Recap: Gates of the Garden co-owner C Low has been putting in work as a battler for a minute now. And through the use of feisty punchlines, a consistent flow, fiery (“So pay attention, I learned a head shot can get you more views than main venting!”) gun bars and real street jargon, Low almost always offers a solid performance such as this one against a punch-heavy and vigorous Beddafi Green, where in addition to the aforementioned arsenal, Low displays some witty personals to come back and force a tie in the deciding 3rd round after the two split the first two.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Beddafi Green – “This is what you get when you call me out, you ain’t know that I walk around with rounds that could take a whole army out, or I’ll put a hawker out, mark your whole body down, zig zag across your body, now you Charlie Brown!”
Recap: Sporting a plethora of showmanship, wit and rapid lyrical aptness, Madflex matches bars with the always flexing wordplay and fiending punches of Xcel for 3 rounds on the KOTD stage. A solid and spirited battle throughout, a fire middle-of-the-round (“…when his LIFE come out his chest like the shirt on his skin!”) freestyle by Madflex allows him just enough room to match a versatile and fire (“You not the truth, I will rock your roof like stalactites!”) turn by Xcel. The 2nd and 3rd rounds however, sees each battler out-maneuver the other what with Madflex’s more consistent darts and finite (“If I offered you a featherweight fight, you look light, you’d bring a pillow!”) penmanship beating back a less potent turn by Xcel in the middle round, before the Team Homi vet comes back with a more punch-heavy and surmisable in the 3rd for the draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Xcel – “You wanna try angles, but got the wrong hypotenuse!”
Recap: ‘Mr. Everything’ John John da Don and gun line aficionado Rum Nitty go at for 3 rounds on the URL/Smack stage and it’s a goodie with JJDD going after Rum with resident name flips, but also some angles/allegations you don’t often see against the Arizona spitter: being one-dimensional with his raps, biting (“You took Roc’s whole style and took pride in the shit, your writing legit but nah, it’s not as exciting as his, Gun Bar King, Gun Line King, yeah you biting his shit…the Stone Cold Stunner, RKO, it’s the same move, minus the kick!”) other battlers and dishing questionable bars during past battles. Those factors along with some witty (“But I’m supposed to believe that you let your gun blam, when you wore those supposed-to-be-Jordan’s…that let us know you wasn’t real from the jump man!”) punchlines and gritty schemes/personals make JJDD more than competitive here. But Nitty being Nitty, while never lacking for sizzling (“This shit wicked, like government assistance, Nitty tripping, dump the body, put 4 eyes in the river…Mississippi!”) punchlines in any bout, did more than enough to stay in this one (even with a rare slip-up in the 1st round that caused him to end the round early and get edged by JJDD), thus bringing enough heat with his pen to make for a debatable 2nd, before taking the final round with enough haymakers to beat back a very solid turn from his opponent.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “This was one of your go too guys on the URL, off the belt I’ll pop a Smack shooter like Sugar Hill!”
Recap: In what was a spitfire We Go Hard battle, a slightly more versatile, punch/wordplay-heavy and confidently rebuttal spitting Bedaffi Green does just enough to earn a tie with Franchise. And trust that Green needed to unload the whole kitchen sink what with two epic name flip stinging, scintillating (“Pistol whip Bedaffi, have Green leaking down your screen, that’s the goosebumps!”) gun bar shining and haymaker-drenched rounds from his performance-heavy, Canadian opponent who seemingly had this one in the bag going into the bottom of the 3rd after the two battlers split the first two rounds. But Bedaffi wasn’t having any of it, getting his Chef Trez on with ‘3 of them things’ to start off his turn, before delivering just enough fierce punches along with some aggressive and potent heaters to make this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Bedaffi Green – “If he panic, Steve Francis, the Heat play Franchise gonna look fucked up!”
Recap: Ty Law and Zay Smoove battle in this rare 3-rounder from Gates of the Garden. Competitive throughout, despite being out-punched Law’s opening freestyles forces a draw to round one, while too many dry spots along with a couple of slip-ups, give a more consistent and (“Put the knife all in him, bring it back out, put it back in, shit look like I’m at the credit card machine, but the chip just won’t work!”) aggressive Zay the 2nd. Behind going into the 3rd, Law gets back on his grind with his best round what with rapid punches that steadily hit. And despite another solid turn from Zay, Law’s more heavy-handed turn makes this one even in the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ty Law – “The fact you got all these battles, not one hot clip, it’s telling like that nigga crying in his mugshot pic!”
Recap: Entertaining battle between ShowOff and Loso features costume changes, high-energy faith-based raps, disrespectful Christian rebukes, fiery personals, lofty punchlines and aggressive testimonials on everyday struggles. All said, a competitive battle that saw a more well-versed and more consistent Loso take the 1st round, before ShowOff comes back with a high-grade, fanatical round that beat a less effective turn by Loso while earning Show a split going into the 3rd. That final round saw ShowOff literally go bad preacher mode, while staying downright disrespectful with a slew of otherworldly darts and unkind (“I’m killing you, and I don’t care if nobody care, ‘cuz on some real shit, I don’t even believe nobody there!”) pontifications that would make an atheist proud. On the other hand, a more personal-driven and punch-heavy Loso, confident in his raps throughout the battle, would, despite a few pedestrian bars here and there, match ShowOff’s efficacy with a pretty solid enough round to make this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Loso – “[He] the type to be like ‘Where was God at 9/11?’, nigga the same place ya left him on 9/10 and 9/12!”
Recap: How Yogi Berra said it? ‘It ain’t over till it’s over!’ Right, indeed. With Kid Deph and Superblack using an alloy of fiery (KD: “My shooters is reckless, Google investment, they stock lovers!”) gun lines, steely punchlines, ample (SB: “You got any plans of throwing a cig in my face, you better cut that…unless it’s a Newport!”) wit and fluid performance bars to split the 1st round, after a poor showing in the 2nd round by Superblack combined with a dope (“Put your life, under this ladder…he superstitious!”) 3rd from Deph, it seemed like the Kid was on his way to a comfortable win. But with an able assist from his girl, Superblack’s unorthodox stylings and delivery showed up and finally left earth in the 3rd, displaying enough versatility along with plenty of dope set-ups and steely punches to win the round and score a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Superblack – “Shit I ain’t even get a chance to scratch the serial on a ratchet, only a half the Gun Title like Free Surf!”
Recap: Plenty of hardbody (“I made money off the Rock and the Diesel, I’m like The Fast and the Furious!”) bars from Top Ten speak with both flair and grit in this one-rounder against Reepah Rell, who after a bit of a slow start, shook the crowd with some stupendous wordplay and fiery schemes. Still, while Reepah might’ve dished more haymakers, a mid-round slip-up along with another, albeit slighter slip in delivery later on, cost’s Rell the edge here.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Reepah Rell – “I’m ready to rock, think Super Mario, we jumpig for coins, you ain’t gotta question the block!”
Recap: In one of the more disappointing Summer Madness matchup’s of all-time, Brizz Rawsteen versus Calicoe is a case of one fire round (Calicoe’s 1st), Brizz once again going way too long in rounds that were low-lighted by a boatload of filler, pedestrian name flips and personals that mostly fell flat and yet, still having a chance to win this bout at the end of his 3rd thanks in part to Brizz’s comeuppance on (“I can tell you ain’t getting money by the shit that your bitch wear!”; “Tell your dudes scrap or move back, or they gonan get the tek’s [texts] at the same time like Group chat!”) haymakers as well as Cal’s inability to match his conventional aggression with quality bars. That is, until a late (“My price is my price, I don’t bargain with nigga’s, from now on, we can’t eat unless you starve with a nigga!”) surge towards the end of his 3rd earns Cal a debatable…thanks in part to a solid, but once again elongated turn by Brizz. Still, with neither battler consistently bringing their A-game throughout, call this one a draw and move on.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Calicoe – “I’m the type of nigga that’ll front you, give you all the work and you the type that’ll run off and get your sister put on a shirt!”
Recap: Gwitty’s rampant and elongated anecdotes versus Zeus da God’s hard and schizophrenic (“You get cracked baby, I been known to live the 80 life!”) rap stylings make for lots of noise and some witty bars, but not much in the way of steady, consistent heat from either battler. Thus, call it a 1-rounder that didn’t really prove who was better.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Gwitty – “I be rebelling, while smoking the weed I’m selling, I can take an ‘L’!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Bring Ya Barz Battle League, Your Honor and Paine The Poet exchange a gang of boastful barbs, heated personals and residual mayhem that all make for a competitive match. And while Paine The Poet, more condensed with his turn and slightly steadier with the punches/personals/name flips makes a solid case for the win, even with an elongated round that was littered with filler, some added wit, dope (“I ain’t from the DMV, I’m from the District, get it right, for y’all rooting for him and praying that he probably win this fight?, I ain’t scared of ya, Miss America, this gonna be the body of the night!”) set-ups and the ability to drop roundhouse punchlines throughout his round, allows for Your Honor to do just enough for this one to be called a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Paine The Poet – “Keep it handy, hit his crib, kids tied up in the pantry, mule kick your mom, snub pointed at granny then it’s Blue Ivy looking at daddy, you better pray this nose don’t run in the family!”
Recap: Scoring at will with more loaded (“Then I dump the body over the river, he was trying to figure out if water was wet!”) heaters and fiery name flips, Fettuccine20 looks to be on his way to hard-earned win in this one-rounder versus (“The head was amazing, but she couldn’t handle the nut, bitch just said ‘c’mon, whatever it’s Fetti’s’ and I’m like damn how she cleaning this up?….but you know how that ended, why would you think she bleached all your stuff?”) Swaggtanna. But then the inexplicable happens…Fetti can’t recall his bars and if not for a save from Shooney da Rapper, would’ve lost the battle to a pretty nice throughout opponent. And despite getting his moxie back, another near choke by Fetti, before Shooney steps in (again) with some able assistance from Fetti’s Golden Squad crew, ends up earning a more consistent with his flow Swaggtanna, a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Fettuccine 20 – “He always acting like he tough, nigga move something, the tool dumping, each one come with a pair, I put a metal on tray liek school lunches!”
Recap: Surprise battle on, of all places, the RBE stage between West-coast vet Illmaculate and JC lives up to the hype with plenty of dope (Illmac: “This is terminal cancer, he knew he was dead when I hit the terminal, panicked and tried to jet soon as he heard that I landed, I let him carry on, that’s personal baggage, then take flight, that’s plane to see…”) schemes, metaphorical wizardry, personals galore, a load of small guy shit-talk, hitting gun bars and a plethora of witty (“Jay [J-eh] ain’t what he sounds like…fuck it am I speaking Spanish?!”) anecdotes. The feeling here is a 1st round draw with both battlers dispensing equal heat along with equal (JC: “This is wht greatness is, you clown’s are just plagiarists, trying to sneak a scheme past Stephen King, oh wow…well I created It!”) haymakers with steady aggression, nice performance bars and staid crowd control. And while Illmac came hard with more fiery wordplay in a (“They got me preying on Baby Jesus…Talladega Nights!”) personals-driven 2nd round, the vet rapper hurt himself a bit with dated themes and an elongated, 7-minute 2nd round that allowed for equally adept (“We need you upright, because this one night, it ain’t about increasing the peace, shit, you’ll get beat with the piece like you Pun wife!”) JC to edge the round with less dry spots amongst more of those ill (“You about as notable as a wave….in Kevin Durant hair!”; “Shit, I’ll take any shot…I’m ambitious!”) punchlines/personals the Michigan rapper is noted for. But displaying veteran resiliency, Illmac bounced back in the 3rd, what with a more versatile and well-crafted round featuring a load of lofty (“Right hook, jaw gets damaged, mouth sticking out the side like when you talking with a Boston accent!”) punches and a handful of haymakers that beat back a solid, but not spectacular turn from JC. All in all, a terrific battle that deserves to be debated.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: JC – “If you looking for a nigga to embarrass you, you couldn’t have picked a better dude, colossal impact, even at eye-level, I leveled you!”
Recap: It’s a different type of stumble, but against Real Deal here on No Coast X, Tone Montana proves to be his own worse enemy again. This time wasting his 3rd round on a predictable and shortened race angle after going into the 3rd round, IMO, winning this battle upon splitting the 1st and edging the (“I ain’t saying fuck your race, all I’m saying is that I’ll go to the White House and burn a cross on Columbus Day!”) 2nd. Thus, Real Deal, who was pretty solid throughout, dishes a hot enough 3rd round to force a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Real Deal – “Let’s get violent Tony, I’d love it if we took it to fists, the end of Candyman the only time Trevor catching a hook from a bitch!”
Recap: Cable Guy and Stylez go at it in this PG matchup that featured plenty of fiery gun bars as well as some nice wordplay here and there to make the match competitive throughout. However, with a boatload of very average lines and pedestrian bars/schemes from both battlers, this battle turns out to be less than satisfying when compared to the hunger you’re used to seeing in most PG battles. So despite a pretty-basic-in the-first and taking-too-long-to-get-to-the-punch Cable Guy getting reduced to toast by his opponent’s ill stream of frenzied (“Glock 40 by the waistline with the beam, I got a laser disc, shit it shocked me when I shoot, it got a taser grip!”) gun bars in the first, before Styles delivers a huge miscue with his ‘Bret Hart died in the ring’ line and cutting his 2nd round short to defeat any chance of winning that round to a more wordplay and scheme-heavy Cable Guy. 3rd round exemplified the entire battle with Stylez dishing just enough of that gritty, street shit to even the score against what was a hot-n-cold turn by Cable Guy.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Cable Guy – “You running around, think you tough with some camera crew?!, well nigga I got news for you!”
Recap: Here against Nu Jerzey Twork, Cortez finally gets his long-deserved Summer Madness battle and overall, whiel it’s a solid showing from both battlers, you wouldn’t be unfair if you wanted and expected more. That said, a more consistent, trap-themed and versatile Cortez edged the first round, using some dope performance bars along with some exquisite (“I need to know, they call you Twork why?, ‘cuz you shaving them grams?!, lies, they call you Twork ‘cuz you shaky on cam!”) wordplay to beat back a menacing and gun-heavy turn by the always eccentric (“I let it clap on Cor, [claps 3 times]. then again…clap..on. Cor…the gat drann!”) Twork. Second round had Twork winning pretty easy as Tez’s aggressive bars, while loaded with a few (“.357 in your face, the nose ring different!”) shiners here and there, missed the mark too often with a couple of reaches and wayward themes/lines that seemed a little redundant, when they weren’t pedestrian. In turn, Twork came through with a spitfire round that spoke to the potency (“I get it popping when it bang, silencio, sound like nada when it bang!”) of his pen as well his ability to spout an expansive range of fire set-ups. Going into the last round tied, Cortez’s earlier promises of having something to talk about, turned into a bit of a disappointment, what with little on the personal side. And while you got a competitive round filled with plenty of heat and sanguine wordplay, a few dry spots along with bars that would’ve worked against a lesser tier opponent, would end up costing Cortez a win. In turn, with momentum on his side after spitting his best round, Twork’s 3rd, while not his best, still was enough to rise to the occasion, what with some witty (“You managed to beat Daylyt, but most of your footage ain’t seen the light of day!”) personals and fiery gun bars that slayed their mark. Overall, enough to catch up to Cort and call this one even at the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Fuck your battles, you hear me talking about your vault, it’s the one behind the portrait!”
Recap: Two battle vets who should arguably be in everyone’s Top 5, Hollow Da Don and Tay Roc, come together for a fire, competitive and highly entertaining matchup at URL’s Summer Madness 6. Roc, the self-proclaimed ‘Gun Bar King’, lets his whole arsenal off in the 1st round, a blazing and more condensed turn littered with armored (“Once they paid me my dough, this problem was all yours, Black mask, I’m flashing sticks, that’s Star Wars, sawed off, try to run, I’m all for it, I’ll chase you with it, runnin’ with the Thunder, I’m Paul George!”) mayhem. Still, Hollow would come right back with a more versatile turn that featured a host of eccentric, metaphorical and unorthodox stylings. And tho the di-da Don was able back come right back and land a gang of haymakers with a boatload of stinging punchlines, name flips and personals along with some added wit, despite being more one-dimensional, a more consistent Roc earns a draw in the opener.
Roc would get more resourceful in round 2, using some over-the-top performance bars, more uplifting gun heat, lofty personals and righteous schemes/punches to edge a turn by Hollow that after a slow start and thanks in part to a late flurry of braggadocio bangers, almost got the L.O.M. honcho the round. 3rd round produced yet another aggressive, exhilarating and punch-heavy turn from both battlers with Roc going back to ringing (“My left hook will wobble your shit, it’s a leg shaker, then my right hook? A farmer’s tool, it’s a haymaker!”) mayhem with some piercing personals mixed in. But still behind one round, it’d be Hollow who would turn it up even more, using a plethora of searing rebuttals, hardbody schemes and agile (“I drive different, like a Tesla car engine, I’m the reason the line outside longer than an Escobar sentence!”) punchlines/personals to take the round and gain a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Hollow Da Don – “You act tough in blogs but when I see you, you change instantly, take the fatigues off in 2K, I want to see the same energy!”
Recap: In this Spanish-tinged PG matchup, Profit’s performance and unorthodox stylings may prove to be noteworthy in the long run, but heads shouldn’t sleep on the spiffy bars and effort from Ralphy Gabbana either. Indeed, with Gabbana displaying more consistency and (“URL gonna monetize the views, but either way my hands is on Profit!”) potency with his punches/schemes in the 1st round, the DMV rapper was able to take the lead, before a more enriched-with-the-bars Profit came back to edge the 2nd. In the deciding 3rd, Gabbana, despite reaching a little bit with the name flips, makes for a solid enough turn to match what was also a solid and versatile turn from Profit, who might’ve edged the round and won the battle if he had come cleaner.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Profit – “Plus I heard your bitch can’t cook, you should make her disappear, her rice and beans is trash, I’m chasing it, it’s weird!”
Recap: Sporting a plethora of fire punchlines from each battler throughout, Born and Nunn Nunn go tit-for-tat on the KOTD stage. That’s a harbinger for a close and competitive battle, that with some ample accessories (i.e. Nunn Nunn kicking a couple of dope rebuttals to edge the 2nd round after a solid freestyle garners a debatable first) and Born’s ability to still dispense a barrage of spitfire (“I was sleeping, but still coming [cumming] for a bitch like a wet dream!”) punchlines in the final 3rd round to beat back Nunn Nunn’s more pedestrian turn, makes for a draw at the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “If I’m a white bitch, then Nuborn [new born] I’m Casey Anthony!”
Recap: In this 3-round matchup from Trap NY, it’s a showcase of typical insular, braggadocio, anti-social gun bars spouted by both (“Like when you’re done watching porn online…Qleen [clean] your history!”) Dre Dennis and (“When I get the chrome, he Chilla Jones, all that scheming for nothing!”) Qleen Paper that keeps the drama interesting throughout the battle. However, after a more condensed and spitfire QP edges the 2nd round (after a debatable first) to take the lead going into the final round, his penchant for Earl visitations along a very resilient Dennis, combines for a draw at the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Your stock drop because you take gwap and you darting, dropping tiers because you fake son like ‘Sorry I lied to you Martin!’“
Recap: After a debatable 1st and a lethargic 2nd that saw him fall behind the (“When the arm extends, y’all get touched is what I’m getting to, turn the Zoo Faculty into the Petting zoo!”), personal/punch-heavy Krome, despite a near choke towards the end, Anubis’ mostly hot 3rd is just enough to edge the final round and get a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Anubis – “You an electronic cigarette, you don’t want smoke for real!”
Recap: A couple of old Grind Time vets, Ness Lee and Pass, go at it on the KOTD stage and put up what turns out to be a pretty dope fight with the more lyrical-leaning (and witty) Lee using a rapid stream of hot, polemic jabs to come back and make for a 2nd round tie (after the word-savvy and [“The only time you had dough on a brick, it was a pizza oven”] punch-heavy Pass easily took round 1), before continuing with the verbal shiners in a 3rd round to beat back a shortened turn by Pass, which overall equates to this one being a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ness Lee – “You old, whenever you hear a cop say ‘Chase that nigga!’, your black side run, your white side chase that nigga!”
Recap: You expected a spitfire punchfest, but instead JC versus Chef Trez is arguably a classic with each battler bringing their A-game and dropping haymakers and other noteworthy schemes with rapid abandon. Round one saw Trez immediately go for the jugular with an elongated turn that was littered with lyrical bombs, versatile heaters/personals and some fire (“We was raised different, the shit we go through day to day different, God told you get baptized, he told me to get a gun…we was saved different!”) wordplay. Chef’s fire palette was met, however, by a just-as-fire round by JC, who upon making his return to Smack, delivered what the fans were craving for: seismic (“Nigga, ask the docs about the patients I left ‘em, and I won’t quit yet, I got more clips left, and the cap will swallow his head like the old Dipset!”) gun bars and adept lyricism in a more condensed turn that earned him a draw for the round. The 2nd round is where Trez turned it up, showing off multifaceted hijinks with freestyles, rebuttals and a robust mix of fiery (“You dying sucker, see how my lines structured?, my mind gutter, .9’s touch ya’, since JC is God’s Son, his background get blew [blue] like Nas cover!”) punches, lofty name flips and witty shiners that easily beat back a pretty solid, but not nearly as nice turn from his fellow Writer’s Bloque opponent. With Trez up one round, the ATL spitter kept the pressure on, continuing to dish standout heat, gritty performance bars and potent schemes with self-assured poise. However, sticking in cool-headed vet mode, JC went back in his bag and came out with another condensed and flexing turn that was rich with stinging set-ups, fire braggadocio lines and jaunty (“Your bitch catch the heat from these straps…she not walking out of there with tan lines!”) punches to edge the round and make this superb battle a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “And what’s up with these niggas with struggle and gangsta bars? these dudes clueless, niggas got shotties in their pants legs, deuce deuce in their boots, but they move stupid, I had the pack in my briefs, AR in my jeans…and I walk regular ’cause I’m used to it!”
Recap: Dre Dennis (“Like a little white lie, I been [bend] the truth”!) can rap often and forever, but elongated rounds can work against him as is the case where after splitting the first round with a just as solidly nice (“Flow illegal, plain [plane] outta here, Muslim people!”) Spee Dolla, Dennis easily takes the 2nd round with way more fiery (“It’s a wrap with a hand on my hip, like the old Tsu Surf!”) punchlines, hitting gun bars and a nice rebuttal at the intro. Going into the 3rd with the lead, it’s more of the same sizzling (“I’ll swing them arms back like George Jefferson walking!”) lines for Dre in the 3rd…except for him once again rapping too long and really lacking variety with the bars, which in turn waters down his consistency as his punches aren’t always hitting with the same impact. And that leaves Spee Dolla, while dishing fierce wordplay along with some nice (“Grab a street sweeper, barrel look like a Louisville, water Tommy gun, that clip could make a movie reel!”) performance bars in what was his best round despite a shorter turn than his opponent (with but with a higher bar quotient), with enough will and a little more variety to take the round and earn a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Spee Dolla – “Different picture, you chumps will be slumped if I looked to hit ya, shortie riding, she fixing to rock it [rocket], he Hidden Figures!”
Recap: Taking us inside the trap world for the umpteenth time, T-Rex’s comfort zone shines early on, but becomes repetitive later on. Not that it matters to Rex, even when he gets caught by his opponent here, the erstwhile Rad B, for recycling bars. Still, wouldn’t Rex have been better off spinning more lines on why an up-n-comer like Rad deserves with him in the first place? Or better yet, displaying more of his hearty (“I’m married to the white, it’s like Kanye’s wedding!”) wit and peep that, a cold (“If I wrote, if I feel like saying it, I’ll say it again!”) rebuttal game? But hey, word has it that Rex is retiring soon anyway and hell if we all don’t appreciate him doing this battle after he no-showed when it was first supposed to take place. That being said, while Rad B needs serious work on his monotone flow and penchant for mediocre bars, the yung’un still managed to put in enough work with some nice (“Last time a chick seen Rex bone, she was at a fucking museum!”) punches/wordplay/personals here to make it competitive and earn a split.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Rad B – “Are you gonna win? I already said birth control…no baby!”
Recap: One of the punch-heaviest, dopest and competitive 1-round battles you’ll see, Ru Bando and Chris Mills both bring their A-game’s to a We Go Hard match that should’ve gotten a lot more attention in 2017. Bando, a stickler for sheer mayhem and rapidly punching with plenty of vigor, head-swinging gun bars and short, but perfunctory punchlines, rarely minced words. While Boston spitter Mills, kept the scoreboard lit with a boatload of thrifty wordplay, fire-set-ups, real street shit, some ridiculous name flips and suave (“I got a mean jab, speed bag, see how I roll with them punches?!”) punchlines that had the crowd hype. A tight one with an almost equal amount of haymakers, what Bando lacked in versatility was made up for with slightly less dry spots from his opponent, thus, we call this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ru Bando – “It ain’t a firm handshake when I squeeze the grip, ‘cuz I’m wilding with the sub like the teacher is sick!”
Recap: Dope one between Glueazy and Nu Jerzey Twork, close and competitive enough to definitely warrant a couple of looks. A performance-rich and /set-up/gun-bar (“That’s fake love, I’ll [waves hand like a gun] fill her head up with all kind’s of shit, end the bitch!”) spazzing Twork, despite going longer than his solid, punch-heavy opponent, still rained down enough haymakers to take round 1. And while both battlers brought plenty of heat in the middle round, the edge here goes to Glu for being more condensed with his turn, while supplying the best bar of the round. Final and deciding round was another barn buster with Glueazy kicking more fire punchlines (tho mostly in the 1st half of his round) with his signature aggression and VA cadence, while Twork consistently scored aplenty with more animated gun bars and finite wordplay. That said, call it a toss-up.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Glueazy – “I’ll kill him, Robin Williams, all jokes and now your life’s on a line!”
Recap: Never been a fan of 2-rounders, but this one’s still fire what with R Streetz spitting hot (“The clip curved, I gotta load it sideways, it’s the big heat so it hook from the side…like strippers to make end’s meet!”) punches and schemes at will in round one to easily beat back a pretty pedestrian turn by opponent Jynx da Don. That wouldn’t be the end of it tho as Jynx turned up in the second round, punching and landing with flat-footed urban theater that scored with the quickness, just enough to take the round over another solid turn by sturdy Mr. Streetz.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jynx Da Don – “A round in the streets, that’s probably a sewer nigga, if I put a round in Streetz, he’ll probably sue a nigga!”
Recap: Tho a little repetitive towards the end, the steady dishes of (“I’ll pop a few, I’ll let it fire in front of your family like I was cooking Hibachi food!”) mayhem and salacious name flips from Benji Lolo was certainly capable enough to warrant a win in this one-rounder versus Pep. However, along with a nice rebuttal, a palette of mean personals along with enough experience to save himself from a slip-up or twp, Pep’s overall ability to entertain with rapid punches and righteous indignation at his opponent’s more gritty bars during his turn allows for this one to go down as a split.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Pep – “The difference between when you and I rap, these nigga’s is 100 percent sure that these is my rhymes!”
Recap: ‘What do I know, I just got Charlie Clips in a year’. Ummm yeah, apparently Detroit emcee Shotti P is doing something right, because besides this battle I hadn’t heard much from him before. Yet, here he is on the KOTD stage against the likes of Clips…in what ended up being literally a debatable battle. 1st round goes to Clips…easy, what with sizzling (“Y’all know me, I roll with two guns, pay attention, I got one tucked, I’m Mario when he get the extra man…I [points hand up] keep one up!”) set-ups/schemes, a fiery and consistent flow and scheming (“Maybe it’s only me, but you look like you sit on the toilet for a half an hour straight and only pee!”) bars that lit fires in your belly. Still, the 3rd round went to Shotti P…easy, not that Clips delivering yet another 3rd round dropoff helped any, yet that doesn’t dismiss Shotti’s jaunty (“Naw, fuck that I ain’t looking for a cop-out like his pop’s did, I ain’t with the politics, you’ll get caught smoking like one of Barack’s kids!”) personals and nice comedic timing. Second round is the deciding factor and could either way with Shotti’s spitfire (“You got s mean gun? well I got a depressed .38 like a midlife crisis!”) bars and wordplay versus a little more diverse turn from Clips that landed heavy with potent storytelling bars, searing (“…but if I ain’t feeling your Styles P, then huh!, I make you Kiss the gun!”) puns and rich crowd-pleasers.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Shotti P – “When a shotty [Shotti] smoking, it’ll lift a nigga spirit like ‘Great News!’“
Recap: A tough one between Quban and Trey 30 with plenty of descriptive gun lines, stinging performance bars and gritty punchlines. Tied going into the 3rd, a spitfire turn by 30 is met by an equally potent turn by Quban and while 30 may’ve had a slightly more consistent flow, after somewhat of a slow start, Quban earns a debatable with some dope schemes and one more (“Oh, you street?, come and get a jumbo slice…then his head leak the sauce, yunno, the Mumbo type!”) haymaker.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Trey 30 – “Us battling makes no sense, like vegan’s beefing!”
Recap: The shitload of head nods alone should tell you that this one was a goodie as Bad Newz and Chef Trez go at it for 3 spitfire rounds on the Bullpen Battle League stage. The edge goes to Newz in round one, who even after a bit of a slow start and a consistently cooking turn from his opponent, uses the latter half of his turn to deliver righteous haymakers what with fire (“I’m that athlete on the bench in the suit, I did not come to play!”) punchlines, stinging wordplay and some aggressive personals. And even with Newz continuing to dish plenty of fiery punches in the middle round, it’s Trez who takes the 2nd with raucous gun lines, loaded schemes and some more fly (“The best gossiper, Newz not safe with me!”) name flips. Split going into the 3rd, both battlers stayed on point, with Chef sporting an entertaining/personal-heavy turn that even featured a game newscaster impression as well as some nice (“I do shit he can’t do and honestly nigga it’s over with bars, peep his shirt, you see the league right, why you put this bull over the stars?!”) freestyles that might’ve beaten most opponent’s if not for Bad Newz coming right back with a hardbody, street-savvy and wordplay/punch-lit round that mixed in with a couple of his own freestyles, allowed for a draw to the match.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Bad Newz – “Young nigga, with a lot of .40s, I’m where the cougars at!”
Recap: From Body Bag Battle League, a competitive 3-rounder here leads to a draw as a slightly more condensed Bill Collector’s action-laced punches and witty idioms/darts edges him round 2 (after he lost round 1) and earns him in a tie in the deciding 3rd against an often punch-heavy and lit with the gun bars/similes Bars The Animal in what altogether was a goodie.
Verdict: Tie
Favorite line: Bars The Animal – “Big Smif, tipping the stripper, Bill under the strap!”
Recap: Get past host Norbes and Jazz the Rapper dressed in their PJ’s and way too many sights of Nu Jerzy Twork’s underwear and you’re left with a barfest of a PG battle between Jakkboy Maine and Drugz. Start with the fact that Drugz, steadily aggressive with surefest punches and gritty (“I’m showing him why Drugz is one of DMV’s well-known soldiers, when it’s wartime, you a cannibal late to dinner, you get the cold shoulder!”) shiners, did much of anything wrong in round 1, but an oft-understated, but highly polemic with fine-tuned (“These [points up two guns] like kids at a puddle, they jump across!”; “Gun up, but a big let down like something for what you wasn’t expected!”) gun bars Jakkboy did way more to take round one. If you thought the first round was fire, the second round was even better, but moreso for Drugz, whose steadier flow raucous gun bars and audacious (You was up there talking about my debatable’s right? knowing damn well you in a relationship with a debatable dyke!”), personals gained him a split going into round 3. Which while solid on both sides, significantly lacked the consistently flagrant verbiage of the previous two rounds and contained some stumbles from each battler as well, so call it even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jakkboy Maine – “MJ impersonation, it ain’t right [points up fingers like gun] without the spin, 6th man, ya face will see ya backboard when ya meet the rim! !”
Recap: Besides J-Murda arguing with O-Red (and afterwards awkwardly stepping in the battle to spit some freestyles at Nice) and somebody burping out loud in the mic, there’s nothing remarkable to see here as Xcel’s overall bars fail to meet his normal pedigree, while Nice spits just enough hard (“This league made you who were practically branded, left for URL, but lost on UFF, and them nigga’s left you stranded, we were confused, you were confused, couldn’t figure out where your brain is, started losing weight…I guess that’s why you switched to Organik [organic]!”) bars around an average lot to pull off a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Xcel – “Body shots will fold this nigga up…Nice and neat!”
Recap: Besides the fact that a performance-heavy (“I’m Debo, or think Craig, now put green in the flip, that was backwards, on Friday my connect hit me with a brick!”) Cali Smoov did a great job of overselling a lot of his more pedestrian bars/schemes throughout this battle and Young X’s ‘Who’s more street?/I’m more realer than you’ themes bordered on overkill, with only X’s penchant for witty punches getting in the way of what was overall a pretty average performance, it’s hard to say that either Smoov or X were on their A-game here. Still, a solid on both parts 1st round makes for a tie while a stronger X clearly took the 2nd, before a more fine-tuned Smoov took the 3rd to officially make this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Young X – “Think Cain cousin Harold nigga…that’s a metaphor for reach and get killed!”
Recap: Is there a league left out there that DNA hasn’t battled on? That being said, in the grimy halls of The Trap, DNA and Dolla put on a dope show, each with a barrage of hot gun lines and competitive bars that kept it close throughout. And while DNA sported more shrewd name flips, Dolla’s rambunctious punches equaled the effort. So all said, give (“Then last nigga’s you battled couldn’t get their raps off proper, Harriet Tubman, I’m a be the first to Black on Dolla [dollar]!”) DNA the 1st round, with a debatable 2nd before Dolla clearly took the 3rd.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Dolla – “You, like a chick that hold her nigga down through a 10-year bid [How’s that?]….you a real bitch!”
Recap: After somewhat laboriously claiming partial ownership to URL’s Proving Grounds concept in round 1, yet clearing losing to Mike P’s more cohesive verbal (“Out bar me?, hell no, Ya man sing and you’ll get metal across ya mouth, that’s the the start of the Chappelle Show!”) hijinks and winning personals (“Yo Day, welcome to your first battle that counts!”), Daylyt comes back with thorny (“I school nigga’s to death, it’s Columbine, when they rape they give me the underscore, that’s because they don’t get the bottom line”) rhyme schemes and intricate (“Anaconda [and the kind of nigga] nigga I am, I rap tight as hell…sir pen [serpent] outta this world, man this shit is cold bruh [cobra]”) word dynamics that for the most part hit in elongated round 2 to even things up. The 3rd round, scintillating in its charm on both sides, gets a toss-up as despite Day’s continued crowd-pleasing polemics (and a too-ill scheme on Mike’s moniker), Mike P refused to wilt, returning the fire with his own round of stirring (“Get your life cut short by making a slight edit, because the .44 surprising [bends down] low like Mike credit!”) heat, fresh angles and mean personals to make this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Daylyt – “You did a Street Fighter scheme, it was the coolest, nigga’s was clapping. you was down forward with the punches, it was dope to see how dude could get a reaction!”
Recap: Going up against a strong-arm display of piercing (“[Bwoh!] I got that shit in Durham, nigga’s in Greensboro was like ‘You heard that?!'”) gun bars and flexing personals from Drugz for 3 rounds, after surviving a couple of slip-ups in round 1, Zig Zag for the most part dumps the resident name flips and with two rounds of quality-equipped punchlines and ripping mayhem, comes back with enough heat to edge the 2nd round before an equal amount of haymakers from both battlers makes this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Zig Zag – “If I raise the stick, I bet it’ll change his tone, I’m a vocal coach!”
Recap: Good shit indeed as Fettuccine 20 and Ryda go blow for blow and keep it competitive throughout this too-close-to-call PG battle. The more bar and (“If I get Paid In Full for the hit, then I’m coming through with two new cigs, ya ace will walk in and find you dead, welcome to Lulu’s crib!”) punch-heavy Ryda (tho he did have some reaches) had more haymakers in round’s one and two, but only won the 1st thanks to more intricate schemes and a slightly higher bar quotient from (“Let me catch y’all niggas in the kitchen, while y’all whipping it all up. I’ll be a broke nigga in tax season, the first thing I’m doing is [waves arms like shooting guns] hitting them all up!; “Get out of line, a couple of bucks will straighten him out, that’s a Posture Fee!”) Fettuccine. 3rd round, came with huge replay value as both battlers stepped it up and came with hard aggressive lines, some ill (Ryda: “Didn’t you used to rep the Trap?, oh nigga they used to be buzzing, now it’s just a bunch if no-shows and some free vodka….ain’t that somethin’!”) personals, more dizzying haymakers and some crazy (Fettuccine20: “I blast off, any situation I got a gun involved, it’s just ironic, I had a blast but it wasn’t fun at all!”) wordplay…and that’s why at the end you can go either way.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ryda – “You was all on Facebook loud, talking about ‘that nigga Ryda not believable’,cool, till they gotta pull back that white sheet and ya mama can’t believe it’s you!”
Recap: Considering their recent sordid history it only made sense for K-Shine and Charron to settle their differences in the ring and John John da Don gives them the opportunity via his Bullpen Battle Leagues (major props to whoever does the edits btw, that shit is not only unique but fire!!!). K-Shine gets off to a hot start in round one, killing it with repeated verbal heat that consistently (“Ladder on the side on his house, I’m [points at Charron’s head] about to fix his roof!”; “Fuck is up?, smacking my hat, that’s what you wanna do?, the first time was a shitty situation, don’t make this a number two!”) landed…hard. And while Charron dropped a dope Pokemon rebuttal along with some crazy (“Last time he called ny bluff, he was decking me quickly, but I’m a 17 in blackjack, you gonna regret that you hit me!”) punches and personals that hit, a little too much filler gave the edge to Shine. Round two was a clear win Charron as despite a nice rebuttal and aggressive wordplay from Shine, a couple of slip-ups and shortened turn stood little chance when faced with Charron’s feelgood crowd-pleasers, Slim Jesus spiels and witty (“Listen pipsqueak, when you see this midget 6-feet, it won’t be a growth spurt!”) bars. Going into the last round, both battlers spit enough fire to show that they came to win in what ended being a really good battle, K-Shine, back in his bag after a substandard 2nd round, brought steady punches (“Kyrie and Lebron, I could’ve said ‘cuz it made your warrior sleep, but it’s ‘cuz you think it’s a game 5 till you get this .40 a piece!”) that landed and an ill performance that combined with a couple of (“I’ll give his back shells, like Ninja turtles, I got the ooze [oooh’s] boy you better go ask Stella I got the groove, switch hands, young Mick Jagger, I got the moves, cooking with this Mac in the box, i got the blues!”) haymakers, could’ve had anyone thinking he’d win the round. But Charron proved to be equal to the task as the self-named “URL Killer” stood the test again with more (“I thought I knew this crowd like I knew the palm of your hand!”) self deprecating humor and continued personals that hit. All told, call it even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Charron – “Desert eagle, A-R, i ain’t saying I got that work, I’m just listing Gun Titles to give him flashbacks of Roc and Surf!”
Recap: Confidence is one thing, but name-dropping and laughing at your own jokes are another. Still, for all of Cali Smoov’s pompousness throughout this battle, a pretty lackluster Profecy didn’t do much to abate his opponent’s arrogance. Still, after easily losing the 1st round to a more punch-heavy (“You Profecy [prophecy], you should no a [Noah] nigga split with the staff!”) Smoov and waking up during the middle of the 2nd round to force a tie, the condensed, yet usually wordplay and punchline-centric Profecy fully gets his groove back to take the 3rd and gain a draw over an opponent whose bars weren’t as hot as he’d like you to think.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Profecy – “And y’all gonna thank me after, Krack City done got it backwards, Dizaster don’t know who he facing in Cali…Cali don’t know he facing a disaster!”
Recap: Here’s another in a long list of one-round battles that probably would’ve better off going the full distance with three. As while both Kaboom and K-Shine went in, each showed enough holes in their armor that a 3-rounder would’ve been a better revelation of who was the better battle rapper. . For Shine, while failing to take advantage of his full time limit and mostly relying on righteous name flips and wicked (“Beef with them burgers, I ground that shit, keep ’em sticking around like a down-ass bitch!”) punches, it left for a more condensed round. On the hand, while Kaboom hit hard with some gritty punchlines and showed a little more versatility (that included some delicious personals with his bars), his elongated round clearly showcased some filler that got overlooked/gassed by the hometown crowd. That being said, taking in both battlers bar quotient, the consensus here is a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Kaboom – “He say I’m washed up?!, that just mean I was getting dirty first!”
Recap: With the chances increasing of a battle ending in a tie, this is why everyone should hate even round matchups. Especially in this case where, if what DNA said was true, Ty Law went past the required time limits in both rounds–so they might as well had done a one-off. Either way, I got this one split down the middle. DNA took the first with real talk(“This gonna be your first battle with 500 thou, so you could tell me your welcome more, ‘cuz Will thought like the police, he used dna to help the Law”) personals and (“The way the Nina kicking at Law, look like a Tekken fight!”) haymakers, while Law’s punchlines was (“Get nigga’s jumped, I hit each gunner, like 3 people in the Flintstone car, see them 6 feet under!”) splendid at times, too many lazy tooth jokes did him in. 2nd round saw Law step it up on the (“Steal him, I don’t gotta smack him, know he feel himself so he get the closed fist like when Saga try to dap him!”) wordplay, nice schemes and more crazy (“I’m dumping at his big-ass head, have this nigga cabbage baking, that dome you’ll get a round 2 to it, like procrastination”) punches, while DNA had a slow start and came with fiery bars here (“Nigga whatever you bleeding on, we’ll be next to the fresh prints [Fresh Prince] like Nia Long!”) and there, his freestyle compensation for Law’s elongated turn, was at the end pretty subpar.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: DNA – “I’m the PG killer, I give them that feeling, made Chess a star, off that [a] million, and showed I even got punches for the kids [balls fist], I’m Kat Williams!”
Recap: Sorry, but no winner here as in this sizzling 1-rounder from NOBL, both Buretta Blaze and (“I paved the way for these botches to shine, I gave Tori lanes [Lanez]!”) 40 B.A.R.R.S, do their thing, each battler offering up an equal percentage of gritty punchlines, piercing personals, fierce name flips, hitting 4-bar set-ups and stinging heat to make this one a fitting draw.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Buretta Blaze – “You been riding high speed in the ring for awhile now, gets you a court date, but I’m a shooter, bitch I only sit my gun down at the end of the couch to let my arm rest!”
Recap: D.O.T. and Houston’s Scotty hash it out on The TrapNY stage and leave with a split. Round one sees Scotty get off to a robust start with speakeasy (“Don’t point between numbers, ya name D.O.T. not decimal!”) reprimands and rich (“You got it before it came out, damn I’m leaking this pistol!”) gun speils that made their point. Howeverm they’re they’re matched by D.O.T.’s aggressive wordplay, lofty (“I’m trying to catch a Goofy-ass slipping, like Disney On Ice!”) punchlines and urban street theatrics. Second round is an easy dub for Scotty as his punches and schemes continue to hit and land with more than enough (“They don’t know what to do with Scott, well I’m a talk this game till I die, I’m Stuart Scott!”) heat to take out what was a pretty inconsistent turn from his opponent. But thanks in part to a lethargic round from Scotty, D.O.T. gets back to basics and takes the round with steadier wordplay and relentless (“They gonna be moaning by your coffin, y’all know I hate deadbeats, [well] tell ya mama I was trying to box somethin’!”) shiners that left a huge mark and gave him a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: D.O.T. – “Neck shot, they ain’t gonna do shit but watch you bleed out, what’s that tough act ’bout, .38 snub nose, plus it’s one in the snout, all them niggas know all that acting will make a nigga like me, act out!”
Recap: Long-awaited, pretty good and at times comedic battle between Jimz and Cortez on the RBE stage. Cortez wins round one easy, as better overall bars, fresh schemes and sizzling (“I’ve been feening the crackheads, when I smoke this pipe for that static on screen, now that’s Poltergeist!”) wordplay more than outshines Jimz assortment of mostly basic raps. However, just when you might’ve thought that you were in for a let down considering all the effort Jimz put into wanting this match, the kid from Queens steps it up and comes back with a much more prolific round two. More aggressive, affable with the set-ups and ramping up the (“Sidebar, what the fuck is up under that hat?!….I bet a stack you look like Krillin from Dragon Ball Z”) personals, Jimz not only outshines a shortened round by Cortez, but hilariously saves him with a nicely timed ‘Pause!’ near the beginning of his round. Tied going into the second, neither battler really stood out in round three. With an aggressive Cortez mostly (“I’m cemented in the streets and I gave you the green light, bitch, I paved your way!”) pontificating on how much he’s done for Latino battle rappers and Jimz unforgivably admitting to watching “Friends” while spouting an elongated round of hits and misses, it’s safe to call this one down the middle.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jimz – “I remember in Lionz Den, you got robbed for that battle with Ice, but then you got robbed for your ice in a battle with life”
Recap: Big T and Shotgun Suge do what a couple of vets should be able to do every time they battle: put on a consistent and highly entertaining show. And while the always performance-heavy T did falter a bit in the 3rd round, running out of steam with the punchlines and thus allowing Shotgun to come back for a draw with an electric, brazen, punch-heavy and steadily raucous turn. T’s ability to finesse real-life drama with whimsical rhymes, get savvy with the breakdown’s on his opponent’s style, deliver a gang of {“We all scheme…then I ride through New York, bang bang bang bang!, ’bout to blow New Jersey up!”) fiery punchlines/personals/name flips and even pull off doing a witty version the Cha-Cha just in case you underestimated him, allowed the Chicago battler to edge 2nd round after a spitfire (tho a bit lengthy) turn in the 1st that was equaled by roundhouse, mayhem-lit and condensed run by Suge.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “Before you act hard, you better strap hard cause I attack hard, I’m like Kimbo Slice in the backyard!”
Recap: From QOTR, impressive lyrical performance, filled to the tee with a gang piercing punchlines, real street talk and witty (“Ya head so fucking big, it probably don’t fit in a fitted cap!”) barbs, from Don Ladyii earns the Queens, NY, emcee a draw with a versatile, punch/multi’s and personal-lit Casey Jay. Indeed, after the two battlers opened things up in round 1 with a punchfest for a tie, a slightly more consistently spicy Casey would edge round 2 before Don returned the favor in round 3 of what was overall a dope battle.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Casey Jay – “Blame whoever set up my last two battles ‘cuz they giving me Fetti the Trap Queen, I’m back out swinging, how you thought I was gonna sleep on you, I’ll blow ya brain through your head to help you think thinsg through!”
Recap: As expected, a barfest between Xcel and JC. It’s Xcel who edges first round with slightly better wordplay and (“You came up punching on bums, like the Knock Out game!”) personals than the name-flip heavy and always robust (“You throw punches, but the hands is missing, this is Man 1 to vandalism”) JC. Round two is another tight round, but JC edges this one with more consistency, rich (“I don’t dig up on niggas, even tho yours is everywhere!”) personals and fiery anecdotes in lieu of Xcel rapid punchlines that almost got usurped by the easy choice to once gain go after JC’s noted dance move video. Again, things stayed close in the 3rd round with both JC and Xcel dropping (JC: “I still got something in store for your dogs like Petco, but brought the kick back for sales [Cel] like Retro’s”; Xcel: “I’ll let it ring and hit everyone…like open marriage!”) some gems and nice schemes, but neither battler, after splitting the first couple of rounds, did that much to stand out or differentiate themselves….so call it even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Xcel – “License to kill? Nigga you still get carded for spliffs”
Recap: Overall, Marvwon had the better (“It’s crazy how being Lost is going to put you on the map with a Legend!”) lines. But a handful of surprising stumbles from the Detroit emcee along with Super Black’s ability to hold his own with a cohesive and versatile flow as well as a nice performance that was capped by his girl jumping in for a spitfire ‘Gun So Big’ bar, adds up to, in this base, a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, you loyal to ya gang?, Nigga I’ll put you in a box reppin’ COTS forever!”
Recap: The ‘Showtime’ was a little ‘meh’, but some witty barbs (esp. the shot at the look-a-like Smack host) and head-ringing punches from Aye Verb allows him to thwart an upset from the righteous set-ups/schemes and rigid wordplay of Grizz Guru and force a debatable in this 1-rounder from Iron Mouth Battles.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Grizz Guru – “You shoulda chose a name like Malcolm X, I mean you both two nigga’s famous for dying on a Harlem stage!”
Recap: More often than not, European battle rappers (and their crowds) seem to value style over substance, that is delivery/entertainment value over bars. Raptor Warhurst, however, put s different spin on that theory, here in this 3-rounder versus Big Kannon, by actually dishing some pretty good and versatile punchlines throughout. Sure, the Englishmen’s more pedestrian bars were still met with many a cheer from the hometown crowd. But after an elongated 1st and a nice rebuttal from BK cost him the 1st, Raptor puts together enough witty punches and stealthy personals to make for a debatable 2nd, before he used some righteous sermonizing and more fierce punches to take the 3rd against a Kannon who while kicking some worthy (“I brought a whole Arsonal to Don’t Flop, that’s a few meals [mils] with the Shotty!”) heat for the first couple of rounds, never seemed stoke his A-game, making for a short and lazy 3rd round that made this match a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Raptor Warhurst – “You want to come to the UK and act like we ain’t no kind of a force, you flew straight from the Windy City and headed straight to the eye of the storm!”
Recap: Another nice battle from The Trap sees Stash score consistently with aggressive (“You sure you from Harlem nigga?, ‘cuz you straight bummy, if we exchange bucks these four .5’s will break 20!”) shiners and some potent schemes throughout his 3 rounds to gain a split in round 1 and edge round 3 over an (“I got bars, and I scheme for the punch like I’m sneaking a nigga!”; “The gun big, it look like it shoots t-shirts at half-time!”) overall solid/wordplay heavy, but shaky at times Fettuccine20.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Stash – “Get Ya Boy Clip [clipped] like a dirty tackle below the knees!”
Recap: Diesel and J-Money put on a fiery and competitive show throughout this West-Coast PG battle, loaded with plenty of hardbody punchlines/gun bars, feisty wordplay, ill braggadocio lines and aggressive performances. A more condensed and consistent Diesel takes a close round 1, before a (“They say you the hottest Dies…but you know nigga’s, they say a lot of things!”) pronounced, versatile and scheme-heavy J-Money comes back to edge the 2nd. The deciding 3rd round was nice all around with Diesel hitting hard with boastful punches and some fire set-ups, while J-Money dished his own crazy steeze of West-coast themed punches and stifling polemics to earn a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Diesel – “I’m riding, with a SOS…that’s a big flare, that’ll take you from your baby, your baby momma be Living Single like Sinclair!”
Recap: Rosenberg Raw gets off to a hot start in an apparent grudge match against Johnie Alcatraz, using some nice personals and witty (“Suge, what part of Jersey this dickhead from, Cherry Hill?”) anecdotes to easily take round one. However, as the battle moves on, Raw’s bars get less potent and his delivery gets enigmatic, allowing Johnie’s rich performance bars and lucid (“…Raw got pissed, walked in and tried to grab his toaster, so I left Rose on the front porch, I’m a Casanova”) punchlines to edge round two. Last round is a lazy round for both with Raw getting laconic but not saying too much and Johnie failing to take advantage with a couple of punches that landed but did little damage. Call it even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Rosenberg Raw – “…my only question is how many different colors you got?, you probably be matching the mirror like these red Jay’s gonna do one thing and I’mma kill it when I match it with the red tongue ring”
Recap: In this 3-round battle from Crown of Tha South Battle League, a punch-heavy Kush Cloud and a mayhem-driven Krucial Ken split the first round, before Ken spout’s more rapid (“If any nigga from your clique defend you, I’ll throw flame, I got that ‘ol flame like me and my ex-bitch rekindled!”) heat in the 2nd to back a nice and competitive, but slip-up stained Kush in the 2nd to take the lead. However, despite another slight hiccup, the still punchline swinging Kush dishes just enough nifty haymakers to out-rap what was a mostly pedestrian turn from his opponent, thus making this one a draw in the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Kush Cloud – “Why use aggression to kill, when my character’s only charismatic [carry these matic’s]!”
Recap: A couple of Grind Time vets known for their potent bars, jokes and witty punchlines, one couldn’t expect anything less than an entertaining match between the returning Dumbfounded and Conceited. Overall. Dumbfounded focuses on ready-to-order short (“You buy your guns at Baby Gat”) jokes, hitting personals and excellently turned Con’s renowned “Slow-it-Down’s” back on him without repetition. While Con goes for Asian jokes, nice schemes, a couple of Slow-it-Downs and his assortment of wild gun (“I’ll let the weapon give you hell, just like your fortune cookie you could the message from a shell”) bars, some landing, some not-so-much. In the end it’s Con taking the first with more variety along with winning schemes. While Dumbfounded edged the second round with a wider (“You gave imaginary guns, some peopel have mandatory ones”) array of fiery bars. Both scored pretty evenly while leaning heavier on the personals (Con: “You mad cuz my vies are climbing mils? I know that shit was driving him crazy like with you behind the wheel”) in round 3, but with neither really landing a haymaker, call it even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Dumbfounded – “He got 3 hot tubs at the cirb…all sinks”
Recap: Judged battle from We Go Hard. Tho I get where the judges were coming from giving the win to Chillean G seeing as Dougy had a less cleaner round. The second half of Chillean G’s round wasn’t quite as nice as the (“Now I’m on your neck like a noose, you can’t hang with me…Dennis Rodman crashing the boards [slams hand on basement wall] you can’t bang with me!”; “With one bullet, through your dome and out his neck…I trick shot him!”) first. And overall (thanks in part to him spitting longer, but also due to a higher bar quotient) Dougy had more harder (“I got the can on the couch, I’m Al Bundy!”; “I been nice since City was bony, nigga!”) punches and lit performance (“…she was looking all sloppy and shit, I told my hitter ‘finish the bitch!‘, he threw the grip, I threw my man the glock, he took the shot…that’s a hockey assist!”) bars. So all things said, make this one debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Dougy – “I ride with a .380 ‘cuz I can load it quicker, but you could still get your head cracked for fucking with that K…he a Lamar Odom nigga!”
