Recap: Strong, punchline/name flip/mayhem-lit efforts by both Lotta Zay and Riggz in this KOTD Season Week 5 match. And while Zay kept it close and made his presence felt throughout with a gang of aggressive and gritty darts, it’s the slightly more consistently hitting, wordplay-spicy and condensed Riggz who took round’s 1 and 2 (score the 3rd debatable) for the win.
Verdict: Riggz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Riggz – “You picked the wrong nigga, y’all better wake the fuck up before I fuck the whole wake teh fuck up!”
Recap: Two vets in the game, Lotta Zay and Chef Trez, battle like you’re supposed to when there’s $50K on the line: sheer, aggressive intensity to go along with a gang of blistering punchlines. And while a boatload of spirited name flips, boastful barbs, steely wordplay and righteous heat also played a huge part in this KOTD Grand Prix tourney 1st round matchup, after the two split the first two rounds, it’s a slightly more haymaker-lit Trez who takes the deciding 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I get the mill and clean house like a single parent!”
Recap: Dope, 3-round punch-fest between Th3 Saga and Lotta Zay on the Bullpen stage sees Saga get busy with a boatload of piercing personals, fiery, Christian-laced schemes, nifty wordplay, intense struggle bars and head-ringing punchlines that came in from a variety of angles. Other the hand, a pretty confident Zay backed up his swag throughout the match with a gang of flexing punches/gun bars, boastful shiners, witty barbs/personals, some intricate anti-religion darts and a couple of nice rebuttals in each round. A close and highly competitive battle with very little filler on each side, it’s a more condensed and reach-less Saga who edges rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “I know I know, y’all hate to see a Christian take the violent route, a man of God with a Cannon…Kirk Franklin on Wild n Out!”
Recap: Black Ice Cartel delivers yet another dope 1-rounder here, this time between Showstoppa and a returning-to-the-scene Lotta Zay. And while the veteran Zay used a gang of nifty punchlines to drops a nice load of haymakers during his elongated but pretty solid turn, a slightly more consistent, performance-heavier and less reach/filler-prone Showstoppa came through with his own series of jaunty punches, witty barbs and righteous gun lines/name flips to edge this one.
Verdict: Showstoppa (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Showstoppa – “…then let the chrome spray and this ratchet hitting everything moving, she in her hoe phase!”
Recap: Nice, flexing and punchline-spazzing 2nd round by Street Hymns makes for a debatable. But other than that one too many supbar name flips as well as a couple of inconsistent turns by Hymns in both the 1st and 3rd rounds in lieu of an opponent in Lotta Zay who came well-prepared with a boatload of steady heat, prideful boasts and wide-angled punches, gives the Team Homie member the win.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “You think you the only one good with God?, fam I swear, it’s like Martin and Bruh Man, it’s like our relationship funny at times, but I’m cool with the man upstairs!”
Recap: Even with a boatload of filler from both rappers, Franchise’s lack of bite to most of his bars as well as 3 elongated rounds from the Canadian spitter hurts him more in the long run. That leaves a more condensed and wordplay-heavier Lotta Zay with enough room to edge this one.
Lotta Zay: (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “This the intervention, but I can’t find the pussy nowhere…like that pic of Calicoe skinny-dipping!”
Recap: Despite the fact KRS-One told MC Shan (not Busy Bee) that the ‘Bridge Is Over’, thanks in part to a short 3rd round from (“I’m from Brooklyn, where nigga’s will beat your ass with a long branch…and yell ‘Brooklyn!'”) Brooklyn’s Sin City, Lotta Zay spits enough fierce (“My clout higher, but man it’s getting old, so when that .4 getcha, it ain’t Alzheimer’s”) punchlines and dope schemes in rounds 2 and 3 to edge this spirited battle from RBE.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “But if he come deep, I squeeze mac, he lean back…like he riding around with the side bitch in the front seat!”
Recap: “I’m dead nice”–never witnessed a more confident, flat-out consistent and all-out superb Danja Zone than here against Lotta Zay. So prolific was Danja’s pen game, that nothing Lotta did in this battle would’ve mattered at the end. So despite a rare choke by Lotta in round one, being followed by a couple of (“I’ll leave y’all all hurt, Rugrat open and crank it, y’all see the Tom’s squirt”) average rounds, with a wide array of fierce wordplay, booming punchlines, spirited (“Zay verse Danja, bet, but if this a battle on Olympus, in light of when greats connect, then why he kept getting invited like Facebook game requests?’) bars and addictive (“Cut out your middle and side man, like when Frank went to Thailand!”) crowd-pleasers, Danja Zone not only only gets the white towel thrown in during round 3, but his stock should go way up after catching a body against a pretty formidable opponent.
Verdict: Danja Zone (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Danja Zone – “Headshot, y’all getting the head at the same freaking time, that’s a 69!”
Recap: As expected, a close, competitive and entertaining battle between underrated vet Lotta Zay and rising up-n-comer Rum Nitty. Both dropped plenty of hot bars, added a few haymakers here and there and put on a dope performance for the crowd. Still, while Zay had a little more variety with the bars and stayed consistent throughout, Nitty’s wordplay and punches (“Get close up on him, with a snub and a black denims, i grab the nose get back and wet him, that’s a baptism!”) seemed to get better with each round. I got Zay taking the 1st, Nitty edging the 2nd and you can go either way on the 3rd.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “You don’t believe I got gun powder on my hands?, Smell My Finger like Suga Free”
Recap: Here against Krucial Ken, a gang of mean punchlines and fierce schemes earns Lotta Zay a split going into the 3rd round. But the usually gun and mayhem-slinging Ken, surprisingly switches it up a bit in the deciding 3rd, adding a fleet of stinging personals and wit to his repertoire to edge a competitive round and earn the win.
Verdict: Krucial Ken (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Krucial Ken – “You feel disrespected or something?, you looking strong in the face, I’m all in your bitch mouth, that’s a tribal piercing, I’m putting bone in your face!”
Recap: Even a punch-heavy, fire 3rd round by (“My bars the best, if anybody think they could double these [D’s], they must be talking Marvin’s breast!”) Lotta Zay can’t save him from getting 30’d, as a spitfire throughout, witty, condensed, personal/gun line (“Nigga, this choppa got a kick like it’s electric sliding!”) slinging and punchline-heavy Marvwon makes more than enough to take each round and Detroit proud.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, I will fry you, my metal talk like Futurama!”
Recap: Lotta Zay matches his swag with 3 consistently dope rounds filled with nice schemes (the Camp Lo couplets worked), crisp punchlines and lively wordplay to score an easy victory over an earnest, but unfocused Luciano Crakk.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “You think you designed for the crime life, really? you in my hindsight, hear me, this is how we equal out, me putting a two to this emcee like it’s Einstein theory”
Recap: Not a battle that’s easy on the ears due to the sound quality, but one thing’s for sure: Lotta Zay wasn’t lying about Nuborn once upon a time hosting this mess. Moving on, despite a hot 3rd from Zay, Born’s first two rounds, a deluge of personals, crisp punchlines and hard-hitting bars, was just too much to overcome.
Verdict: Born (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Born – “…I know it might shock ya, the head quite proper, she like Don King she be ripping off these nice boxers”
Synopsis: Too many old-school references, generic bars and an inability to match Brizz Rawsteen’s aggression, gutter bars and personals clearly did Lotta Zay in here.
Verdict: Brizz Rawsteen (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brizz Rawsteen – “Smart mouth niggas get smacked, right in their wisdom teeth!”
Recap: Really good battle between Lotta Zay and Kg The Poet as both spit plenty of heat and put forth a dope battle for the KOTD fans in attendance. Still, it’s Lotta who edges this one, pulling off a comeback by stepping up his bars and using his experience and cool to withstand the biased crowd. KG, clearly the crowd favorite throughout (esp. when he spouted some terrific hometown schemes), came crazy (“But don’t try bull cuz if so my wolves will come hurt you Lot and give a Walker with this Cowboy, out come Herschel [hearse you] Lot”) from jump with plenty of aggressive punchlines and high-end (“Nigga, you still begging John John for a 3rd battle, the plot just thickens”) banter throughout, but seemed to lose a little steam by round 3 as his bars became less and less potent. That made room for Lotta Zay to cook, esp. after an average 1st round and run with a new gameplan: all-too-funny personals, stifling wordplay, fiery schemes and heavy (“You thinking it’s your time now, this solider basic training, I ain’t even supposed to be giving you live rounds”) bars and get a nice win on the road for Jersey.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “Your bitch is a fan of me bastard and she said your sex just don’t feel real no more, so I fuck her in ass so hard she can’t sit down like a guest on the Steve Wilkos show”
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: South Jersey vs. North Jersey in this two-rounder from Block City featuring Shotgun Suge against Lotta Zay. Both went in, each bringing consistent heat, jokes and aggression, but Suge gets both rounds here with a better performance (“Fat nigga kick him all in his shit like Rikishi” with the legkick) bars, grittier wordplay and nicer punchlines.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “But you be acting like you wild or somethin’, nigga where you from the corner store like a mile or somethin'”
Recap: Ill Will moves on to the finals by winning UFF match, but his Team Homi brethren Lotta Zay made him earn it, stunting in the early rounds heavy with some bully (“This nigga pussy, am I the only one smelling the shit?, now who gonna get you out that pickle when that chopper make you relish the bits?”) bars and clever wordplay. But while Zay’s delivery and bar quotient faltered a bit towards the end, Will stepped it up with a steady mix of off-the-dome (“We in the same motherfuckin’ click, so how I’mma disrespect him to the core? Fuck you, I love the real niggas in the hood more!”) flexing, entertaining soliloquies and righteous street talk to earn the win.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ill Will – “You from the hood where they wear those shirts that say ‘Stop Snitching’, I’m from the hood where they’ll take that same snitch, put him on a shirt go into a church and tell his mama to stop bitching!”
Recap: I agree with the crowds decision here as while M. Ciddy was more consistent with the bars and wordplay, on the bar front Lotta Zay kept it close throughout while dropping more haymakers to go with a better performance.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “I’mma have to show y’all caskets when he get tagged at the neck like his shirt on backwards”
Recap: It’s not unusual in lower league battles for the crowd to gas up the hometown fave and egg him on in the hopes of getting a win. But in this case, support or no support, Deal Tha Monsta edges Lotta Zay (and pulls off a minor upset) with hitting (“This man a queen, won’t let that hammer seen, he’d rather sing a song”) personals, authentic wordplay, aggression, more haymakers, a nice Lakers scheme and better overall delivery.
Verdict: Deal Tha Monsta (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Deal Tha Monsta – “You got more battles than Genghis Khan in ancient times”
Synopsis: Young X is a different breed of rapper, from his southern swag to his keen wordplay to his passive-aggressive bars, as seen here, this kid is a problem.
Verdict: Young X (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Young X – “You ain’t know? I got flow [Flo] like the bitch from Progressive”
Synopsis: In a URLTV battle littered with fire schemes from both sides (esp. that crazy R&B scheme LottaZay dished in the deciding 3rd round), it’s the more consistently hitting and flow tight Zay who gets the win over Tone Montana.
Verdict: LottaZay (W) 2-1
Best line: LottaZay – “This how I do, I blaze wig’s nigga, March 9th the wrong day to BIG nigga!”
Recap: Sir Locksley had some tough (“Cut him off while he still running his mouth like Kung Fu flicks”) bars and put up a fight towards the end, but it still wasn’t near enough to beat Lotta Zay’s consistent wordplay, performance (“When its beef you a hurricane victim, this punk just hides, wait until everything blows over then he comes outside”) bars, name flips and hitting punchlines.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “You gonna die it’s not cuisine when I lean treys [trays], you Smart Ones better help him make a Healthy Choice”
Recap: Damn! I hate declaring ties, but after a couple of watches it was clear that this one could go either way with Syahboy clearly taking round 2 and Zay taking round 3, you’re only left with a very close and debatable round 1. Close battles usually make for dope battles tho, so in this case you can’t lose no matter who you think won.
Verdict: TIE
Best line: Lotta Zay – “…Wiz could leave ya with a wig missing like Amber Rose”
Recap: From Grind Time Now, a boatload of hard-hitting/witty personals, fire impressions, piercing punchlines and some witty barbs gives Real Deal the first two rounds for the win over a not-as-consistently spicy Lotta Zay before the Jersey puncher edged the 3rd to avoid getting shut out.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “‘Oh, he has gram’…so I do, two grandmothers!”
Synopsis: John John was spitting some mad heat (nice rock metal scheme early on) till he choked in that 2nd round (tho the Hollow da Don impression was pretty tight). But he more then made up for his choke in round 3 to easily take this rematch.
Verdict: John John da Don (W) 2-1
Best line: John John – “When I smack ya ass it’s not for good sportsmanship”
Synopsis: I agree with the judges (funny watching Swave Sevah and Iron Solomon judging battles) as this was an easy win for Lotta Zay who came with better punchlines, meaner consistent bars and nicer name flips all throughout. Clearly, John John has a lot of growing to do.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 3-0
Best line: Lotta Zay – “His man crying like why you hit him in the mouth for?, he came from the dirty so I hit him with the southpaw!”
Recap: Lotta Zay had some nice (“I’m the nicest on the set and I’m like Mike Epps, I’mma be here Friday After Next!”) written’s in round 1 of this Freestyle Friday Battle from BET, but Hollow’s buttery freestyle (“He couldn’t afford a shirt, so her recycled his long john!”) game edges it. Round two sees Zay’s attempts to freestyle fail miserably, leaving the way for Hollow to elicit more crazy off-the-dome bars and garner an easy win.
Verdict: Hollow da Don (W) 2-0
Favorite line: Hollow da Don – “Speaking of feet, yeah them shoes quite cool, I’m 22 and I had those in high school!”
