Recap: Rapping over a trio of gritty, resounding beats during this matchup from Verbal War Zone, when it came to kicking sturdy flows/cadences, hitting street raps and stinging punchlines both Ms. Ill and Pristavia came with it. However, while her opponent did keep it competitive throughout the battle, with an extra mix of piercing name flips, wicked wordplay and a more steadier punch game it’s Pristavia who lands the 30 anyway.
Verdict: Pristavia (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Pristavia – “Nigga I’m nasty…Cortez, Yoshi box!”
Recap: Fire and competitive 3-rounder between Shotgun Suge and Stumbles from URL’s Down to the Wire card delivers on the fiery punchlines (both both battlers), slick street talk (esp. from Stumbles), grandular trap talk (esp. from Suge), descriptive mayhem and greasy personals. Close and aggressive throughout with a bunch of brash name flips, steely gun bars and flippant wordplay mixed in to spice up the haymakers, thanks in part to one many indirect bars (esp. when it came to a certain ‘wave’ from New Jersey) and a couple of dry spots, but mostly due to a slighltly more intricate (esp. when it came to his stinging usage of Stumbles’ slogan) Suge delivering a two rounds of seismic lines in rounds 1 (which he barely edged in lieu of a dope by his opponent) and 2, it’s Shotgun who gets the win before a more steady and haymaker-lit Stumbles took the 3rd to avoid the 30.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “What my life like?, I couldn’t wait to gun you, your life not mine’s? till I take it from you!”
Recap: From Our Society Battle League, a dope 1-rounder between Yunus and Quban sees the former spice up the room with a versatile stream of crafty wordplay, fiending (“He’s dying, get rocked with long arms like the Beast Titan, military funeral, that’s a flag by the body, look like the menu for Street Fighter!”) set-ups/punchlines and hitting personals/metaphors. On the other hand Quban was able to rock the crowd with an aggressive/animated round of fiery punchlines, graphic/mayhem-lit darts and fiery boasts/personals in an equally efficient turn that scores this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Quban – “Crazy you the creative player but I’m the made nigga!”
Recap: Who knows if the day will ever come that sees A. Ward grace us with his talents on a URL stage. But the feeling here is that if Ward (who’s clearly out to prove that he doesn’t need an appearance on the URL to solidify his battle rap career) continues to go after top tier ‘URL battlers’ (which he is wanton to do) his resume would warrant much more credibility if he did 3-round battles on the likes of Geechi Gotti’s The Riot league then say 1-rounder’s in front of a garage door. That being said, a dope 3-rounder here between Ward and Rum Nitty, littered with a plethora of sizzling punchlines, fiery gun bars, righteous name flips, filthy Godspeak and well-oiled wordplay by Nitty versus a gang of fiesty rebuttals/freestyles juxtaposed over the course of 3 rounds with some flexing punchlines/personals, witty barbs, aggressive schemes, rigid wordplay and stinging boasts/name flips from Ward (who did have reaches here and there) makes this a competitive matchup with the more haymaker-lit Rum taking round 1 before Ward, helped by his off-the-dome aptness, edged round 2. Tied going into the 3rd, it’s a more steadily hitting, intricate and innovative with the pen Nitty (despite a crazy latter half to his round from Ward) who takes it in the end.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Disrespect, I’ll shoot a Christian with a nail gun!”
Recap: Rim-rocking, competitive 1-rounder from The Battle Academy sees Geechi Gotti use a boatload of witty personals, some compact but stifling schemes, fiery gun bars/trap talk, fierce similes/punchlines and boastful barbs to beat back a pretty solid and mostly hard-hitting, but not as consistently scoring with the punches Rosenberg Raw.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “Ugly nigga, your parents need to hold that L!”
Recap: When you’re a straight gunner like Shotgun Suge, even against Drugz you ain’t staying away from the name flips. And in what was an altogether superb performance, a more consistently spicy Suge gets busy with a gang of potent ‘drug’-associated flips/storytelling bars/trap talk, punchlines and personals to handily get the 30 over an overall solid/aggressive with the punches/gun bars and witty at times, but less steady and too often indirect Gun Show in this 3-rounder from URL’s Battle in the Bayou card.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “He ain’t ever use a tuna top for a razor!”
Recap: From 7 Shark Cities Rap Battle League, steady and confident with his brash street raps throughout, that coupled with a mix of steely wit and gritty name flips/personals flexed his versatility, up-n-comer Yung Riddick manages to out-punch and edge a gritty, gun bar-lit and pretty solid Chef Trez (thanks in part to a trio of dem things Trez would edge the 3rd) in the 1st couple of rounds, earn the win and pull off an upset.
Verdict: Yung Riddick (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Yung Riddick – “I punch different, but bitch you better pray to God that I don’t come to you with open hands!”
Recap: Cali vs. Jersey, prolific with the interviews vs. prolific with the interviews, bald head vs. bald head, Danny Myers vs. Jai 400 from the latter’s HowYouGonAct Network league serves up a steady mix of graphic punchlines, aggressive personals (esp. from Jai), pent-up set-ups/boasts and spiteful mayhem to the consistent delight of a well-tuned in crowd. But after a sublime and steadily hard-hitting Jai took round 1, a couple of fly rebuttals, mayhem-slinging (“This is a movie right?, well this clip hold 16 Blocks…Mos Def!”) and more versatile showing from Danny in round 2 would tie things up before the 3rd, which with an equally syrupy display of punches from both battlers would end up making this one debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jai400 – “Parallel universes is not enough, ‘cuz parallel is all I did to get them numbers just to line him up!”
Recap: Competitive, fierce and aggressive 1-rounder from The Fight-Back Arena between the always entertaining Benji Lolo and Chess goes (despite an often witty, punch-lit at times and performance-spicy effort from Benji) to the latter as the Young Gawd’s more intricate name flips/wordplay, fiery gun lines, rare rebuttals, fire set-ups and vigorous punchlines combine to outscore his opponent and earn the win.
Verdict: Chess (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chess – “Semi on my waist, I ain’t a Twitter nigga, I don’t like too many in my space!”
Recap: After witnessing Bigg K and now Arsonal do a compliment battle, all I need to see is the ‘Queen of Disrespect’ QB, Rosenberg Raw, Shotgun Suge and Active do one of these and that’ll complete the curiousity factor for me. That being said, despite the lack of disrespect, it’s an easy vic for Da Rebel here as the way more versatile punching, storytelling-lit and witty Jersey vet handily takes all 3 rounds from a ‘thankful’, but too redundant with the bars and seemingly a bit lost in the objective Philly Swain.
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Arsonal – “He got the juice, he could turn a grape into a raisin, and what he saying will fully open eyes on an Asian!”
Recap: Ade proves himself formidable with a bunch of abstract, philosophical punches that featured some strong wordplay and stringent Danny-isms here and there. But in this 1-round CrowdShyt audio battle, it’s the Bar God’s surreal name flips, mayhem-rich punches, righteous personals/boasts to go along with a spicy rebuttal that gets Mr. Myers the win.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “You rap like you from a parallel universe where Carlton Banks went to public school!”
Recap: Was there any promo for this one? If so, I must’ve missed it. Either way, despite a solid, gun-bar lit and punch-heavy at times effort from Dre Dennis, a bit of a struggle with his flow as well as one too many reaches and subpar bars from the Loud Boys capo to along with a more versatile and steady DNA unleashing a barrage of stifling set-ups/punchlines, fiery wordplay/schemes, pouty gun lines, boastful barbs and hard-hitting personals, gives the Queens, NY vet the win in this 1-rounder from The Rap Committee.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “Dennis you know not to play with DNA…Jurassic Park!”
Recap: Judging from MyVerse and Th3 Saga surprisingly writing their 3rd round (thus, we’ll just call the finale a tie) together in this Barstool Compliment battle, I’m guessing that both of them could care less about getting the win. But it’s all about competition here and despite MyVerse doing a pretty solid job hyping up her opponent throughout rounds 1 and 2, it’s a little more original (esp. when it came to doing his research on his opp’s background), wordplay/name flip-lit, condensed, witty and punch-heavy Saga who edges both of the aforementioned rounds for the win.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “I would hate for this round to go flat and cause despair, but allow the leader of The Horsemen to uplift a queen like Charlotte Flair!”
Recap: Versus rising star and ‘Plug talk’ kingpin Kyd Slade in a gritty, gun bar-infested, punchline-lit and close One Off/3-rounder from URL’s Ultimate Madness 5 card, after the two split (w/ Ryda edging round 1 before Slade returned the favor in round 2) the first couple of rounds, a slightly more steady and punch-heavy Ryda adds in some mocking personals and witty barbs to take the 3rd round for the win.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ryda – “I predicted the future, the Silk one made waves, shit I know what it did, ‘cuz ever since I started fucking all these hoes, I knew eventually I had to come and talk to the kid [Kyd]!”
Recap: Tubbs uses an impressive array of gritty punchlines and hometown references to make things close. But in this competitive 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code’s HOME 4 card, a couple of hard-hitting rebuttals to go along with a gang of stinging name flips, fiery 4-bar set-ups and mayhem-lit punches gives DNA the win.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “Remember last time I battled JC?, I said ‘razor’ since he super tough, but this time you get one star like the Uber sucks!”
Recap: Mostly abandoning the slew of disrespectful heat we’re used to seeing from him for a gang of sublime punchlines, real street talk and boastful bangers that impressed throughout, Arsonal handily beats back a gritty but topsy-turvy LL Coogi for the win in this 1-rounder from The Rap Committee.
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Arsonal – “I be stepping stepping, lay him in Dawson’s Creek, see if his soul make it to 7th Heaven!”
Recap: A rematch of their highly entertaining Verbal War Zone battle from 2019, Bill Collector and Dre Dennis bring the wit, praiseworthy punches and other accolades to this 3-round ‘The Nicest’ Compliment Battle. Noteworthy too for the two being a part of the same ‘Loud Boys’ clique as well as a well-crafted together 3rd round that showed off their symmetry, a close battle what with a debatable 2nd and 3rd round is edged overall by the slightly more punch-lit Bill in the 1st.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “My homie tough, he got the underground battle game in a cobra clutch, teach a new player to the game how to soldier up, giving them a platform to battle they favorite and show they stuff, bro even Tay Roc would be amazed at all teh doors you opened up!”
Recap: A gritty and competitive 3-rounder from WarTown Battles filled to the rim with a host of flexing gun bars, real street talk and piercing punchlines, after a slightly punch-heavier Kidd Nyheem takes round 1, leave it up to a more condensed Chef Trez to add some fiery name flips and hard-hitting (including a dope one at the end of his 3rd) rebuttals to the mix to edge each of the latter two rounds and gain the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You hella light, I’ll let it ring and let off shots if you too amped, you’ll get hit teh wildest couple…Marriage Boot Camp!”
Recap: Old Midwest (Calicoe) meets up with new Midwest (Fonz) for a dope 1-rounder brought to you from The Rap Committee. And despite a pretty solid (outside some reaches and a few subpar punches here and there) effort from the always punch-crazy Fonz, it’s the Detroit vet, on his A-game throughout with a steady, subline (i.e. classic) and uninterrupted flow of gritty schemes, lyrical posturizing, boastful barbs, steely pontifications and stinging personals who earns the win.
Verdict: Calicoe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Calicoe – “I’m trying to hit you and then fucked around and hit your man in the head, he got lead astray [led a stray]!”
Recap: Plenty of ‘lyrical’ dick jokes, reverent punchlines, funny impressions, nice rebuttals and clever zingers in this 3-round Barstool Sports Compliment Battle between Pat Stay and Dunsh. A close one throughout, it’s the more experienced austere of flattery (as well as a master at making his opponent feel totally uncomfortable) Pat Stay who out-punches Dunsh and edges the 1st and 3rd rounds (call the 2nd debatable) for the win.
Verdict: Pat Stay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pat Stay – “Bond forming tighter than his immaculate Windsor knots, I can’t even tie a tie, you probably practice it with your cock!”
Recap: In this fire 1-rounder from Our Society Battle League, Lady Caution wigs with a gang of fiery gun bars, pent-up mayhem and hard-hitting punchlines/name flips. However, replete with a slightly more consistent and versatile plate of vicious schemes, stifling wordplay, wicked/cold calculated punches and jaunty name flips/personals of her own, it’s First Lady Flamez who edges this on for the win here.
Verdict: First Lady Flamez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: First Lady Flamez – “You had me fucked up for even taking this, sugar free , it ain’t sweet ’round here pimpin’, I’ll break a bitch, Napalm, Chloroform, homemade bombs, short list safer than me you should be playing with!”
Recap: While it’s common knowledge that the league didn’t start out that way, but from an aesthetics standpoint it’s still a little weird seeing QOTR putting on a battle that’s not in a boxing ring. That aside, a dope, competitive 3-rounder between Yoshi G and QOTR vet Don Ladyii, what with plenty of salacious sex talk, fiery punchlines/wordplay and piercing personals ends with (after a slightly punch-heavier Yoshi edged round 1 before Don Ladyii returned the favor to edge things up going into the 3rd) another close, hard-hitting and competitive 3rd, but with a slightly cleaner and versatile Don Ladyii edging the final round for the win.
Verdict: Don Ladyii (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Don Ladyii – “You the same bitch that let the state take her kids and blamed it on her mental health…that’s crazy!”
Recap: In this crazy 1-rounder from League of Championship Kulture, an impressive performance by Leo Bronze, who with a barrage of sizzling punchlines, gritty street talk, fire similes, witty (Leo Bronze: “You don’t even got your own face, fake-ass Ja Morant!”) personals/angles and a fiery cameo appearance from his 7yo daughter, let you know that he came to win, gets measured up by a dope showing from Chef Trez. Who with a quartet of hitting rebuttals, piercing gun bars, well-armed name flips and plenty of stinging punches of his own, does just enough to earn a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “We all know about the law of attraction, and by naming yourself Bronze you already took away that number one spot!!”
Recap: With Eazy The Block Captain on a hot streak of late and Swag King Goodz coming back to the big stage after a long hiatus, the two make for a highly anticipated matchup here on URL”s N.O.M.E. 12 card. And as expected the battle is a real goodie with Goodz dishing his usual assortment of boastful barbs, financial advice, snappy drug talk, nifty punchlines and mocking personals to mostly terrific effect. While a steadily aggressive Eazy TBC’s boatload of real street raps, steely angels (esp. when it came to utilizing some of his opponent’s more noted lingo against him), aggressive/gritty punches, rich similes and hard-hitting personals of his own showed why he is the most sought-after opponent for top tier battlers today. A close battle throughout that kept the Houston crowd fully engaged, it’s a more versatile and punch-heavy Eazt who takes the first two rounds for the win before a turned up Goodz edged the 3rd to avoid the 30.
Verdict: Eazy The Block Captain (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Eazy The Block Captain – “We already allowed you to call your cologne Gentlemen 30 and you never had one!”
Recap: Damn, I guess Tay Roc really felt like he lost that virtual 1-rounder he had with T-Top awhile back. Because outside of the occasional grudge match, I can’t see any need to have hour longer (which in this N.O.M.E. 12 rematch on URL, had Roc clearly spouting the longer rounds) battles. Nonetheless, despite a mostly strong, gritty and at times punch/personal heavy run by Top (who was a bit hurt by some subpar punches and tedious angles along the way), it’s a 30 for the Gun Bar King. The Maryland vet dishing an elongated, but crispy and fiery 3 rounds of stinging gun bars, fire wordplay, stirring ‘AMG Mode’ rhythms, witty/rigid personals, grimy mayhem, boastful barbs, piercing punchlines and sporty name flips to easily earn some payback.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Smack, he don’t want smoke, he The Bear, he scared of fire!”
Recap: With about half-a-minute of audio being lost during K-Shine’s 3rd round of this URL/N.O.M.E. 12 bout Real Sikh, gonna go ahead and call round 3 a tie. And while that prevents the consistently performance bar-lit, name flip savvy, punch-heavier and witty Shine from scoring a 30 after handily taking rounds 1 and 2, considering that we hadn’t seen him on the big stage in quite awhile and the ever-rambunctious Sikh gave him a run for his money throughout, the victorious Shine still left quite an impression.
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 2-1
Favorite line: K-Shine – “Another New Jersey nigga with a death wish, taught my old gun a new trick…fetch this!”
Recap: From the final round of URL’s Ultimate Madness 5 tournament, a multifaceted Swamp uses a gang of gritty punchlines, hitting personals, rugged street bars, witty barbs and a killer near-end round rebuttal to take the first couple of rounds and get the win over a morbidly-inclined, boastful and often wordplay/punch-heavy, but less versatile and less bar-potent JC in rounds 1 and 2, before round 3 saw JC step it up and get a little more savvy and formidable with the bars, which with an assist from a Swamp slip-up, gave the Michigan vet the 3rd.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swamp – “What you about 4’2″?, shit I couldn’t bury you 6 feet if I want to!”
Recap: From URL’s N.O.M.E. 12 card, slightly more direct with his bars overall while proving to his opponent that he can also spout a nice freestyle game, a turned-up throughout and pretty peeved Nunn Nunn unleashes a gritty and superb punchline troupe in round 1 to take the opener before getting edged in round 2 to an off-the-dome spicy, mayhem/storytelling-rich, slightly more condensed and punch-lit Danny Myers to split things going into round 3. The final round while close and equally lit when it came to rebuttals, gets edged to Nunn Nunn here as the North Carolina rapper’s witty/rigid personals, stinging punches and lofty wordplay/schemes manages to edge another boisterous, but less punch-heavy/potent turn by Danny for the win.
Verdict: Nunn Nunn (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “Like the Last Supper, when they made me a plate with God I thought of Judas!”
Recap: In a virtuoso performance that featured a plethora of shrewd punchlines, ill style breakdowns, witty storytelling, hard-hitting personals, rigid wordplay and feelgood name flips that were capped by a dominant 2nd round, after getting edged by a sublime, real street talking and more punch-heavy Geechi Gotti in round 1, Hollow Da Don comes back to easily take the middle round before edging the 3rd with a more versatile and original-themed turn for the win in this highly entertaining and spirited URL/N.O.M.E. bout.
Verdict: Hollow Da Don (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Hollow Da Don – “You don’t even smoke, he said no but it’s some good tree and I stand behind it!”
Recap: While Tsu Surf and all the drama that came with Midnight Madness deserve the majority of praise for getting Twitter Battle Rap Spaces popping since the beginning of the year. Outside of Aye Verb, there’s been a handful of lesser-known names who deserve their kudos too. Namely Stumbles and Snake Eyez, both of whom have recently taken getting online and talking shit, promoting upcoming battles and speaking on potential matchups with fans to new levels (and yeah that even includes Snake Eyez and his manager Tony Bro getting into it with Stumbles’ crew in person before a recent URL event). And while it’s always a stain on battle rap in general when fisticuffs between battlers get exchanged, now it’s only right that these two go at it on the big stage here for URL’s UM5 card. Unfortunately for Snake tho, if he thought he had an advantage coming with Stumbles becoming notorious for choking, that wouldn’t be the case here. As the Springfield, MA battler, clearly confident, stepping and motivated to beat his longtime adversary, was able to dish 3 clean and crispy rounds of slick punchlines, real street talk, witty/hard-hitting personals and steely gun bars to beat back a gritty-as-usual and aggressive, but in this bout, too often topsy-turvy Snake for a well-earned 30.
Verdict: Stumbles (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Stumbles – “I wanted the money, you wanted the belt, this is what you asked for, y’all had me fighting Jake the Snake in that ring…but I was worried about the bag more!”
Recap: Blame the local plumber guy aesthetics or a narrative that goes way back to his JC battle, but I’ve never understood how the average battle rap fan who really feens for quality pens can continue to label Chilla Jones as ‘boring’ (or something to the like). Especially when he’s done such a great job at transitioning from an elongated, scheme-heavy puncher to one of the most versatile battlers in the game. Indeed, from displaying excellent wit to proving to be a deft angler to sporting a gang of stifling wordplay (esp. during a killer round 2 here versus Mike P), with over a decade in the game C. Jones doesn’t get appreciated enough imo. Thus while showing off the stark difference between mid-tier and top tier status, despite another pretty solid, rambunctious, punch/personal-heavy at times and earnest effort from Mike (esp. in the 1st and 3rd rounds), Jones ability to take it to another level with a barrage of stinging name flips, spicy angles within angles, over-the-top alliterations, well-equipped braggadicous darts, funny/mocking personals, piercing punchlines and sturdy schemes/gun bars while rarely missing a beat, earns him a 30 in this To Live & Die in L.A. bout from URL.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “If you ask me I think you a bitch…respectfully, so this angle is directed at you instead of she, I’m a flip P upside down and let her be [B]!”
Recap: Able to withstand his opponent Alpha AR’s theme music intro, some serious Calicoe vibes when it comes to his raps and some out-of-nowhere personals that were just weird, outside of a close round 2, Chef Trez uses a gang of mayhem-rich punches, festive name flips, spicy rebuttals and stinging personals/gun bars to handily get the 30 in this 3-rounder from DHBL.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Bullets will go through AR abs like a Philly nigga!”
Recap: Another Compliment Battle from Barstool Sports ‘The Nicest’ card features Charron and XQZ trading a bunch of personals adulations (XQZ: “When people mistake me for you, I don’t correct them because that’s how I get into night clubs, award shows, my own family reunion!”), rich storytelling and witty punchlines to keep the crowd amused. A competitive bout on both sides with Charron adding a handful of solid freestyles/rebuttals to the mix, after the two split rounds 1 and 2, a 3-round bout that never wavered on entertainment fittingly ends up a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Charron – “Tee Grizzley told me you make some tugh music, you put out a track, my girlfriend cums to it!”
Recap: From URL’s Civil War 2 card, against a D.O.T. who’s definitely prioritizing lyricism and aggressive punches (to a topsy-turvy effect as seen again here) these days over the exuberant, performance-rich hijinks of his more noted classics from the past, a consistently lit Swamp dishes a boatload of gritty name flips, killer set-ups/punchlines, bruising gun lines and stinging personals to handily score an impressive 30 in front of a hyped North Carolina crowd.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “It really don’t matter where I choose to hit D.O.T. cuz’ wherever I choose to be it’s gonna be spot on!”
Recap: From GOTG, a pretty standard 1-rounder between Cortez and Zay Smoove sees the two deliver resident/aggressive bars in the form of hardbody street darts, feelgood gun bars, flexing mayhem and boastful punches with a few personals here and there to prove that the two did do some research on each other before the battle. That said, with much less reaches than his opponent, more intricacy to his bars and some gutsy trap talk to attest to a slightly more versatile plate, it’s Cortez who handily gets the win.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “The twin 40’s smoking together ain’t peer pressure!”
Recap: Seen thousands of battles over time and can’t recall a battler sitting down while he spits his raps as Scotty does for half the bout here. He’s different! Ok, but let’s not get carried away. As while the Houston vet did kick some gritty and brash punches here and there, it’s a multifaceted O-Red, armed with a bag of nimble translations, acute wordplay, sturdy punchlines, off-the-dome heat and flexing mayhem, who handily gets the win in this 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “This fraud rambling, I done caught more bodies than Charles Manson, with a large cannon, headed to Texas like Arch Manning!”
Recap: Still teetering on the edge of losing some of these smaller league battles with his near slip-ups and lack of preparation, in this 1-rounder from Bars Over Bricks Battle League, Swamp survives yet another near choke and with just enough juicy personals, head-ringing gun bars and gritty punchlines gets past the rambunctious and wordplay-lit, but slightly less versatile and less consistent stylings of Murda.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “Newsflash, do you really want to know why we compare you to Twork?, butch cuz’ you ass!”
Recap: In this rare 3-rounder from Gates of the Garden, a versatile Bill Collector uses a barrage of piercing punchlines, witty anecdotes/personals, self aggrandizing darts, boastful barbs and solid off-the-dome theatrics to take the first two rounds and the win over a pretty solid, aggressive, angle-lit, punch-heavy and altogether competitive Kang who despite the loss impressed throughout.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “I’m willing to go off on whatever he own because that mustache is only good for two things…police work or 70’s porn!”
Recap: While the slick wordplay and fierce punches/name flips we’ve come to expect from E-Hart were for the most part there. In this 3-rounder against Ryda from Bring Ya Bars Battles League, the Bronx vet’s noted consistency and preparation weren’t, leaving the Maryland emcee, armed with a barrage of fiery punches, boastful barbs, scathing personals and flexing gun bars/name flips throughout the battle with a Gentleman’s 30.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ryda – “Save it bitch, one bullet will turn Hart foundation into Make-A-Wish!”
Recap: A blazing 1-rounder from TBG sees Danny Myers delivering a barrage of boastful (“My nigga’s asked me, ‘Are you done with OPP?’, yeah you know me for being treacherous!”) barbs, graphic mayhem, sporty personals and raucous lyrical darts to get his point across. But refusing to bow down in the midst of his opponent’s fiery comeuppance, Maryland up-n-comer Oppa, via a gang of mocking/hard-hitting personals, witty zingers and righteous set-ups/punches scores with enough bangers to make this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Oppa – “Danny Myers, father, battle rapper, two difficult roles you’re not balancing well, your son got a Danny Myers conversation at 22 and Lil Slap got a battle at 12!”
Recap: These time limits in URL’s SM5 tourney need to be fixed and can Smack, at the very least, pretend he’s listening to battles while they’re going on instead of talking up some hottie standing by his side on stage? That being said, Sheed Happens with the fiery illiterations, some sturdy, performance-lit punchlines and hitting personals (mostly in round 3) and JC with a gang of fire wordplay, boastful punch work and steely set-ups/similes makes for a dope semifinal bout as well as 3 rounds of competitive heat. But it’s the Michigan vet, slightly more potent and steady with the bars in both rounds 1 and 2, who gets the win here before Sheed saved face and edged the 3rd.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “Give me my flowers when I’m here or you gonna get yours when you’re not!”
Recap: Dope 1-rounder from Battle Rap Society sees Stack lay out a bunch of tough, gritty bars that not only kept him competitive, but more often then not kept the crowd lit. But proving once again that even on a small league stage she’s still a beast, First Lady Flamez’s steady barrage of stifling punchlines, fiending set-ups, hard street rhymes and rigid gun bars are more than enough to gain the win.
Verdict: First Lady Flamez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: First Lady Flamez – “Petty bitch, these tek’s [texts] will fuck your life and your mood up!”
Recap: By now the entire battle rap culture should know how strict Bigg K is when it comes to contracts and time limits. So to see a battler going up against K complain, after going past the decided time limit, about not being able to ‘get all his shit off’ just makes no sense to me. Nonetheless, with over a decade in the game, at times it can get a little formulaic with K, which in turn makes him seemingly unmotivated and worse yet beatable. But that wouldn’t be the case here as sometimes sheer talent just wins out. So indeed, despite a 40 Cal hitting and keeping it close (esp. in the latter two rounds) with some gritty/fire punchlines here and there (esp. that opening ‘Big L’ bar), a lack of consistency from 40 to go along with a bizarre (tho still funny) stretch that saw him totally jack T-Top’s infamous 3rd round ‘Walmart’ angle vs. Rum Nitty with a photoshopped pic of K for some personals that went nowhere as well as K dishing his usual assortment of spicy, rapid-fire punches, boastful screeds and hard-hitting personals to handily take round 1, before edging both of the latter rounds for the 30.
Verdict: Bigg K (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bigg K – “Keep saying Black don’t crack, what if I pistol whip it?!”
Recap: A bunch of fire punches, hard-hitting/witty personals and dope rebuttals (esp. in round 2, which he edged) by Nunn Nunn in this URL/UM5 ‘Extra Battle’. But one too many indirect darts by the North Carolina battler as well as a slightly more consistent/versatile O-Red, who pulled off a well-finessed class in wordplay, triple and quadruple entendres, name flips, off-the-dome heat, robust mayhem and gritty punches/personals, gives the Jersey capo just enough mileage to edge the opening round and the deciding 3rd for the win in what was a highly competitive and aggressive matchup.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Got Nunn [none] in the back, that nigga dead stock!”
Recap: From Chrome 23, one of those out-of-nowhere matchups that feels like their names were picked out of a hat, Rum Nitty versus Gattas, while earnest, competitive and aggressive throughout, suffered a bit from a somewhat lackluster crowd as well as Gattas leaving her noted wit at home. The Chicago vet instead delivering 3 rounds of mayhem, some stifling lyrical darts and esp. during round 2, a gang of hitting personals. But outside of a topsy-turvy mid-round that his more consistent opponent managed to edge, a turned-up Nitty armed with a barrage of hard-hitting name flips, fiery gun bars and sizzling punchlines who takes rounds 2 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Off top, you know I’m a shoot, but I pulled up to the wrong event…I had a Chrome 22!”
Recap: Earnest effort by Royalty, after forgetting his rhymes midway through his round, to gamely freestyle his way through the rest of his turn and avoid choking. Either way, with Young Kannon dishing a blistering barrage of hard-hitting rapid-fire punches, boastful darts, flexing gun bars and stinging gun bars with almost zero filler, it would’ve required a huge endeavor by the West-coast up-n-comer to overcome YK’s sizzling performance in this 1-rounder from Big Slap Battles.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “The .40 casual like stone-wash jeans with Steve Madden’s!
Recap: I know it was only one or two bars, but Mackk Myron does a phenomenal Bill Collector impression. That said, in this tight Season 1 KOTD tournament battle, an often elite, personal-lit and witty punch game from Mackk versus the performance-heavy, unorthodox (“One time the plug gave me short China, boy was I Dumbfounded!”) punchlines/name flips from Bill equates to Mackk taking round 1 before the Loud Boys capo edged round 2 to split things going into the 3rd. The final round, which served up more of the high energy we’d seen from both battlers throughout the bout, ends up tied too as Bill and Mackk equally finessed with the haymakers during their identical alloted time.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Mackk Myron – “Now correct me, y’all think he about to beat me or something?, Bill my little brother he can’t beat me at nothing!”
Recap: Could just be me, but sometimes I think 40 B.A.R.R.S. purpsoefuly steps up her pen game when she’s a facing a dude as opposed to a female. Either way, in this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, when the Boston wordsmith wasn’t scoring with a barrage of stifling personals on opponent Dre Dennis, it’s a boatload of stellar punches mixed in with plenty of nifty wordplay and bruising metaphors that gets her more than enough haymakers on her way to a well-earned win over what was a mostly dope, heavy on the personals and versatile showing from Dre.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 1-0
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “You don’t have a tear because your career is an autobiography, you gotta book yourself!”
Recap: Seeing Jerry Wess back on the stage here on this URL Civil War 2 card after a long hiatus (apparently due to an injury) against Lu Castro and I was immediately reminded of a couple of things: Wess’ performance game can easily compete with Lu’s, his losses are almost always close and Jerry’s punch acumen doesn’t get near the appreciation it deserves. Add to the mix a Castro who’s been in quite a slump of late and it’s no wonder that Wess gets the 30. The Brooklyn-based EFB member utilizing a plethora of stinging/mocking personals, rigid gun bars, stifling wordplay, fiery punchline/set-ups/schemes and rich performance bars to preserve the shutout after a topsy-turvy Castro (who may be battling too often these days) choked in round 1, before coming back with two solid and competitive, but still a bit flow-challenged turns that all in all may leave Big Lu having to go back to the drawing board.
Verdict: Jerry Wess (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Jerry Wess – “Find him in a hole, Cast dead, Golden Girls, he paid a heavy price, buried him dark-skinned, by the time they fimd him Betty [bet he] White!”
Recap: Pristavia vs J2 from Remy Ma’s Chrone 23 league sees both battlers keep it competitive with aggressive darts, well-laced up personals and fiery punchlines. However, while J2 came through with some hot punches/schemes here and there (esp. the ‘hum to Allah’ line in round 2), one too many pedestrian bars and preachy lines by the ATL rapper in addition to a slightly more versatile, wordplay-heavy, personal-lit and consistently hitting Pristavia gives the Gun Titles empress a 30.
Verdict: Pristavia (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Pristavia – “Nigga, didn’t you go through homelessness?, then you should feel right at home in another box!”
Recap: Competitive (esp. when Shotti P made use of some spicy personals to take round 2 after getting edged by a punch-heavier Pass in round 1) but still not too many highlights in this Season 1 tournament KOTD matchup that overall was way more regular weed than Afghan Kush. Either way, with a reliable mix of high octane braggadocios darts, a flexing rebuttal and a bunch of piercing punches/wordplay, it’s the more resilient Pass who takes the deciding 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Pass (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pass – “This a cliffhanger, I got the eagle eye on the kill, I’m living at my peak, you really wanna die on this hill?!”
Recap: Considering the weight of the names, a bit surprised that this 3-rounder from HOC Rap Battle League received such little promotion. Either way, while Head I.C.E. kept things competitive for two rounds with his parlance for gritty street talk, indirect but flexing punches and witty barbs, Ill Will’s persistent combo of rambunctious punchlines (esp. during a stellar round 2), stinging personals, fiery name flips and gripping mayhem/gun bars would in the end prove to be too much, thus giving the Yaktown native a well-earned 30.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “I’m from Pontiac where we can turn babymamas into ransom notes!”
Recap: From URL’s Summer Madness 5 tournament, taking advantage of a Fonz mired in inconsistent punches, a lack of wit and a surprising 2nd round slip-up, a more consistently hitting, gritty, personal-lit and trap talk spicy Swamp takes both of the opening rounds for the win before a debatable 3rd round that while giving witness to Fonz finally putting it all together like the Landlord we’re used to seeing, still was only good enough to match the brazen polemics from South Carolina’s finest.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swamp – “The last battle, it was ‘Paige’ [page] this, ‘Paige’ [page] that, nigga flipped Paige [page] too fast and read me wrong!”
Recap: A dope, well-crafted and punch-heavy 3rd round by Ave in this Chrome 23 3-rounder vs. O’fficial doesn’t make up for a couple of braggadocious and hitting at times, but overall a bit predictable and seemingly uninspired turns by the former Cave Gang capo in the earlier rounds, leaving the consistently gritty, scheme-lit, gun bar popping and punch-heavier Bardashian with the win after she edged both of the opening rounds.
Verdict: O’fficial (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O’fficial – “DNA, Tay Roc and Dizaster?, I mean the list of men is growing for me, didn’t think I could fuck with the hottest nigga’s till I turned into Lori Harvey!”
Recap: Always a dope and unique way to test your pen, compliment battles are also a must-see for their sheer amount of entertainment value. But, hold on. Does Frak, a professional comedian (amongst other gigs) by trade, have an advantage going into one of these compliment battles against a battle rapper who doesn’t do much in the way of comedy when he/she raps? Most likely, yes. But by pulling all the spots, Geechi Gotti made sure that wouldn’t be an issue here. The Compton rapper using plenty of deadpan humor, rich storytelling, a couple of spicy rebuttals and a gang of witty punches/personals to take the latter two rounds (after his opponent edged the 1st) and beat back a pretty solid, Gotti lingo flipping and hilarious at times, but a little too redundant, filler prone and a bit elongated 3 rounds from Frak.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geecho Gotti – “[sniffs around Frak] I ain’t never smell good credit before!”
Recap: Making an out of the blue appearance in a 1-rounder on iBattleTV, JC still leaves his mark, using a consistently hitting barrage of dismissive personals, killer Godbody bars and flexing punchlines/similes to beat back a solid and gritty, but nowhere-near-as-flashy turn from King Jables.
Verdict: JC (W) 1-0
Favorite line: JC – “I know that may seem worse, but your whole intro into battle rap was ass-backwards, a breeched birth!”
Recap: Making excellent use of some steely name flips, a couple of spicy rebuttals, hard-hitting punchlines/similes and piercing personals, in this 1-rounder from iBattleTV, Ill Will cruises to an easy win over a consistently gritty and earnest, but topsy-turvy J Geans.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “Toolie grip, nigga this ain’t no movie script, when this Will got caught busting in the crowd, I ain’t have an uncle my mama could move me with!”
Recap: Participate in battle rap long enough and rematches are bound to happen. Still, while many heads consider Rum Nitty’s battle against Iron Solomon to be amongst Rum’s finest, for me it’s Rum’s 2013 battle against Danny Myers, a spitfire KOTD classic and was littered in sublime punches from both sides, that’s often overlooked and should be at a million views by now. Either way, with Danny battling like every week these days (and even calling himself now the ‘King of Rematches’), Myers vs. Nitty receives the sequel it didn’t need. And while Part 2 (aka the headliner from URL’s To Live and Die in L.A. card) is a goodie (and thankfully didn’t feature as much dapping as the 1st match did), it doesn’t come anywhere close to matching the consistent, punch-lit performance of its predecessor. An aggressive. off-the-dome spicy and punch-heavy Danny (who’s clearly changed up his battle rap blueprint ever since his Frak battle) offering up a sublime turn to handily take round 1 before Rum steps it up and just gets downright gully with it in the latter rounds, hitting on the rebuttals, fiery gun bars, witty/mocking personals, gritty mayhem and stifling wordplay/set-ups to take rounds 2 and 3 over a much less hitting showing from Danny to earn the win.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Reckless, I’m a bury him. embarrass him, take the metal and crack his face till it start to Cave like I’m from Maryland, no comparison, they just don’t get it, till somebody die…like inheritance!”
Recap: In a close 3-round GTX battle that was littered with blazing gun bars throughout, in both the 1st and 3rd rounds Saynt takes advantage of an off-the-dome light and less potent with the punches Chef Trez (who surprisingly enough was at his best with the personals here), with a slightly more consistent set-up/punch game that edges the aforementioned rounds for the win.
Verdict: Saynt (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Saynt – “Now everybody’s a gremlin, let this bitch test me, I’ll put this gremlin in a box, that’s a NFT!”
