Recap: From URL’s Redemption 2 card we see an Arsonal showing up in top form. Da Rebel unleashing a relentless barrage of lyrical prowess, especially during a fire 3rd round that saw Big Jersey weave intricate wordplay and clever jabs throughout. But it wasn’t just the finale that dazzled as from the outset, Arsonal delivered a relentless stream of gritty punches and witty barbs, proving once again that when he’s in a zone, he’s a force to be reckoned with. And while opponent Holmzie Da God came with an earnest effort, it was Arsonal who dominated, clearly taking the first and third rounds, with the second up for debate.
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Arsonal – “Mac 11s, that’s the Trey Young’s we manuever with!”
Recap: From the HowYouGonAct Network, not wasting a single bar and consistently dishing some crazy punches and sublime wordplay in round 1 (i.e. classic) before getting back to the basics and scoring with a gang of gritty name flips, mayhem-lit darts and dope set-up/punchlines in both of the latter rounds, O-Red shows that even without utilizing his notorious ‘transformer’ lines, the Jersey vet can still take it up a notch and deliver a 30 on a pretty solid-punching throughout, but nowhere near as steadily hitting Holmzie Da God.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “My style is the blueprint Holms [homes], you’re an outline to me, I could turn all ya thoughts into floor plans, you copy me?!”
Recap: From URL’s Lite Work, a shortened 3rd round from the Bear still doesn’t stop T-Top from utilizing a gang of fire name flips, sterling rapidfire punches/gun bars and some wily personals/trap talk to handily take rounds 1 and 2 and get the win over a mostly subpar and set-up lengthy Holmzie Da God.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “The chrome firing or I got a bomb that I could detonate, they gotta make a GoFundMe for God, that’s a collection plate!”
Recap: With the heartfelt past struggles he’s long shared from his personal life, a well-noted service to social activism and a plethora of righteous punchlines over the years, the idea that Ooops, win or lose, couldn’t make a bigger name for himself on URL was always nonsensical. And as Holmzie Da God (after out-punching a flow-challenged Ooops in round 1) finds out in this 3-rounder, the St. Louis Superman’s vivid storytelling, fierce wordplay and ability to parlay hard-hitting personals and scintillating schemes into a win, by edging rounds 2 and 3 here, shouldn’t be underestimated either.
Verdict: Ooops (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ooops – “Depression, suicide, anxiety, bipolar, that’s what they expected us to talk about, I hate that this had to be you, ‘cuz we one and the same, I fought through Ultimate Madness too!”
Recap: Leave it to Rum Nitty to hit on something I was already thinking going into the 3rd round here: how strange it was seeing Holmzie da God take on an angle of criticizing Nitty for being a gun bar/name flip rapper (not that Nitty isn’t also one of the best punchers in the game) when Rum has taken what’s works for him and turned it into becoming a Top tier battle rapper. Yeah, that just doesn’t make much sense. And neither did Holmzie getting way too diligent in round 3 and tracking down his opponent’s YouTube views to use as angle. Yeah, that was a little much. Other than that, a mostly one-sided here as outside of a punch-heavy at times, but elongated final round, overall Da God struggled to keep up with Rum’s versatile array of stinging punchlines, rugged name flips, fire set-ups, mocking personals and flashy gun bars/wordplay for all 3 rounds.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “But you done done, I brung out a .50, 16 in the clip, plus one…I’m taking somebody with me!”
Recap: Personals based on E. Ness’ participation in the old MTV show ‘Making The Band’ are usually pretty stale. But Holmzie Da God’s ability to finesse those personals into hitting darts on Ness’ life now (as compared to his old bandmates) along with a bunch of other piercing punches, allows Da God to edge this ‘Jersey vs. Philly’ 1-rounder over his performance-lit, but bar-wise topsy-turvy opponent.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “How da fuck I go from watching you on Making the Band to watching da Band making shit without you!”
Recap: B. Dot pitches a shutout, but Holmzie Da God certainly made him earn it. In what was still a close affair with a boatload of similar themes unloaded from each side, Dot just did his opponent one better each step of the way. Indeed, the West-coast activist/battler just seemed prepared for anything Holmzie could throw at him, responding to screeds on supposedly only battling black battle rappers with a dope, truth-telling rebuttal, offering up a gang of scathing personals on mental health/bi-polarism that had to touch at Da God’s nerves, dishing boastful barbs throughout the bout, unleashing fire set-ups and proving that he can indeed rap with fierce wordplay, 4-bar setups, punches, a versatile cadence and crazy schemes all through this battle. And while Holmzie rapped with plenty of conviction and was aggressive, hard-hitting and personal-lit through most of the match, he would also suffer from one too many dry spots and elongated turns, thus assisting with Dot being able to take each round for the win.
Verdict: B. Dot (W) 3-0
Favorite line: B. Dot – “Have a seat, just not the throne, when the cig lit, I’m knocking off pigment, I’ll light you up…watch ya tone!”
Recap: Championship round of URL’s Ultimate Madness 2 tournament between Bill Collector and Holmzie Da God gets the feted Summer Madness 10 platform, a significant first for each battler. Unfortunately however, overall it’s a mostly subpar affair as the two battlers (who happen to be part of the same Loud Boys clique) clearly didn’t bring their respective A-games to the bout and too often at times seemed focused on their ‘brotherhood’ rather than showing us who could rap better. Holmzie, often indirect with his punches and kicking a gang of pedestrian bars in every round, could never match the consistent heat he brought with his wordplay and punchlines that got him to the finals. While Bill, tho seeming to want it more at times, might have been suffering from battling too much late what with his lack of high-kneed hijinks and creativity. Nonetheless someone had to win and the edge here (despite Holmzie winning getting the belt in real time) in each round goes to BC, who overall was more direct and just had better punches, especially in his best round, the 3rd.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “I’m here to seal ya fate, it’s easy to get of rid of Holmes when you from the real estate!”
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: Taking advantage of an underwhelming and flow-challenged Th3 Saga in the first couple of rounds, but also some using solid punches, piercing personals and spicy religious-sliced darts, Holmzie Da God does just enough to edge rounds 1 and 2 (a punch-heavier Th3 Saga easily took the 3rd) and advance to the next round of this Ultimate Madness 2 tourney from URL.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “Random, but your Jesus was the biggest deadbeat of all-time, he told his kids he’ll back…2,000 years later they ain’t seen the nigger yet!”
Recap: Premiere Rap Battle League 1-rounder sees the cold, old-school and unintentionally witty at times flow of GS get back back by a not so clean, but still more potent, spirited, mayhem-drenched, scheme-friendly and name-flip spazzing Holmzie da God.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “Bitch I ain’t like your ass since preschool, I couldn’t recite my ABC’s without saying ‘F’ G!”
Recap: Not sure why a mostly mayhem-dishing, fiery and name flip-spazzing Holmzie Da God would also go after Chef Trez’s rebuttal game as it takes a special skill to rebuttal and the Chef is one of the best at it. But other than one questionable angle and a slow start to both his 1st round (which he lost) and his 3rd (which he won), it’s a flexing and top-notch showing by Holmzie, who takes advantage of a bit of a lazy pen/flow from the usually more consistent Trez to out-punch and out-perform his opponent in the latter rounds for the win.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I pull it out, the mag clap, you better duck, Aflac, a small cap will leave this brim bit like a dad hat!”
Recap: Capped by a gritty, aggressive, superbly-executed, mayhem-lit, performance-rich and punch-heavy round 1, Ace Amin manages to hold on with a slightly more condensed, but just as raucous 2nd round to edge that one and beat back a versatile throughout, gun bar-waving and name flip/punch-savvy, but also a little too indirect at times and punch-predictable (tho he still got better with each round, so much so that he won the 3rd) Holmzie Da God in this dope Banned battle from URL.
Verdict: Ace Amin (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ace Amin – “You bi-polar, everything black and white?, [click, click] now your mouth full of gray matter!”
Recap: The guy willing to sing usually wants it more anyway. Crooning at times when he wasn’t spitting hard punchlines as well as some fire personals and fiery gun bars, a more versatile Bandit Montana edges a solid, but a little too gun-crazy and Avatar-bar lit Holmzie Da God in this 1-rounder from the NY.
Verdict: Bandit Montana (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bandit Montana – “You know what got me fucked up, you go like public about your mental issues my nigga, I hope you find somebody in that field for help, you remind me of that nigga who used to just text his bitch, if you don’t come home now I’m a kill myself!”
Recap: Hate to get personal in this space, but damn if Danja Zone wasn’t annoying the shit out of me with all those over-the-top reactions. Nonetheless, dope, punch/grip ready/personal/struggle bar worthy and competitive battle between Holmzie Da God and Don Marino comes down to the final round after the more haymaker-drenched Holmzie took the first before Marino came back with a condensed and more punchline crazy 2nd to split things going into the 3rd. And while both battlers, on their A-game throughout the battle, would get uber-personal and kick a couple of sublime turns in the final turn, an almost flawless, condensed and more direct go-round by Don (who also admirably predicted that Holmzie would use race angles during his turn) would give the Miami capo a nice comeback for the win.
Verdict: Don Marino (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Don Marino – “We could take the savage route, what this man about?, ladder out, [Bwoh!] leave God all over the crib….it’s a Spanish house!”
Recap: Houston Bar Code 1-rounder between Holmzie Da God and Statz G sees Holmzie delivering one of his better rounds…ever, getting crazy lit with gritty punchlines, some turned up wordplay, well-crafted name flips and of course, healthy gun bars–a superb turn that stayed consistently fire throughout and easily beat back a solid, but filler-prone round from his opponent.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I will beat your ass like Celebrity Death Match on MTV and keep beating your ass until I best of Statz [stats]…I’m the MVP!”
Recap: 30’s can be so deceiving sometimes what with the implication that the winner bodied their opponent. But that’s not always the case such as in this battle against Danja Zone, Holmzie Da God really gave a great effort, punching his heart out, adding some wit and even spouting some real street shit/struggle bars that the ‘been there’ crowd could appreciate. However, a couple of mistakes by Holmzie didn’t help matters. Such as the usage of nonsensical similes in the early stages on the bout and comically going at Danja for repeating bars in past battles would turn into a huge no-no as Zone was able to turn the personals that into a couple of fly rebuttals. Still, when it came to a spicy punch game combined with a wide load of boastful barbs and some sublime wordplay throughout his 3 rounds, even with two elongated rounds against a fierce competitor who made him earn it, the lyrically sharp Danja Zone just had too much in the tank.
Verdict: Danja Zone (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Danja Zone – “Look here I cook squares in hot hot round like a waffle iron!”
Recap: Crazy, dope, competitive and gun bar heavy Banned Legacy battle between Prez Mafia and Holmzie starts off going the former’s way as even after both battlers dished a killer 1st round, one too many dry spots by Holmzie allows Prez to get the edge there. The latter rounds not only kept the crowd entertained, but were lit with heavy-handed punches, fire name flips and quality wordplay as well. Indeed, after a solid, but a bit underwhelming-compared to his stellar-1st turn by Prez in the 2nd, Holmzie would deliver the best round of the battle with a sublime, witty at times, personal and brazen go-around that would even things up going into the final round. And while Prez and Holmzie both dished strong 3rd’s with an equal amount of haymakers, the way more condensed Prez gets the edge for the win here.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “You seen Surviving R. Kelly?, now this 16 got a minor feel!”
Recap: Holmzie Da God’s more potent personals, righteous gun bars, fiery schemes and stifling mayhem in enough to edge a Soldi overall, but not as consistent Zay Smoove in this 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “This big bitch worthless with the Heat..he Greg Oden!”
Recap: Gun bar drenched, name flip spazzing and punch-heavy battle between Holmzie Da God and Reepah sees the Loud Boyz capo use a more condensed turn to edge the first round before a turned up Reepah easily takes the 2nd. After two pretty exhilarating rounds, the deciding 3rd would be a bit of a let down from both battlers with some pontificating and filler meshed in their bars. Still, a more versatile and consistent Holmzie, who clearly seemed to want this battle more than his opponent, is able to dish enough heat for the win.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I grip the can and be the bigger man and let it go, pistol with me till the gun crack, get beat in the head by the handle, yeah your nigger’s gonna die after you bro, but you gonna be the first to get led [lead] by example!”
Recap: Featuring some mean personals, Vic Wallace puts forth another solid turn on the Gates of the Garden stage here against Holmzie Da God. But an elongated round with one too many missteps on the set-ups along with fire execution from Holmzie with the punches, personals and performance bars, gives the more condensed Loud Boy the win.
Verdict: Holmzie da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie da God – “You’re not getting a URL shot after this, is you stupid? don’t be dumb dog, and if you was to, I’ll wait till the event over, as soon as I see you leaving the PGs [bwoh!] I’m letting One Off!”
Recap: Surviving an early slip-up the gritty stylings of King H get better as the battle proceeds, but too many salacious gun bars and potent punchlines/name flips from a more condensed Holmzie Da God gets the Loud Bioy the win here in this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I’m on his block, with a banana clip, looking for H&M, the coolest monkey in the jungle!”
Recap: An away game for Jersey’s Holmzie Da God is worth the trip as the Loud Boy’s rigid guns bars and gritty trap talk prove steady and condensed enough to beat a solid, but inconsistent Cedarside Mone in this 1-rounder from Bar4Bar Rap Battle League.
Verdict: Holmzie The God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie The God – “I ain’t waiting for a nigga to spit, I’m a burst first, no slacking, shit always pull like a church shirt!”
Recap: With a well-fought win, Big Kannon’s return the the URL goes about as well as expected. But other than a clear second round takedown, BK’s too often pedestrian opponent, Holmzie Da God still put up a fight what with a load of stinging gun bars, real street talk and some righteous punchlines. Still, even if he wasn’t quite as nice with the rebuttals as we’re used to seeing and might have a spit one too many name flips, BK’s versatility and penchant for fiery wordplay, fierce/witty personals and turned-up schemes/punches gives him the first two rounds, before a debatable 3rd avoids the 3-0.
Verdict: Big Kannon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “Before Smack, nigger you knew you or paid attention to you still, that’s why you on every card and begging hard, just to get up on the bill, but I see why you slaving Holmes, ‘cuz to the masses you one of the lightest niggers in the field!”
Recap: It doesn’t happen often, but even being more versatile than your opponent can get you a loss. As seen here in this dope URL matchup, while Craig Lamar spouted a wider array of bars with fresh personals, punchlines, wordplay, a rebuttal and even a freestyle mixed in, a little too many dry pots along with the set-up heavy, dazzling schemes dishing and gun bar feening Holmzie Da God raining graphic haymakers on an energetic crowd that seemed into every hot bar performed, earns the Loud Boy spitter rounds 1 and 2, before a debatable 3rd cost him a shutout.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “Blade through his shirt and start poking him through it…then take another stab at it like I know I can do it!”
Recap: Tough one to decide here as Holmzie Da God. delivering a round of spitfire gun lines and fierce (“They trying to think about how I found this bastard, it’s Alaska, I seen moon every day for a month straight!”) punchlines in an incredible 1st to a dope 2nd that featured more of the same (without the predictable ‘old man’ jokes that his opponent predicted he’d have lined up for him) to an albeit pontificating, but hardbody 3rd that showcased the God’s real life struggles, overall did almost everything right to win here. However, for 2 rounds, the O.G. Moon just came one better. After a solid, but flow-challenged 1st, Moon’s gritty street bars, fiending set-ups, bully (“But don’t think ‘cuz you hang around a dentist [Dennis], he’ll be able to pull a gun [gum] out your mouth!”) lines and witty personals finally caught up to the debonair of his consistent swag in the both the 2nd round and an even better and more versatile 3rd. In other words, a testament to Moon’s experience in the game and a nice come-from-behind-win in a fire battle that really didn’t deserve a loser.
Verdict: Moon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Moon – “Nigga, you set our people back 400 years the way Joe did you, nigga you had me thinking P.G. stood for ‘plantation ground’ the way the white boy whipped you!”
Recap: No easy winner here as both the fiery (“If we fight, you’ll probably fuck me up bro, look like you got some heavy ass hands…nah, I was kidding Holmzes [homes] Neverland Ranch!”) , name flips and back-to-back-to-back punches of Joe and the slower build-ups, but just as nasty schemes as well as real street/gutta lines from Holmzie Da God keep things competitive throughout this PG matchup on the URL stage. Joe gets things off to a quick start right away with spicy (“You got a kid?, I’ll put a father in a box, that’s my confession!”) haymakers that not only had the crowd wilding, but a more consistently fierce go-around that was able to beat back a very (“Silencer on the gun and I put it right on the nose like the proper way to say it!”) solid turn by Holmzie. Round two was more of the same from both battlers, confidently dishing their lines with even aggression and potency. However, for all of Holmzie’s (“When I was 20, I was the youngest nigga in my cell, 3 Bloods tried to run my hut, my only defense, two fists, some soap and a sock!”) comeuppance in the middle round, a little too much filler along with Joe’s highly animated and crazy Get Out bars that stood out the most to edge the round. Last round was also close, however a slight slip-up from Joe put towards the beginning a dent in what was otherwise a pretty nice (“You gonna spit that black-vs.white shit right?, that’s funny because bar for bar [points at Holmzie] you pale in comparison!”) round altogether, but erstwhile giving a very (“I was told when it’s war, I was told lock on with precision, so y’all won’t know which craft [witchcraft] I’ll use!”) formidable Holmzie the edge.
Verdict: Joe (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Joe – “Y’all seen the movie Get Out?, He thought it was godo to see a familar face…till I grip the pound!
Recap: Even against an opponent who started off pretty pedestrian, but got niftier with his wordplay and gun lines as the rounds proceeded, Holmzie Da God’s consistently well-crafted schemes and fiery punchlines throughout this battle were more than enough to score a 30 on Dot MCK.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “Back out on him?, I would never duck down, miss me with all that Goofy shit!”
Recap: A little more consistent overall, Holmzie da God also uses some fiery gun lines, potent wordplay/schemes and steely name flips to survive the frequent and aggressive stylings of Hilife, who also kept things close and impressed with a couple of dope rebuttals.
Verdict: Holmzie da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie da God – “That’s how I handle mine’s, he could get the whole damn Smith and wherever he lays he won’t get up…he got no ambition!”
Recap: In this flexing 3-rounder from TrapNY, Ish Mula comes solid with the name flips, bully bars as well as some nifty wordplay. However, a more consistent with the punches/schemes, fierce with the personals and versatile with the bars Holmzie Da God does just enough (along with a fire rebuttal in the 2nd) to edge the first couple of rounds and earn the win here.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I got a AK, drum clip, ain’t no way of dodging …, these bitches coming outta nowhere, they like the Cosby accusers!”
Recap: Plenty of heated gun bars and nice set-ups to the punches by both Drugz and Holmzie Da God in this close battle from Spit Dat Heat. However, in the final analysis, it’s Drugz who stands out harder with more cohesive rounds, wittier bars and an aggressive performance. Granted, Drugz was a little over-the-top at times with his aggression, but his palette still stood out more, altogether giving the DMV spitter rounds 2 and 3 and a come-from-behind win.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Drugz – “I get a kick out of Holmzes [homes]…I’m evicting this nigga!”
Recap: Painting a fine scenery with pointed set-ups, all the while dishing his punchlines with consistent flair, Holmzie da God takes this one-rounder from a gritty throughout, but way less intricate Billy Da Boss Don.
Verdict: Holmzie da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie da God – “We 4 deep, van full of .9’s, it’s like a soccer mom!
Recap: After asking the crowd if they wanted gun bars, Holmzie da God proves to be reliable with a load round of heated shots along with a steady mix of righteous (“You test me and get a ‘Que?‘, that’s ‘what’ in Spanish!”) punchlines and neat name flips, all in all, pushing past a solid (“Cuz I’ll fuck around and reach for the thang, then I’m a disrespect God…bitch I’m speaking in vain!”) overall, but too many dry spots-having Tre Authenicc.
Verdict: Holmzie da God )W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie da God – “This shotgun like being 7-fott in the 6th grade, boy that’s a bis-ass 12!”
Recap: While freestyling may be a lost art, in this day and age of battle rap being 99% dependent on written’s, unless you’re on the level of an Eyedea (RIP), there’s really no sense in going into a battle using mostly quasi-lame freestyles, as Johnny Mel does here, unless you’re just showing off or you’re really not that serious about a battle rap career. One gets the feeling that both happened here, enabling Holmzie da God, dispensing swift and heated punches, ill gun bars along with some nice schemes, to score an easy 3-0.
Verdict: Holmzie da God (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Holmzie – “Why the fuck y’all put this church boy in front of a sinner and why the fuck do white people where shorts in the winter?!”
