Recap: Solid Verbal War Zone battle between Swave Sevah and Pep delivers on cadence, fiery lyrics and some nice wordplay. But even with Swave coming through with a clean and spitfire 3rd rpund that was arguably the best in the battle, it doesn’t make up for too many slip-ups in the previous rounds as well as a more flow-admissible Pep’s more veracious, braggadocio bars and stinging punches.
Verdict: Pep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pep – “You dumb or what?, you don’t wanna play Ock, white boy wasted, Rum and Srroc [Ciroc] in the same shot!”
Recap: Clearly confident in saying what (“I wild out the jar’s a low and I don’t send sparring shots, I’ll cut your kid in the face then through the waist so his leg’s won’t have far to drop!”) he wants, whenever he wants and however he wants, even when he gets downright disrespectful and starts throwing cig’s at his opponent, Pep upends Kid Deph’s often (“Wig shot, either y’all hide out or get your honey combed!”) filthy, but also too often generic wordplay with his own steeze of fiery punchlines, robust set-ups, mid-round freestyles and gritty colloquialism to edge rounds 1 plus 3 and provide yet another memorable Proving Ground battle.
Verdict: Pep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pep – “Y’all karate class, get the shotty blast in the back of the head, catch the bullet now if he got the glow!”
Recap: Damn. A whole 3rd round directed your opponent’s (alleged) girlfriend? Who just happens to be a battle rapper herself and of course, was right there, in the crowd, to witness it all?!? That’s some (“You ain’t never been eye to eye with a real nigga that stare face, with a nigga like me, ready to bang your ass [points out] out on the staircase!”) different shit. And despite a pretty fire 3rd (that also featured a couple of nice rebuttals) from Truth Watson–who was nice throughout the whole battle, especially during a stupendous (“Nah, gun butt, the magazine to ya nose like cologne samples!”) 1st that he clearly edged–Pep’s way too (“Schoolyard felt like a zoo inside, I grew up playing suicide, with off-the-wall nigga’s that later committed suicide!”) prodigious (which included a fire mid-round freestyle) and scheme-heavy 2nd round along with the aforementioned, personal-drenched 3rd, gets the Golden Squad champ the comeback and the win here.
Verdict: Pep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pep – “I’ll put the gun to his mother mouth like ‘Where he at? Only the Truth shall set you free!'”
Recap: In this one-rounder from King of the Ring, Pep dishes a load of mean bully bars and wicked personals at Sco. However, Pep’s occasional struggle with his flow, an elongated turn and an unnecessary tag-in from one of his people’s allows a more condensed, versatile and punch-heavy Sco to take the win here.
Verdict: Sco (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Sco – “Your bar’s don’t motivate shit, boy, I ain’t come here for no Pep talk!”
Recap: Hey, I was an 80’s and 90s wrestling fan, so I can dig it. Reminiscent of when “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan were still in the NWO together and they fought each for the championship belt a couple of times, fellow ‘Golden Squad’ members Pep and X Da Don got at it here in this one-round matchup from FearNoOne/HoneyCombHideout. And while X Da Don scores with fleeting braggadocio bars, aggression and a unique delivery, too many dry spots, but mostly a way more consistently bar and performance-heavy Pep manages to outdo his brethren in this rare intra-faction battle.
Verdict: Pep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Pep – “I learned from young a machine will give you a different type of respect, I went the same road that Urkel took!”
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: One-rounders do little to prove who the better battler actually is and who knows how seriously a short in time and erratic (“This New York shit, every gun I select bust, meaning bitch I could tick [tic] it [ticket], that’s no fear!”) Prez Mafia took this one. But all of that is no fault of Pep’s who doubles Prez’s length of time with a load of rambunctious bars, steely punchlines and loaded (“You know what’s odd, since you took a shot at my expense, now it’s time for the payback, they gonna say this pussy lost, like a stray cat!”) personals for an easy win.
Verdict: Pep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Pep – “The trick to great aim, you gotta balance her first, them bitches they pop funny, yunno amateur twerk!”
Recap: When he wasn’t spouting fiery schemes on his knowledge of ‘Martin’ during a terrific 3rd, Pep’s over-the-top dalliances with gritty browbeat lines and sterling gun bars offers up a palette that overall is way too rich for opponent Chase Banks at times, solid, but less heavy punchlines, inconsistent raps that saw a sordid end when he choked in the final round.
Verdict: Pep (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Pep – “Skinny nigger, I’ll moonwalk off the kickback!”
Recap: Too many predictable name flips and rudimentary bars offset a pretty solid and witty showing from A.C., while at the same time allowing a more consistently nice and forever boastful Pep a salient win over a Grind Time vet in this one-rounder from Bar Warz NY.
Verdict: Pep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Pep – “Have both these hanging out his window…jumbo dice, act liek you want a piece of me, I’ll keep it gritty…buck-50, jumbo slice!”
Recap: Tho he did falter a bit towards the end of his turn, a way more condensed Whosane spouts enough heated punches, fiery schemes and steely wordplay to edge Pep, who despite some nice (“Dirty nigga, you look like your thoughts stink!”) freestyles here and there, dished an elongated round that was too littered with pedestrian bars.
Verdict: Whosane (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Whosane – “My nigga’s promote that white like apartheid, this .40 look like it should have a deep voice and invite nigga’s to join the dark side!”
Recap: Both Pep and Showoff dish on the usual street semantics with a load of braggadocio lines and gun bars mixed in. However it’s Showoff, styling with some sick wordplay and flexing with some mean schemes, who stunts with more versatility to take this one-rounder.
Verdict: Showoff (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Showoff – “You gonna get that Special Ed helmet, that’s a strap to ya chin!”
