Recap: Well, the rooftop scenery was really nice. Other than that nothing much to see here as in an RBE battle that apparently was supposed to happen awhile ago, Jag and Arsonal spout a lot of gang talk, aggressive braggadocious lines, uncomplicated gun bars and frankly speaking subpar punchlines that altogether makes this battle hard to watch more than once. However, add some solid personals by Ars to the mix during a couple of respectable turns in the 2nd and 3rd rounds that made up for a poor showing in the opener, and it’s Da Rebel who ends up taking this one over a very substandard opponent, who for some reason thought it’d be a good idea to try and go the ‘disrespectful’ route against a guy who’s mastered it.
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Arsonal – “We just found out he ain’t even real Blood, just food coloring!”
Recap: This was unfair. Whether it was a spitfire, personal-lit, touching at times, but also rowdy 3rd round or a gang of stellar set-ups/punches, wily gun bars and mocking personals in the earlier rounds, for 3 rounds Ill Will (who overall, wasn’t even at his best here) dominates the loud and aggressive, but consistently basic bars from Jag. Indeed, even the Atlanta crowd were riled by this bodybag what with the West-coast battle rapper displaying an extreme lack of intricacy to his bars that by the final round just became hard to watch. And when you consider how much hype went into promoting this battle. you might be better off re-watching the faceoff, yunno when Jag still stood a chance to win.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “I’m forever ready, Pontiac got my back very heavy, they just know me as Will, the lights make me ill…like epilepsy!”
Recap: Long bouts of lethargic screeds aside (esp. with Jag, who needs to learn how to connect his bars and condense his rounds better), O-Red vs. Jag on RBE is a bout that while solid overall, certainly didn’t live up to the hype (which was pretty considerate). Jag, way nicer when he utilizes his humor and gets spicy with the personals, had some dope bars here and there, but for the most part was pretty mediocre with his punches. Then too the West-coast battler went overkill when it came to not only his use of name flips, but when talking that real talk shit too. On the other hand, after a fire, punch-heavy and gritty round 1 that easily got him the opener, a completely different, pedestrian and long-winded at times O-Red shows up to round 2 and loses what was a beatable turn by his opponent. No doubt feeling some momentum after edging the previous round, Jag gets a bit spicier with his punches/personals and combined with some hard-hitting street missives, unleashes a round 3 that if not for one too many redundant themes on who’s realer, might’ve won him a round that Red, after starting a bit slowly, gets the edge what with a gang of gritty wordplay and a more consistent punch game.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Yeah bitch, this that old-school Jersey…Mitchell and Ness”!
Recap: Pretty solid effort here from Chubby Jag, who outside of a 3rd round that we’ll get to later and one too many name flips, came consistently hard and aggressive against Math Hoffa, with a gang of gritty punches throughout the match that should definitely should put him on par with King Los and 40 Cal when it comes to ‘best-comebacks-to-battle-rap-by-industry-rappers’. Hell, as far as recent comeback’s go, one could easily argue that Jag did way better then his former mentor Cassidy did. That said, there’s no way Jag beat Hoffa here, with the ever combative styling’s of Math fermenting his ground in the opening rounds with a boatlaod of bullish punchlines, fiending wordplay, rich metaphorical darts and enough mocking personals to remind you of the wide range Hoffa has when it comes to his pen. As for round 3? A story in itself with Jag getting extra greasy what with a turn almost entirely dedicated to the recent rape allegations that were publicly made against his opponent. Yet, surely, this being battle rap, Math had to know somebody was going to eventually bring it up. And yeah, as personal and sensitive as the subject matter was, Math getting riled up and walking away on stage while Jag rapped and leaving at the end without shaking hands, was certainly understandable. But no, unless it stops a battle from proceeding, unsportsmanlike conduct like that shouldn’t cost you the round…not that it matters anyway since Jag’s storytelling and execution was so point in the 3rd that it won him the round anyway and saved him from getting 30’d.
Verdict: Math Hoffa (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Math Hoffa – “Pussy, this our house, you on some distant cousin shit, we the kids that jumped on the bed just because we loved the shit!”
Recap: Fiery 1-rounder from AngryFan Radio sees Chubby Jag start off his turn with some dope punches/personals, stay gritty with his material and flow throughout the battle, but fail to put much points on the scoreboard due to a lack of intricacy to his bars. On the other hand, a pretty confident Cortez was able to back up his moxie with a steady stream of fierce name flips, stinging 4-bar set-ups, rigid personals and piercing punchlines/trap talk for the win.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “You ain’t never sold no drugs, son feeble, it’s Jag, we all know Jag’s don’t pump diesel!”
