Recap: From RBE, Ill Will and Emerson Kennedy put on a dope one for 3 rounds. Each battler with plenty of gritty punchlines, righteous darts, witty/mocking personals and other whathaveyou to keep things close. However, a solid rebuttal/freestyle game employed by Will to go along with his wit, some nice angles and more condensed turns in each rounds as well as a spitfire 2nd by the Yaktown native, allows him to edge the middle round for the win in light of a debatable 1st and 3rd round.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ill WIll – “You the only nigga that’s Black that wish he was Black!”
Recap: From Last Second Sea, utilizing a thrifty bag of fire punchlines and a sturdy plate of well-themed personals that broke down his opponent’s battle rap career path, a consistently scoring Emerson Kennedy earns a 30 over a Jae Millz who while struggling with his flow early on, came back to offer griity and competitive turns in the latter rounds, but still keep couldn’t keep up with EK’s steadier shine.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “My money under the table Jae, it probably survive an earthquake, yout got that in ya verse Jae?, or is New York just too major?…oh yeah, you don’t know nuthin’ about earthquakes!”
Recap: Abundantly scoring with a bunch of righteous and highly personal darts, piercing name flips, fly wordplay, boastful barbs and hard-hitting set-up/punchlines, Charron takes both of the opening rounds of this 3-rounder from The Riot for win here versus Emerson Kennedy. The Utah battler, who kept it close in round 1 before getting handily out-punched in round 2, did manage to get some comeback in the 3rd close, landing efficiently enough with plenty of righteous heat and stinging punches of his own to make for a debatable there.
Verdict: Charron (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charron – “Hell raiser, you can’t face the pen, if we battled on the roof you’d see Em jump…it’s just the way I am!”
Recap: From Last Second Sea, against a gritty and aggressive, but much less substantial Arsonal, Emerson Kennedy uses a consistent stream of hard-hitting righteous darts, stinging set-up/punchlines and flexing personals/wordplay to edge all 3 rounds for the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “You tried to push this funeral, you can’t escape the fate, dude running the snooze button, Ars you just delayed the wake!”
Recap: A dope 3-rounder between Emerson Kennedy and Nu Jerzey Twork from the former’s Last Second Sea Battle League, sees Twork (who’s had an excellent 2023 that isn’t being talked about as much as it should be by the usual battle rap pundits) bring the heat with a boatload of mocking/witty/mean personals, raucous street lines, gritty punches and holier-than-thou gun bars. While EK kept things competitive with a fresh plate of rigid punchlines, some solid personals of his own, a fly round 3 rebuttal and some sneaky but captivating wordplay. But despite a valiant effort from EK, it’s the more haymaker-lit and efficient Jersey juggernaut who takes both of the opening rounds for the win before EK came back to take the 3rd and avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Your mother taught you about the birds and the bees, you know all the words to N’Sync!”
Recap: From Mic Masters Alliance, after yet another long Lush One intro and getting edged in round 1 to the effervescent and hitting 4-bar set-up/punchlines from Emerson Kennedy, while taking advantage of his less direct opponent, B. Magic ups his rapid/searing punch game to edge both of the latter rounds for the win in this competitive 3-rounder.
Verdict: B. Magic (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Magic – “If I’m going against Kennedy, I guess I’m Nixon, how I put these heaters on both eyes, ‘cuz he stood in front of a chopper and that shit left peace’s [pieces] on both sides!”
Recap: A dope 3-rounder from Last Second Sea between Emerson Kennedy and Geechi Gotti sees the former score with a bunch of spririted sneak disses, hitting struggle bars and piercing setups/punchlines. But it’s a slightly more condensed Gotti, not only on his shit with a gang of fiery personals, well-armed gun bars, steely punches and fierce street raps, but also a handful of spicy rebuttals who edges rounds 1 and 2 for the win before EK returned the favor in a close 3rd.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “I collect the heads of the bodies of the nigga’s I killed, I’m sick with it, but since Gotti got bundles y’all should know I got a box with wigs in it!”
Recap: Absolute 1-round, URL App-exclusive punchfest between JC and Emerson Kennedy sees the more eclectic-punching and personal/set-up lit EK get the edge in what was a haymaker-drenched turn on both sides.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “This nigga plain, talking bar none, that Surf performance?, far from, the quality, nigga if you had started dancing, we thought you was gonna bar some…we thought you were supposed to end the wave, this nigga tried to start one!”
Recap: Against an A. Ward who was solid throughout, but not at his best when it came to overall punch prowess, the eccentric rhyme patterns of Emerson Kennedy, scoring with efficiency when it came to wordplay, boastful darts and mind-bending set-up/punchlines, even while surviving a slip-up early on during his turn, are enough to edge this 1-rounder from Mic Masters.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I really had to sleep in a car while you was working on an image, if I clicked my heels 3 times I’d wake up in a Honda Civic!”
Recap: From WestWorld, a dope back and forth for 3 rounds between Rum Nitty and Emerson Kennedy sees the two stay competitive with a gang of clever punchlines, spicy similes, meandering mayhem and stinging wordplay. A bout between two of the West-coast’s finest that surprisingly took this long to happen, after a 1st round debatable, it’s a slightly more rim-rocking Nitty who egdes both of the latter rounds for the win.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “I Answer with the fade like Georgetown Iverson!”
Recap: Offsetting a creative use of the stage lights by his opponent with a fire rebuttal to start off his round before dialing up a plethora of fiery trap talk, salacious wordplay/struggle bars and some fire punches (without a single mention, as EK had suggested he would earlier, of his Caucasian better half), T-Top puts together enough work to beat back a punch-heavy and versatile, but not as steadily potent turn by Emerson Kennedy in this 1-round Banned battle from URL.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T-Top – “I had to watch my cousin shootig heroin in the living room, you came in this world with money, but I was born with a silver spoon!’
Recap: From jump, you could tell that Emerson Kennedy really wanted this one. The Utah-to-Cali battle rapper displaying a shitload of confidence and aggression while airing out a gang of fiery 4-bar-setups, witty/mocking personals, bruising wordplay, fierce street riddims, a spicy rebuttal or two and piercing punchlines/name flips to beat back a mostly solid and versatile, but slow-starting Chilla Jones (indeed, his best round was the 3rd) in rounds 1 and 2 of what was a pretty entertaining and competitive URL/Traffic 4 bout.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Chill, the last time I stepped on eggshells is because the shoes was off-white!”
Recap: With both battlers spouting a gang of fiery schemes, hard-hitting personals and stinging wordplay/punchlines throughout their 3 rounds, Emerson Kennedy vs. First Ladii Flamez on URL’s Civil War card is not only a competitive goodie, but a spirited barfest that brought the heat when it came to nuance. Still, EK in his bag too when it came to (“You see Moses burning bush if you clearly hedging flames!”) sterling name flips, would edge round 1 despite an aggressive and gritty turn (that was interrupted towards the end by her throwing up) by Flamez. Round 2 would feature a spitfire opening freestyle by EK that with more piercing punches/personals allowed the Salt Lake City rapper to score a draw against a wordplay-heavy, boastful and scheme-lit run by the First Lady. The final round would serve as the only clear round of the battle with EK delivering his lightest turn of the night (tho it was solid what with its artful use of righteous punchlines), a 3rd offering that would get handily beat back by a versatile and sublime-punching Flamez to make this one a debatable.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: First Ladii Flamez – “I will Black and beat the White out your bitch…no Grey Area!”
Recap: From State 2 State Hip Hop, Emerson Kennedy continues to kill shit on the independent circuit in 2021, this time around using an aggressive set of ill set-ups, rigid wordplay/name flips and piercing punchlines to beat back a versatile-punching and momentous at times, but elongated and filler-prone turn from Sauce in what was still a solid 1-rounder.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “The truth is I’m a sniper, really used to upping things, been looking through a scope so long I could drop a submarine!”
Recap: Spouting a fire freestyle game to go along with a gang of consistently spicy punchlines and hard-hitting personals, before getting handily beat by a righteous and effervescent turn from the normally loud and raucous MT$ in round 3, Emerson Kennedy takes both of the opening rounds of this 3-round Skytier Northwest battle for the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “You put more dollar signs in ya name than you put in your history!”
Recap: Whether he was challenging his opponent’s heritage, mocking his battle rap career or taking on the usual personal directives we see towards Emerson Kennedy, newest Loud member Chuck Book certainly had his moments during this 1-rounder from GOTG. But it’s a way more condensed, name flip-lit, 4-bar set-up crazy and and wordplay spicy EK who gets the win here.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I’m from the West so I already know that the Chuck’s run big!”
Recap: Strong showing by a boisterous, mayhem-friendly and personal-lit Gamble here. But assisted by his opponent utilizing the standard, redundant personal’s we’ve heard on his opponent before, it’s a more-turned-up-than-usual, name flip savvy, freestyle-spicy and wordplay/punch-heavy Emerson Kennedy who ends up taking this Camp Grounds 1-rounder.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “This is Jordan’s Last Dance, I ain’t think Gamble was a problem!”
Recap: From Manslaughter Battle League, while the at times brazen and overall solid/witty wordplay of Sasse provided a handful of notables in this 1-roudner, it’s a more set-up rich, consistently hitting and punch/wordplay/personal-lit Emerson Kennedy who earns the win in the end.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Zoolander…stop acting like this can’t go left!”
Recap: Lacking intricacy with his bars, Max Taylor’s straightforward punches mostly fail to land (tho he does have some wit), leaving an Emerson Kennedy, while not at all on his A-game, with just enough nifty freestyles and otherwise solid punchlines to get the win in this 1-rounder from Shots Fired Battle League.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I fathered all these nigga’s, got more kids than Philip Rivers!”
Recap: Emerson Kennedy was on to something here. Because for all the blistering personals and (gotta admit) hilarious disses on EK’s commensurate ‘Hickory-Dickory-Dock’ flow patterns tossed at him by Big Kannon in this Born Legacy matchup from URL, BK’s subtle reaches and penchant for some pretty mediocre bars (which from his facial expressions, EK clearly noticed) would get lost in the midst of Kannon’s more high-ranking moments. Still a close one, what with EK’s solid 4-bar setups, fiery wordplay and versatility with his punches working well to offset his opponent’s more idiosyncratic attacks, especially in round 1 which a punch-heavier EK would edge for the win before the two split the latter rounds.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “The first shall be the last like a snake draft!”
Recap: Coupled with a pair of dope freestyles to combat his turn getting interrupted by some ignoramus in the crowd who forgot to turn their phone off, a condensed and confident Emerson Kennedy uses a consistent diet of blazing set-ups, stirring name flips, some hitting wordplay and stinging punchlines/personals to edge a righteous at times, street-savvy and overall solid, but elongated effort from Ultimate Beast Primus in this No Coast 1-rounder.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Ultimate Beast Primus, get your brand up, I Googled all those names and couldn’t find this man once!”
Recap: The Riot Network has been delivering a lot of dope battles lately and here’s another one as Viixen The Assassin takes on Emerson Kennedy in a crowd-pleasing 1-rounder. Viixen, with an aggressive palette of hardbody punches and stinging personals/name flips makes her mark. But a handful of pedestrian bars by Viixen to go along with a consistently spicy, wordplay-heavy, personal-lit and freestyle-dropping EK, gives the Salt Lake City battler the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Let’s just keep it factual, I’m leaving you no options, I seen it too, I’m reading you, the lease you done adopted, the astrology, the horoscopes, read a bunch of nonsense, like Venus is my Roman goddess, she sees us through the problems, that’s fear ‘cuz out here Venus is from Compton!”
Recap: Sporting a steady gang of hard-hitting (and well-themed) personals to go along with a boatload of feverish, but still potent punchlines and boastful barbs, Emerson Kennedy does enough to beat back the righteous/aggressive wordplay from a pretty solid Jay Lopez in this close 1-rounder from Underground Battle League LLC.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “You mad that I evolved and all your pen’s didn’t?, Jay you haven’t gotten better, and it ain’t gonna end different, we been waiting for a J but his career is Ben Simmons!”
Recap: More direct with his punches/wordplay overall and fire with his angles/personals (esp. in the deciding round 3), Loso beats back a confident, boastful and hitting at times, but not as consistently spicy (or cogent) Emerson Kennedy in this URL Anniversary Event battle.
Verdict: Loso (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Loso – “Bro, you are a stepping stone, for rappers whose stock is low, but competes wit’ pressure, Smack sees them trying and literally gives them E for effort!”
Recap: The nuanced wordplay and stifling rap flow of Dot Everything always keeps things buzzing. But in this rooftop 1-rounder from Shots Fired Battle League, an aggressive, name flip-spazzing, meatier with the punches and consistently spicy Emerson Kennedy gets the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I catch a case then I break, bitch I’m leaving Cali smooth [Smoove]!”
Recap: That ‘Where I’m from, Black lives still matter…unless that nigga still standing at the other side!’ line from gritty, Kid Chaos sound-alike Poppy G was hard. As was a bunch of other hardbody rhymes and storytelling bars by Mr. G in this 3-rounder from 5th Dimension Battle League. Too bad for Poppy tho, as a more condensed Emerson Kennedy spouting a gang of spirited, highly potent 4-bar punches to go along with fluorescent schemes and slick wordplay would be efficient in earning the 30.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “If Pop was a kernel first, I’m just making concessions!”
Recap: Assisted by a heapful of research done on his opponent and withstanding a few recycled bars here and there, Prep makes a dope return to the URL stage, unloading a steady barrage of piercing punchlines, fine-tuned personals, some flexing wordplay/name flips and other residual heat/mayhem to overtake a solid and sometimes dogmatic, but overall not-as-potent effort from Emerson Kennedy in this 3-rounder from Smack.
Verdict: Prep (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Prep – “I’ll pick up EK with the AR like alphabet soup!”
Recap: Taking advantage of a surprisingly light 1st round from Emerson Kennedy a with solid enough turn of his own and then spouting enough fire personals and a nice rebuttal to edge round 2, before getting blistered by a much lyrically sharper EK in the 3rd round, Holmzie Da God manages to squeak by in the opening rounds to gain a win and advance to the next round of this Ultimate Madness 2 tournament.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I’m the bipolar nigger, but you the one that like to play both sided of the spectrum!”
Recap: Going at opponent Glueazy’s neck fresh out the gate, for 3 entire rounds Emerson Kennedy unleashes a firestorm of swift, dicey punchlines, flagrant name flips and stifling personals while also taking advantage of a slip-up prone Glu to catch a 30 and easily take this 1st-round Ultimate Madness 2 matchup.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “But they even criticized Jesus, don’t let that define my past, y’all even called Kobe a ball hog…until he passed!”
Recap: Pouncing on Nu Jerzey Twork with a gang of gritty punchlines and stealth wordplay/set-ups/personals, an also more condensed Emerson Kennedy gets in the vic in this 1-round URL/Quarantined bout over an opponent who while slinging the usual mayhem and personals on EK that we’ve seen before, never could bring the consistent heat needed to beat his more potent opp.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Twork seize your opportunity, it’s West in this bitch, they thought they was gonna watch us play games…till he left with a Twitch!”
Recap: A rematch from their battle about 7 years prior, URL puts Emerson Kennedy and Danny Myers on a roof for what turned out to be a solid bout of competitive boasts, punches and wordplay. And while EK openly felt that he took the first two rounds, the feeling here is that a slightly more consistently spicy Danny took them for the win before a punch-heavier EK salvaged the 3rd.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “You tryna bring Bar Code to the world?, I mean, I’m no conspiracy theorist, but wit’ all this Pizzagate, look around, the climate is hurtin’, it’s a New World Order – I say your timing is perfect!”
Recap: 1-round Quarantine battle from URL sees a floetic Emerson Kennedy score with some lyrical shiners that seasoned with some crispy wordplay/name flips, made for a pretty solid turn. But when he wasn’t making light of the idea of battling E.K. in person, the ever brazen Arsonal’s ability to get consistently nice with the wordplay, disrespectful personals, gritty punchlines and stinging gun bars, gets him the win.
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Arsonal – “My business essential, but I still glorify gripping a pistol, I’m at WalMart with an AK when I’m getting my tissue!”
Recap: When he’s not writing for female battle rappers, Quantum Physics’ pen can hang with the best of them. As seen here, where QP drops a shitload of rich metaphors, forthright schemes/personals and wily wordplay on Emerson Kennedy in this rooftop battle from URL’s Standoff card. But reminding everyone that he’s no slouch either, EK more than holds his own against the SONS vet, using a bunch of stinging personals on his opponent’s battle career, fiery 4-bar set-ups/punches and some flexing play on words of his own to edge both the opening round and the deciding 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “You right, you are my biggest fear…and that’s being old with potential!”
Recap: A pretty solid, at times punch-heavy and oft-righteous showing by Ooops gets beat back in the 1st and 3rd rounds by a boatload of nifty punchlines, head-on personals, fiery schemes and some spirited wordplay/name flips from Emerson Kennedy, thus giving the Utah lyricist a successful debut on the RBE stage.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Where I’m from, only snitches go to therapy Ooops, even tho we close to a brink, jealous of Ant-man, when I’m in trouble I can’t go to a shrink!”
Recap: It doesn’t get much better than this one as Emerson Kennedy and Jey the Nitewing each deliver an exquisite 3 rounds of steady, potent and crowd-pleasing bars and schemes. EK, slightly more lit when it came to hard-hitting (“You supposed to be toe taggin’, keeping up the race, you know, even up the pace with the East to be the greats, Jey, every time you choke East, the West reap all [Reepah] the mistakes!”) personals, but also just as fire throughout in lieu of a boatload of stirring punchlines, loaded abstract stingers, aggressive and (“Niggas chains getting rung, I don’t chase fame from a gun, but for a band on the side, I might change on the run, hop out and wait till Nite [night] show, put his name on a drum!”) well-finessed wordplay, stayed on his A-game. And Nitewing, with perhaps a bit of a monkey on his back what with all the heat he’s gotten for choking (a theme that EK had no trouble reminding him of throughout this battle) during battles, stayed flexing with consistent ease during his turns, all the while keeping the pressure on his opponent with a wide bag of witty barbs, banging (“You probably thinking this angle is getting fucking old, but you keep acting like you wasn’t told, can’t survive off what your mother knows, she can’t save you when you touch the stove!”) punches, dizzying metaphorical shiners, rich set-ups and a couple of over-the-top rebuttals. An altogether spitfire battle with nary a dry spot that also displayed plenty of braggadocio zingers and lofty struggle bars from each side, the scoring here saw EK needing a gargantuan opening round to edge the 1st, the two battlers traded an equal amount of potency with their lines to make that one debatable and the deciding 3rd round going Nitewing’s way what with one or two more haymakers.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “You wanna know my theory of relativity?, get his relatives first!”
Recap: If it wasn’t for that lame Hitman Holla impersonation in a very close Round 1, this one would’ve been a 30 as Emerson Kennedy proceeds to use a variety of slick punchlines, potent (“He don’t talk letting the lead spit, I respect a weapon that end’s shit, I’ll never trust 2nd Commandment over the 2nd Amendment!”) personals and nifty (“You just Iverson with the braids, stuck on the fucking shelf, spent too much time on the cross and didn’t practice nothing else!”) wordplay to overtake an overall solid-till-the-end-of-his-3rd, spiritual and punch-heavy, but too often sermonizing Th3 Saga in this mostly fire Initiation battle from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “I’m set apart, the oddball in my clique that won’t spray Ruger’s, the only who one who acts like my father…I’m O’Shea Jr.!”
Recap: You know damn well Smack wanted to yell ‘Time!‘ early during that round 3. But give him credit for keeping it professional and letting B. Dot, with his first ever appearance on the URL stage, go on uninterrupted with arguably (the closest that I could think of was Arsonal going at ARP during his battle against Showoff) the most (“Or is this the same trick that got us boarded on the slave ship from that European invasion?, Capitalism, they ain’t change it, the old master say, ‘You niggas ain’t goin’ nowhere’, new masters say, ‘It only matters on this plantation!'”) scathing and blistering round you’ve ever seen against a league owner in battle rap history. And B. Dot needed every bit of his classic 3rd. Because that’s how nice the highly slept-on Emerson Kennedy was throughout this battle, dishing exquisite punchlines, fiery (“Are you really reppin’ they word, or just reinforcing the negative lessons they’ve learned?, when your community ask for action, are you…too busy preppin’ for Aye Verb?!?”) personals, some stinging wordplay and even a couple of fire rebuttals to take round 1, before being edged by Dot’s conscious, gun line savvy, at times braggadocio and personal comeuppance in the latter rounds. A fire battle regardless of who you thought won that repped the West-coast well, it’s good to know that with B. Dot proceeding to make a couple of more appearances on Smack since this battle took place, it’s all good now.
Verdict: B. Dot (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Dot – “Watch how I aim the thing and flame your scene, I turn your world upside down my nigga, it’ll be nothin’ but ashes and you ain’t never seen Stranger Things!”
Recap: Who doesn’t love a fire PG? Well, that’s certainly what you got here as Utah’s Emerson Kennedy comes all the way out to the East coast to take on Brooklyn’s Jerry Wess. Despite a dope turn of fiery wordplay and fire punches from a slightly elongated EK in the first, Wess took the 1st with a sizzling and at times performance-heavy round that was backed by handful of well-stocked (“Bang, bang, you’ll be the first PG to get a ‘Don DeMarco!'”; “Pop the arm?!, you wouldn’t pull a muscle at a seafood bar!”) haymakers. Round two was another dope turn from both battlers, but EK’s fiery set-ups, standoffish (“No credit for the bullets, you not spraying nigga, we told you like we told Kobe, stop playing nigga!”) punchlines and raucous wordplay would edge an overall solid punch-wise, but too-often pedestrian turn by his opponent. Last round was nice on both ends with EK and Wess dropping an equal share of spitfire punchlines. But a nice rebuttal, fire struggle life bars and one more haymaker by Mr. Kennedy gets him the win here.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I was living in guestrooms, whole family had to rent rooms with junkie roommates, paraphernalia, needles, ex-shroom’s, I felt like Neo, in the Matrix, when I was just 2, I knew this couldn’t be real life when I saw all them bent spoons!”
Recap: Take out a 2nd round choke and this West-coast PG between Emerson Kennedy and Cali Smoov is straight fire with loads of hot punches, righteous wordplay, fierce personals and stirring mayhem. Round one was close as both (“Nigga’s aiming at light-skin’s, call it shooting the fair one!”) EK and Cali brought plenty of heat, the only difference being Kennedy just happening to go first, allowing (“I never lost a battle and I’m known to clap, get live and I’m inside whaling…Jonah’s back!”) Smoov the opportunity to edge the round with a couple of dope rebuttals to start his round off (tho, as EK would deftly point out next round, Cali did get the ‘nickle in his face like Abraham’ wrong). 2nd round saw the aforementioned choke by Cali, which might’ve been partly due to the crowd, but still nonetheless with EK spitting perhaps his best round, mixing (“Baby, you snitch and giving soundbites, all that jail you bringing, soon as I walk in ‘Shazam!’, that’s not the app, I can tell who singing!”) well with his punches and urban bangers, even if Cali hadn’t choked, that would’ve been a hard round to beat anyway. The deciding 3rd round saw EK stay consistent with a confident flow matched by frenzied setups, workmanlike (“My nigger got Krack covered and he ain’t involved with you dancers, back when [points at Cali] he had the toy, my nigger was really looking at the 8 ball for the answers!”) heaters and stinging personals to win the battle and beat back a very (“The Black panthers by my side like the Puma brand!”) solid, but elongated turn by Cali.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “And any boy could make a boy, but it take a man to hold his son, I marched with my mom for gun control, later on learned how to control a gun!”
Recap: In this 3-rounder from AHAT, another gritty, performance-heavy and gun-centric showing by Ah Di Boom gets upended by a punchline and wordplay spazzing Emerson Kennedy. A confident EK, who also came with his own gang of performance-enriched bars, especially shines with more intricate set-ups and fiercer name flips/gun lines, leading to a plethora of haymakers that allowed him to edge each round.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “And I heard you got bad fists, get knocked out don’t do jack shit, you’ve been dropped around the corner, more than being ashamed of your dad’s whip!”
Recap: If Emerson Kennedy has a flaw, it might be stamina, as his habit for shortened 3rd rounds grow to be stigma. Here however, against a Madflex who didn’t get in his bag of fiery wit and performance-heavy punches until the 2nd round, EK, after easily taking the 1st with a punch-heavier turn, doesn’t hold up with enough consistent weight to keep his lead. 3rd and deciding round goes to Madflex, who with a gang of amusing personals and visceral wordplay is able to best what was a hard-hitting and profound, but awkward-timed turn by the normally apolitical (in the ring) EK.
Verdict: Madflex (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Madflex – “He walks up to women in the club like [extends hand out] ‘I’m Obama’s brother’!”
Recap: As if the annoying chick screaming throughout this battle wasn’t enough, what you get here is a mostly average Emerson Kennedy against a confident and (“…nigga, I said a double-burger with cheese!”) bullish, but a little slip-up prone B.Side. Still, EK with some sizzling name flips and staid schemes/set-ups, takes the 1st and 3rd rounds easy for the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I had to earn my right type spitting, Facebook, B.side, green light whats what they like to type in it, but we see B.Side, green light and he slight tripping, the scope see nothing B.side green light’s like night vision!”
Recap: Both Lotta Zay and Emerson Kennedy spout a load of congenial wordplay in this feelgood one-rounder from AHAT. However, despite his best efforts on direct name flips and other more non-PC bars, Zay’s overall body of work fails to beat back a more verbally flippant and consistent Kennedy, tho it might’ve taken EK a little longer to get in his bag.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy -“That drama all the same tho, the llama in my plain clothes, it’ll steam a nigga’s onion, Benihana volcano!”
Recap: Utilizing each round to fit a different narrative, in this California versus Utah, 3-rounder from AHAT versus Daylyt, Emerson Kennedy proceeds from gritty punchlines to resident name flips to stinging set-ups, resident heat and personals. And although not quite on his A-game throughout the match, going up against a Batmobile-reclining opponent who came prepped with mostly generic, anecdotal shiners that were hit and miss, a more overall consistent EK does enough in the 1st and deciding 3rd round to gain the win.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “That nickle, make it silent, we call that? pleading the 5th and that bulldog will talk to him…Daylyt?, Peter Griffin!”
Recap: Battle rap in Utah must be popping as a nice crowd comes out to see Emerson Kennedy versus Konflict in this 3-rounder from AHAT, which EK wins after edging the first round with sharper bars and some feelgood wordplay, before taking a close 2nd with a nice rebuttal and even nicer (“Nigga, You Suck Live….guess that’s what your shirt stands for!”) freestyle on his opponent’s T-shirt. Konflict (“He quick to snitch, he wouldn’t complete a bid on Ebay!”) , who hurt himself with too many elementary bars between some hot one’s throughout, eventually gets 3-0’d in the 3rd with a meandering and elongated turn that didn’t have enough bite to even beat back a shortened, but steadily nice 3rd by EK.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “If you click, I click faster like my car blinker’s broken!”
Recap: Pretty good one-round battle for two guys who only had a couple days notice. Still, as solid as Scheme was with his (“6 clips surround your whip…it’s like the drive-in!”) punches, a more versatile, (“The A-K go eh-eh-eh-eh-eh like a Wiz Khalifa laugh!”) witty and wordplay-heavy Emerson Kennedy takes the win here.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “You too busy giving your team a high-five, I ain’t surprised boy, you can’t hustle on your own, you need to grind more, see I celebrate my independence, I use my time more, if you don’t want to see how this fire work, then nigga what’d you lie for?!”
Recap: Speed rapper Sonic Soundwaveus manages to salvage himself with a hot (“My disses are like imaginary friends, you gotta be crazy to respond!”) 3rd, but not before succumbing to Emerson Kennedy’s confident barrage of performance-heavy set-ups and sanguine (“They say EK flow chilly, that’s how a snowman move, something to make a nigga spin, like a slow dance move, two 22’s on my ankles if his ho man move, that’s two straps on my feet like old man shoe’s!”) wordplay during the first two rounds that ended up pronouncing this battle over.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “I’ll put 2 thousand dollars on ya head, and watch my fucking G’s flip, that’s two racks on ya roof like you taking a ski trip!”
Recap: With an apparent irreverence to actually rhyming at times, an emotive and steadily aggressive Diesel still manages to edge round one with more direct and potent bars than his opponent. From there, however, it’s all Emerson Kennedy, who with a friendly combo of casual wit, jaunty wordplay and a Diesel slip-up in the deciding 3rd, takes this Utah vs. Cali battle from AHAT.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy -“Nigger’s gassing you up, I’m like who in your head?, and nigger’s hitting your wife…that’s who in your bed!”
Recap: Even if it’s just for only one round, two battle emcees going at it on 24-hours notice is always impressive. That said, with Danny Myers taking awhile before he really got in his bag and Emerson Kennedy dishing consistently nice (“All of your nigga’s hitters, but ya didn’t often know, is they running trains behind ya back like Mister Rogers show!”) schemes/bars that was only spoiled by a slip-up towards the end, let’s call this one even.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “Beat you the fair way, he the type to tie his album to a kite just to get some airplay!”
Recap: Confidently dishing fiery schemes like your local Hustle Man, while also flipping his opponent Pat Maine’s persistent, but often mediocre use of race angles with a fresh palette of stinging punchlines/personals and amiable wordplay, a consistently bar-heavy Emerson Kennedy easily takes all 3 rounds in this battle from Mic Masters.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “My last name Kennedy and you’re getting killed by a Dead President!”
