to Trez having a cleaner and slightly more efficient run at it, that doesn’t take away from what happened in both of the earlier rounds. The more versatile Roc beating back a pretty dope, but gun bar-heavy and slightly less haymaker-lit Trez (who despite being complimented by Roc on his freestyle/rebuttal ability, ironically didn’t do much of it here) with some superb wordplay, 4-bar/hard-hitting back-to-back punchlines, plenty of graphic violence, steely gun bars, fire name flips, jaunty personals/storytelling bars and fiery gun lines of his own to earn the win.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Gun butt, scarred jaw, broke his wisdon, pull put a stick, up the nose for Covid symptoms!”
Recap: From URL’s “Bars Over Politics” card, unfazed by his opponent’s bullish darts, steely gun bars and sometimes over-the-top performance bars, a more steady-hitting Fonz, via a gang of hardbody punchlines/name flips, witty barbs, salacious personals, mean 4-bar zingers and other violence-themed lines edges round 1 and (thanks in part to Ms. Hustle delivering an up-n-down turn) handily takes the middle round for the win in this fiery 3-rounder. To her credit, in what would turn out to be her best round all the while scoring with a bunch of sturdy ‘Landlord’ flips/metaphors, some solid similes and more blazing punches, it’s a still aggressive and turned up Ms. Hustle who would easily take the 3rd round from a lackadaisical turn by Fonz to avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Fonz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Fonz – “What you think posting a nigga hand with a drink gonna prove?, why would a nigaga put a ring on you? you know what your problem is? you a Cabbage Patch doll ‘cuz you hard-headed and your cheeks don’t move!”
Recap: Fire battle from URL’s “Bars Over Politics” card sees Jerry Wess and T-Top got at it for 3 highly competitive rounds. A real ‘road game’ for Wess when you consider that the bout took place in Top’s home state of Narth Carolina, but the Brooklyn, NY, emcee wouldn’t be rattled. The EFB member utilizing a steady bag of salacious personals, righteous darts, piercing set-up/punchlines and hard gun bars to keep things close. While Top gave the crowd their money’s worth with a gritty barrage of fierce gun bars, steely punches,/wordplay some dope rebuttals, hitting trap talk and witty/flexing personals fo his own. And while his opponent more than held his own throughout, a consistently superb and haymaker-lit round 1 (i.e. classic) from The Bear would earn him the opener, before the slightly more efficient and vefrsatile Top would also edge round 2 for the win. A crazy 3rd from Jerry with a fire rebuttal towards the end would allow Wess to beat back a top-notch, but not as sturdy final round from Top and avoid the shutout.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “So if ya make the wrong move, you get shot in ya shit, you’ll meet ya favaorite battle rappers nigga…Hollow and Clips!
Recap: From Manslaughter Battle League, mixing in some sharp freestyle/rebuttals, a bunch of witty barbs/personals, fierce schemes and fire punchlines, a slightly more haymaker-lit Charlie Clips (whose been battling quite a bit lately) manages to edge a gritty punching, street bar-spicy and for the most part dope showing by Infared Tha General in this close 1-rounder.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “Nigga brought your bitch up to my crib, I didn’t even know the ho there, New York Knicks, I woke up to the Cat out of nowhere!”
Recap: From Only The Real Battle League, although some extra rapping occurs afterwards, we’re only recapping the seemingly agreed 1-round here. That said, a pretty solid effort from up-n-coming battler Joe Cartega here, who with a shitload of fiery street rhymes and piercing name flips made it competitive. But a Chef Trez armed to the tilt with 5 of them things to start things out, plus a bunch of sturdy gun bars and wicked/mayhem-laced punches during a more condensed and efficient turn, allows the Chef to chalk up another vic.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I’ll be the reason there’s brain fragments everywhere, the Chef is wicked, I’ll put his IQ on the wall…I’m trying to test his vision!”
Recap: From The Riot, a 3-rounder between Danny Myers and Mexican battler SyckSyllables that was really hard to get through what with Danny surprisingly choking away his opening round versus an opponent mired in subpar bars all the way through. And while The Bar God got it back with a dope, punch-heavy and aggressive 2nd round to handily take that round and tie things up, his lack of preparation would resurface in the 3rd and that would make the deciding round close. However, even while SyckSyllables was able to dish out a few gritty haymakers in what would turn out to be his best round, thanks in part to another fly rebuttal and enough of a solid punch/personal game to survive some near stumbles, it’s a more condensed Danny who would edge the 3rd for the win and avoid an upset.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I would talk about how you hopped over the border, but you’d probably take offense [a fence] to that!”
Recap: From The Battle Academy, it’s just another day at the office for O’Red. The Jersey vet utilizing a bunch of fiery gun bars, some wicked set-up/punchlines, fierce name flips and prolific wordplay to handily take all 3 rounds from a street tales dishing and gun bar heavy, but mostly so-so K. Walker.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “I’ll leave this Walker bitch down, and if his shorty talking like I won’t walk a bitch down?, I’ll put Walker bitch down and then giev away the ratchet like the Pop’s at the wedding after he walk a bitch down!”
Recap: From Black Ice Cartel Battle League, getting super creative via some wicked wordplay while also scoring with a boatload of mocking personals, searing set-up/punchlines, cadence-switching colloquialisms, witty/boastful barbs and stinging anecdotes/rebuttals, up against a mediocre A. Ward who had some hitting punches here and there, but overall was too mired in a bunch of filler, subpar punches and weak personals, Hollow Da Don once again shows that there’s (esp. during sublime round 1) levels to this shit on his way to way to an easy 30.
Verdict: Hollow Da Don (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Hollow Da Don – “Make his wish he didn’t play, when the lead getting raised, that’s a dead giveaway!”
Recap: Watching that intro and you couldn’t be blamed for thinking they really about to put on a battle rap event in a parking lot garage. Well, thank goodness that wasn’t the case and in this Bar4Bar 1-rounder between Marqo Mazii and Danny Myers, despite a pretty solid effort (esp. with the 4 rebuttals to start his round) from the Bar God, it’s the Cincinnati battler who earns the win. Mazzi utilizing a versatile and steady performance littered with a gang of hard-hitting punchlines, sturdy/witty personals and flashy gun bars to get 1-up on the EFB member and catch the vic.
Verdict: Marqo Mazii (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Marqo Mazii – “Danny’s sex life is like his gang life because he bangs anything!”
Recap: From Gates of the Garden, don’t know if it’ll ever get any easier than this for Nu Jerzey Twork. The former Goonie and NWX member effortlessly utilizing a boatload of blazing gun bars, solid name flips, mayhem-lit punchlines, some fiery rebuttals and just to prove how not pressed for comp he was, even allowing a 2-minute tag-in during his round 3 and still scoring a 30 over a gritty, but consistently subpar Black Aladdin.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Nigga’s really think I’m playing, but I’m not playing, i could show you better than I could tell you…that’s sign language!”
Recap: From GOTG, against the abstract, sometimes gun bar-lit and gritty polemics of 45th Fokus, veteran battler JC takes advantage of his opponent’s soldi, but elongated turn and uses a rugged mix of wily name flips, flippant personals, boastful barbs and piercing mayhem-lit punchlines in a much more condensed turn to earn the win.
Verdict: JC (W) 1-0
Favorite line: JC – “We don’t like leaving a question, I’m a make sure his whole tean get the message, half his body in the casket, won’t even be full piece when he resting!”
Recap: Another fine effort from Brooklyn, NY emcee Mr. Mann, who like he did in a recent 1-rounder against Tay Roc, held his own here with an aggressive style littered with brash, abtract raps and some hard-hitting punches. However, against a Rum Nitty making his debut on Gates of the Garden, the EFB battler more than impressed, utilizing a boatload of fiery gun bars, solid name flips, brazen punchlines and steely wordplay during a fittingly condensed turn to get the win in this competitive one-rounder.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “I coudl send real life shooters at you, you better get alert, my killers work, they post up chilling, right where you hang Mann [Hangman] till you get the word!”
Recap: As expected, Geechi Gotti vs. Ms. Hustle on URL’s “Summer Madness: Kings vs. Queens” card, for the most part (Geechi’s 2nd round was kind of mid, for him anyway) is a dope and competitive affair. The ever-aggressive Hustle, while proudly displaying her BBL, came with the heat too what with a wide variety of potent gun bars, graphic/mayhem-lit punchlines, stinging personals to test his opponent’s street credand lofty braggadocious darts. On the other hand, fellow EFB member Gotti was cold throughout, utilizing a gang of salacious personals, witty puns, stifling gang talk, brazen punches and disrespectful burners to remind everyone why he’s a 3-time COTY winner. That said, despite the more punch-crazy Hustle handily taking round 2 while also supplying two sturdy turns in rounds 1 and 3, it’s the more emphatic, storytelling-rich, witty, versatile and haymaker-lit Gotti who takes the opening round and the deciding 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “You need to be fucking grown, get out of everybody business, leave people the fuck alone, it’s always these apartment bitches trying to break up happy homes!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from War Town Battles, a gritty, dope and street talk-laced round by Clone gets edged by a Charlie Clips who simply put was on one this battle. The Harlem, NY, battle vet using a steady and versatile mix of fire name flips, head-ringing set-up/punchlines, fierce schemes, righteous personals and wicked freestyles/rebuttals to earn the win.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “Damn, Twork dropped out on you at the last minute, left you with a big bill, I guess Jerusalem don’t fuck with him…but now you know who is real!”
Recap: From URL’s Summer Madness: Kings vs. Queens card, a fire and highly competitive 3-rounder between Jaz The Rapper and Tay Roc. The former utilizing a gang of fiery personals/Tay-isms, sizzling gun bars, solid anme flips/punches, wild set-ups and pockets of mayhem-rich darts to keep things close. While Roc took it there to ‘Baby Sis’ and hoisted up a shitload of salacious/righteous personals, disrespecful burners, piercing metaphors, stealth lyricism, stinging name flips, gritty punchlines/anecdotes and a witty 3rd-round roasting session that flexed his versatility and let everyone know that he came to win. Close throughout, outside of a debatable round 2, it’s the slightly more bar efficient and haymaker-lit Roc who edges rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “This chopper is hefty, I’m talking big bag sized, think music genre’s, Roc [rock] came on the scene and Jaz [jazz] died!”
Recap: From Body Bag Battle League, a warning to all viewers: one could get hot just watching this battle–that’s how much sweat seemed to be piling up in the room. Nonetheless, a pretty solid, gritty and punch-lit at times effort by One Take McGuyver gets beat back by a Chef Trez on one with a boatload of fiery gun bars, piercing personals/punchlines, hard-hitting/mayhem-lit street bars, dizzying gang talk and sizzling rebuttals/freestyles in a 1-rounder that should’ve came with some air conditioning.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You not legit, I was at them dice games where that bread at, I seen Unc serve crackheads and turn around and yell ‘Head crack’!”
Recap: To this day I still don’t get why Charron feels the need to write such longwinded rounds. He’s long been one of the top battle rappers in the game so there’s no need to justify his pen game. And with the way he formulates his bars, what with so many ill set-ups before landing the haymaker, his rounds would be more tight and efficient without the extra blather that usually takes on repetitive themes he’s already spouted. Still, here against a 40 B.A.R.R.S. making her first appearance on KOTD, a fire, witty, personal and punch-lit opening round by both (call it debatable) battlers gets tunred on its head in the 2nd. As after an elongated, but haymaker-lit round that took on everything from hard-hitting personals to boastful barbs to sizzling name flips to piercing 4-bar set-up/punchlines, a minute into her round 40 chokes to give Charron the round. And while 40 would back on her grind with a boatload of gritty punches that made for a pretty soild 3rd, it’s the slightly more haymaker-lit, condensed and versatile/scheme/righteous heavy Charron who edges the final round to gain the win.
Verdict: Charron (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charron – “You’re the only bitch we get mad at for choking!”
Recap: From URL’s Summer Madness 14/Kings vs. Queens card, former members of NWX, O’fficial and T-Top face off for 3 rounds and outside of a debatable (thanks in part to O’s two solid rebuttals at the start of her turn) round 2 it’s all Top. The Bear utilizing a bunch of witty (the irony of both battlers dishing a bunch of fat jokes towards each other was not lost here) personals, gritty punchines/trap talk, forthright storytelling bars, potent (in this case New Orleans) hometown bars and pure, mayhem-lit darts to handily take both the opening and final round’s for the win over an opponent who overall displayed little versatility with her raps or originality with her themes when she wasn’t spitting way too many pedestrian bars.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “And you know with me it’s all love, but see my knife got a grudge, and its something we gotta hold against you, drove it in you, I’m the only one who spin with a blade…I’m Yoshimitsu!”
Recap: From The Trenches in Philly, it’s all Eazy The Block Captain in this one. The former Gun Titles member taking advantage of a hitting at times, but overall very mid, surprisingly flow-challenged and apparently overbooked Ill Will with a trio of sublime rounds that displayed not only TBC’s level of veracity, but his versatility as well. Eazy hitting on all cylinders when it came to adeptly rebuttling the long-drawn out off-the-stage drama surrounding him and Chrome 23 chieftess Remy Ma, while also delivering a shitload of dizzying trap talk, fiery/righteous personals, stinging name flips, hard-hitting struggle raps and all-too gritty punchlines to handily earn a rare 30 over Will.
Verdict: Eazy The Block Captain (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Eazy The Block Captain – “I could tell y’all how my life changed, I don’t know if my mom took a percocet when she was pregnant, but I was made to fight pain!”
Recap: In rounds 1 and 2 of this URL Summer Madness: Kings vs. Queens battle, John John Da Don takes advantage of an aggressive and gun bar/punch-solid, but mostly pedestrian Coffee Brown with a boatload of flippant 4-bar set-up/punchlines, fiery schemes and a gang of hard-hitting personals to win the bout. Despite lacking much fervor as well as a steady punch game in the earlier rounds, Coffee would come back with a blistering, personal-lit 3rd that handily beat what was a solid nonetheless, but still JJDD’s worst round to avoid the shutout.
Verdict: John John Da Don (W) 2-1
Favorite line: John John Da Don – “I could make it dark Coffee, have someone I know cream her!”
Recap: From URL’s Summer Madness/Kings vs. Queens card, in a tale of relentless aggression and fierce competition, 40 B.A.R.R.S.’ fiery, steady and effervescent punch game helps her get the win here versus Nu Jerzey Twork. The Boston femcee’s mocking personals and potent wordplay also helping secure her victory in rounds 1 and 3 of this 3-round battle. All this despite 40 struggling with her flow and cutting her 2nd round short all the while withstanding a scintillating, witty, bullish and personal-drenched turn there by Twork that got him the round convincingly. However, just when you thought things had shifted back in Twork’s favor, 40 was able to get back on her round 1 grind and with another dope punchfest, handily take the deciding 3rd with the assistance of a lackadaisical showing from Nu Jerooz.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 2-1
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “It’s clear my peer got more experience in he street, I’m not looking for gunfight, but I’m outside squatting ready to squeeze on this fleece, it’s a drunk night, I’m pissed off!”
Recap: From Streets Soprano/Gen X Ent., a 1-round rematch between Charlie Clips and T-Top features plenty of mean set-up/punchlines, witty personals and gritty darts from both battlers, But after a pretty solid (tho a little flow challanged) run by T-Top, it’s Clips who ends up standing out more. The Harlem vet adding a gang of hilarious name flips and formidable freestyles to the mix during a more condensed turn to earn the win.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “A grown man naming himself Top is disgusting, my bro hit my phone and said this nigga Top fire, I hung up, no discussion!”
Recap: “1-0 nigga’s” is funny as hell. That said, in this ‘Queens vs. Kings’/Summer Madness matchup from URL, Rum Nitty and Viixen The Assassin both give it all and put on superbly for 3 rounds. Nitty with his usual palette of exquisite set-up/punchlines, killer wordplay, heated gun bars, mean name flips and even some solid/witty personals, showed his chops throughout. While when Viixen wasn’t promoting her OnlyFans account, the veteran Milwaukee battler proved she’s a problem on the stage with a gang of wicked gun bars, piercing punchlines, aggressive/flexing darts and cadence-switching/mocking personals. Competitive throughout, this battle would mostly come down to who was more efficient with their haymakers. And despite a crazy 3rd round from Viixen to top off two dope turns beforehand, it’s the more condensed and slightly more versatile Nitty who combats his more often elongated opponent and takes (call round 1 debatable) rounds 2 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “You soft but you act brolic, I’ll do the Shotgun Suge special move…on ya back pockets!”
Recap: From Bar4bar Camp, plenty of mayhem-lit darts, bullish bars and even some roundhouse (“…there’s always that one sock you don’t see”) haymakers dropped by Kashmoney. But way too many pedestrian lines from the Cleveland battler coupled with a Ms. Hustle on ten throughout with a gang of fire name flips, raucous punchlines and witty personals, allows the Queen Villain to handily take this 1-rounder.
Verdict: Ms. Hustle (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ms. Hustle – “You a real lame, URL has app battles, we never see your name, we don’t never get a Cash App notifocation…until we hear the change!”
Recap: Yunno, if you’re a new battle league trying to make a name for yourself, you might want to find a host who can actually conduct and pay attention to the battle while it’s going on instead of texting in his phone half the time. Anyway, in yet another ‘comeback’ battle for Prez Mafia, the former Proving Grounds grad uses a gang of fiery wordplay, Christian-themed bangers, gritty street talk and rambunctious punches to efficiently score more haymakers and beat back an aggressive and solid, but not as formidable Loso in this 1-rounder from Only The Real Battle League.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “I could smell this pussy judging me now with some shit to say, big cap, the whole service fanned out, it’s the Christian way!”
Recap: History says John John Da Don should know better. The longtime battle rap vet insinuating before this KOTD bout against Frak, that when it comes to bars ‘jokes’ aren’t as substantive as straight-up lyricism. And while that opinion may have worked at times against his opponent (indeed, based on JJDD’s ‘Jokes vs. lyricism’ stamp beforehand, during the battle Frak would admit to purposely fine-tuning his bars a bit away from usual comedic slants), when you consider that JJDD got his start in the backpack raps and jokes era of Grind Time, one would think that he of all people wouldn’t go there. Nonetheless a dope and highly competitive 3-rounder with plenty of fierce angles, stifling personals, fiendish Jew tropes, witty punches, solid wordplay and righteous darts comes down to (after the two split the first two rounds) to the 3rd round where JJDD unleashed an angle/punch-lit, witty at times, personal-drenched turn that was certainly substantive in its potency. While Frak came with a slightly more versatile round lit with more solid JJDD-isms, some racy political theater, ironic (“We control the King of the Dot, even got a couple of Rosenberg’s hosting too!”) puns and fierce punchlines/personals that altogether proved to be just as meaty as his opponent. Thus, making this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: John John Da Don – “You a struggling Jewish rapper, it got to be so few, ‘cuz shining should never be a problem for no jewels!”
Recap: From URL’s Nexus card, going into this battle did Danny Myers (as he suggested in round 1) really think that Klutz belonged in the “lyrical miracle” camp?! Because if the Arkansas battler hasn’t already proven himself to be one of the more substantive emcees in the game, the Bar God just hasn’t been paying attention. But after this 3-rounder Danny (who was pretty solid and competitive throughout this bout) certainly knows what’s up now. Klutz, in both of the opening rounds, exquisitely using a gang of potent set-up/punchlines, fiery schemes, witty barbs, clever wordplay and in a superb 3rd round (after already taking round 1 and edging round 2 with more haymaker-rich tunrs), a systematic, righteous at times and personal-lit session on almost everything related to Danny Myers world to finish off the shutout.
Verdict: Klutz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Klutz – “Nigga’s say I ain’t believable, but on the resume it’s how you meet the Reaper, plus I know a couple of nigga’s that got shot….they couldn’t believe it either!”
Recap: From Bar You To Death Battle League, a bit of slow start by Tay Roc but a couple of minutes in this 1-rounder the Cave Gang capo gets heated up. And with wide variety of punches laced with graphic mayhem, stinging name flips, fiery wordplay and piercing gun bars, a suprisingly elongated but consistently formidable Roc is able to handily beat back a boisterious, aggressive and sometimes hitting, but mostly pedestrian Mr. Mann.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Nigga just quit, I’m sick as it gets, as soon as he talking slick out his lip, the shit will get split, pistols will lift, I really hope you quick as a bitch, I ain’t missing for shit, I’ll catch Mr. in the midst of the shit!”
Recap: From Bar4Bar Battle League, first off credit to Chess for keeping his poise while so many in the crowd were talking while he rapped (then too, the host should get some points for at least trying to kill the noise). That being said, a pretty close, gritty and dope 1-rounder between the Young God and Casino gets edged by the latter as opposed to Chess’ hardbody round of sizzling (tho some were predictable) name flips and piercing punches, his opponent’s more versatile punch game, which included a boatload of sturdy street talk, righteous darts, mocking personals, hard storytelling bars, solid name flips and fiery punchlines would score him enough haymakers to earn the win.
Verdict: Casino (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Casino – “I don’t spar on the phone because it sound like transactions!”
