No Bias. No Narratives.
Recap: Against a performance-stunting but less consistently bar-heavy Presidential Dubz, a more steady with the handle Chef Trez uses a plethora of fiery gun bars, sick wordplay, gritty 4-bar set-ups and piercing punchlines to get the win in this 1-rounder from the Fight Back Arena.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Is this bitch sleep?, let this bum play, I’ll let a gun spray, I’m quick to run down stair and grab the meal [mil]…I woke up late!”
Recap: A couple of We Go Hard vets, Presidential Dubz and Brooklyn Carter, who’ve had more than share of small stage, but big league URL sparring in the past, meet up for a fiery 3-rounder on Smack’s Survivor Series Onyx card. The ever-aggressive and never lacking for confidence Dubz, does a strong job with a spicy mix of shrewd punchlines, performance-stunting heat, salacious personals and witty barbs, while Carter stays grimy with a boatload of gritty bars, boastful rants, fierce name flips, dope set-ups and hard-hitting personals of his own. A close one that saw the two split the first two rounds (which included a spitfire round 1 that Carter edged), after a solid turn by Dubz, a more consistently lit and punch-heavy Carter pulls out the win in the deciding 3rd.
Verdict: Brooklyn Carter (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brooklyn Carter – “I’ll kill you and your nanny, bury you and your mother…since Puerto-Ricans like laying with they family!”
Recap: Granted, he was helped by a shitload of Presidential Dubz dry spots in the latter two rounds. But after getting served by his opponent’s more consistent and visceral shiners throughout the 1st round, the normally name-flip swinging and rapid-punching Ru Bando would make a workmanlike effort in mounting his comeback. The Bed-Stuy, BK, rapper mixing in some astute personals and rigid wordplay to his noted repertoire to edge a 2nd round he didn’t seem to have much chance of winning going in. Bando would then take advantage of another solid, but oft-redundant turn by Dubz in the deciding 3rd round with a more versatile, consistent and slightly more condensed turn that would edge him the win.
Verdict: Ru Bando (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ru Bando – “I’m mad humble, but truthfully, Prezzy what the fuck was you thinking you was gonna do with me?, Ruger squeeze, off his top when I shoot the piece, they won’t recognize the 3rd for nuthin’…Martin Luther King!”
Recap: A litany of gritty, potent punchlines on both sides highlight this We Go Hard Midnight Bars matchup between Dougy and Presidential Dubz. And while the two kept it close and competitive throughout this 3-rounder, some witty wordplay and a cleaner flow from Dubz would help him edge both of the opening rounds for the win before a 3rd round debatable.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Claim he got the vision, but his service suck…he Time Warner!”
Recap: Long overdue battle between Presidential Dubz and Prez Mafia only goes down for one round and sees the always aggressive and gritty Dubz, apparently with a lot to get off his chest, rapping twice as long as his opponent, but delivering consistent heat within his turn. Mafia, on the other hand, more condensed, witty at times and also dishing plenty of mayhem with the punchlines ends up turning in a pretty solid round that makes one wish this was a 3-rounder instead of 1. That said, it’s Dubz, slightly more versatile with his bars as well as more prepared (that’s a nod to Mafia cutting his round short) who earns the win here.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “The bitches out here throwing the na na, you thirsty, doing anything for the na na, [but] this a different ratchet in ya face…he like ‘Nah nah!'”
Recap: Quban and Presidential Dubz go toe-for-toe, splitting the first two rounds with elite gun bars, some well-equipped personals and raucous punchlines/set-ups, before a deciding 3rd is edged by Quban, who kept the heat on his opponent with more hardbody punches and schemes, while a still aggressive Prezzy spent half of an elongated round taking shots at potential opponents instead of the guy in front of him.
Verdict: Quban (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Quban – “If shit escalate, we won’t even switch the plot, gender reveal, cut the Cake, let’s see if he a man or not!”
Recap: A load of hot bars and schemes dished from both sides in this close, all the way competitive, We Go Hard matchup between two aggressive mainstays: (“Everything Golden? I’m coming for it all…everybody Paid In Full until he Mitch sliding down the wall!”) Presidential Dubz and (“Shit that I seen with my eyes, you’d think it’s make-believe, I’ll turn his world upside down, I seen Stranger Things!”) Ish Mula. With Dubz edging the first and Mula coming back to edge the 2nd, a very close 3rd gets dissected down to who had the stronger round overall and/or who had slightly less filler and the feeling here in both cases was Dubz.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Pulled up on him with something dirty like I’m rolling with Paper…with the cig behind the ear like the boggie for later!”
Recap: Despite scoring with some gritty punches (“These shots, go behind ya back, like a bad friend!”) here and there, once again Gwitty’s laidback, oft-monotone delivery belies an undercurrent that probably holds back the Reaction King’s battle career. In addition, a lazy 3rd round that saw him step aside and let a crew member deliver half the bars?!? All that to say, another 3-0 for the altogether (“A hypeman couldn’t react to a silencer!”) solid Presidential Dubz.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Hypeman reaction?, you get the throne for, Dammit Scotty!, That Boy Good, but what else! is he known for?”
Recap: They both rapped really well. A 50-minute PG battle between fellow East Harlem-nites Fettuccine 20 and Presidential Dubz is highlighted by a (“You in danger, running from the grip, we in different zones!”) haymaker-drenched, no filler, performance-stunting, wordplay Dubz easily taking the first round, before a little less condensed, yet punch and wordplay heavy (“I’m fucking this esay up, my grammar bad!”) as well as fiercely scheming Fetty edges the 2nd over a still fire, but not-quite-as-nice-as-his-1st Dubz. The deciding 3rd round saw both Fetty and Dubz continue their raucousness, with both battlers punching hard, getting a little personal and even throwing a couple of random shots at noted hypeman Gwitty, looking on from the crowd and enjoying the attention on himself. But it’s a slightly more versatile and a little more stronger with the bars Dubz who earns the vic at the end of this altogether competitive and fire battle.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Nigga, I got Spanish nigga’s riding with Razors like we keep a scooter!”
Recap: Combine what was arguably his best bar being directed towards someone that wasn’t his opponent (Chess) and a lack of variety to what was mostly inconsistent street darts, and there’s no way (“We fight nigga’s, we slice nigga’s, get ya shit cut short…we [slaps hand] TIME nigga’s!”) Blake Winters keeps up with a spirited (and at times downright disrespectful) Presidential Dubz’ gutsy (“He died for trying to come up on Prezy, but hey [waves arm like he’s shooting] it’s worth the shot!”) wordplay, lofty performance bars and ill name flips in this one-rounder from Colosseum Battle League.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Head shot…now his beans wrapped [bean wrap] Mexican style!”
Recap: Scoring at will with stifling (“You don’t move me Dub, I feel the tension in the air…take a shot to loosen up!”) punches, sizzling performance bars, dope personals and rapid (“Let him run in my crib tripping, I’m waiting in the kitchen, the boy will get shot, old school cereal style, I’ll whip the toy out the box!”) heaters that shook the room, Presidential Dubz out-punches a solid Ddub in the first two rounds to guarantee a win. A slightly more (“Right before I shoot, I scream Jersey!, get this Boom! behind bars like Free Ahdi!“) versatile and witty Ddub edges the 3rd to avoid the 30.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Before my battle Stylez called me the Icey Lady, that joke was very strong…let me turn it into a bar, since the battle it’s only been Mango and Coco…Cherry gone!”
Recap: Look! It’s Yella Mane, the guy from the ‘Best Gun So Big Bars’ video, finally up on the URL stage! Other than that, nothing much to see here, besides a hot jalapeno scheme and the bloody insides of Presidential Dubz slaughterhouse. Exquisitely (“I ain’t picky, I’m buying any gun they selling, my hood killer’s, that area cold, that area code start with 187!”) playing with words like your kid with Lego’s for all 3 rounds, Dubz’ consistently aggressive and fiery bars make quick work of the dude from Memphis.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Him, being taller than me?, I ain’t concerned bout it, you from the South right?, good, that’s where these birds flying!”
Recap: Spilling with confidence and performing (he even brought a mop out) righteously throughout his 3 rounds with hardbody punchlines, boastful set-ups and a nifty mix of fiery name flips as well as some feelgood personals, Presidential Dubz outshines a pretty solid in his own right Stylez to take this 3-rounder from We Go Hard.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “One hit will have him rocking on cam like Jada reaction!”
Recap: A distinct looking oddity in battle rap still capable of spitting that resident (“You too soft, I don’t have to bang .9’s, if I walk up on you, the braids on the back of that neck will get hang time!”) heat, Young Robbles’ sizzling, bar-centric 1st round more than spouts his mettle. However, when resorting to crowd-pleasers and jokes it’s a different story as the predictability and lack of dearth in bars begin to show. Subsequently, for opponent Presidential Dubz, with a Proving Grounds opportunity on the line, a well-balanced flow throughout, but especially in rounds 2 and 3, dominated by fierce (“They say in America, everybody deserve to be treated equally right?, therefore I’m letting it blicka, ‘cuz I don;t give a fuck if you retarded, you getting killed like a regular nigga!”) bars, nice wordplay and frenzied schemes combined with Robbels overall descent, allows him to keep his place on the roof.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “A retarded nigga trying to be a captain…Major Payne!”
Recap: “This battle will go one way, him dying in front of the magazine like his face on the front page!” No contest here as Presidential Dubz uses crazy gun bars, sizzling (“…crews will fix a Thugs Life, he’ll be looking like ‘Pac on a cross!”) performance lines, hitting 4-bar set-ups/personals and heated punchlines to easily perform a bodybag over an error-prone Young King Fabio.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “You believe in God nigga? Good. Play Christian, bullets will be out for this nigga liek it’s a slave missing!”
Recap: While bar lovers will like this one, for Aura anyway, too many of his speedy darts had a standard, generic feel that could’ve been thrown at anybody. Thus, Presidential Dubz with more variety to his performance, including some nice name flips and yes, even some paperwork, edged the 1st and 3rd rounds to take it in the end.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “He a lost nigga trying to find himself…I see the maze in you!”
Recap: Upping his wordplay potency, gun bar acumen and punchline game in the latter two rounds, Presidential Dubz gets some payback for his Cake Lyfe team with this win over Cream, who after a thunderous 1st round, fell victim to too many shots at Steams, a boatload of pedestrian bars and of course, his opponent’s rapid fire heat.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “I’m the reason that you on nigga, my flow failed you, you don’t believe it?, cream equals money, what’s that?, President’s, without me, Cream got no value!”
Recap: Whew! Kinda battle that makes you actually yearn for the Fight Klub days where you had a pool table between the rappers therefore making touching each other a non-issue. That said, I don’t have a problem with any battle rapper not wanting to be touched during a battle, but with all the performance bars and hand gesturing that’s in play these days, it doesn’t take being a rocket scientist to know the difference between being touched (Dubz barely grazed him) accidentally and someone outright disrespecting you with their hands. Then too, since it’s Cityy Towers who started the whole brouhaha (again, he had every right to be bothered by the touching, but I don’t think Dubz meant any disrespect with any of it), to be fair, all that gesturing at the camera while his opponent spits and/or grilling his opponent isn’t cool either, much less displays poor sportsmanship. Too bad for all distractions that came with the extra shit, because bar for bar and style for style this was a really dope battle. I got Towers edging taking the 1st and 2nd rounds, while Dubz clearly got the 3rd.
Verdict: Cityy Towers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Cityy Towers -“You’re a Buckingham’s Palace guard, your career’s a stand still”
Recap: In this main event, one-rounder from We Go Hard, Presidential Dubz raps almost twice as long as his opponent and despite the beginning wardrobe change and (“I turn up, shit get fucked up…I’m George Bush!”) history lesson, wasn’t really on his A-game. Still, Dubz had more than enough spitfire heat and back-to-back punches to beat what was a pretty pedestrian turn by Foreplae.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Fighting? I’m too consistent, I promise my hand will give your shit a ring like new commitment!”
Recap: In this unlimited one-rounder from The Tank, it’s a tale of opposites as Presidential Dubz, after a strong start, gets weaker with his turn, while Interstate Flames, after a rather mundane start, gets stronger and stronger with his. So overall, while both battlers brought their equal share of heat, a mid-round Dubz slip-up ends up making the difference.
Verdict: Interstate Flamez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Interstate Flamez – “He Spanish, so you know he work at the corner store!”
Recap: In what started out as a bit of a snorefest what with Presidential Dubz and Eclipse Da God feeling each other out through a haze of mediocre bars, earns with mark when Dubz takes flight about midway through his second round, dizzying his opponent with spitfire punchlines along with righteous personals, fiery performance bars and heated gun liners that left the haymaker-challenged Eclipse probably seeking another lane to display his rap talent.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Fuck you doing singing to the next nigga, that shit’s homo, R&B ass nigga, I’ll let that K see Jojo!”
Recap: A nice barfest between Presidential Dubz and K.O. sees both deliver an assortment of potent gun bars along with quintessential wordplay. And while an aggressive and personal-drenched (“You have yet to win a fucking battle…nah, forreal, forreal, you have yet to WIN a fucking battle!”) Dubz came (“Let’s get something straight here, he went from snitching to being a barber,,,oh I get it, he like lining nigga’s up!”) crazy at times (moreso in rounds 2 and 3), K.O.’s more consistent flow, copious reconstruction of bars and steadier (“I leave more heads wrapped than a Dominican salon!”; “You could learn from mistakes, but for thinking with my dick I should’ve never spit you out!”) punches was more than enough to take first two rounds and the win.
Verdict: K.O. (W) 2-1
Favorite line: K.O. – “Bars outta control, I’m dead nuts, the lead bust, this bitch catching an Ocho head butt!”
Recap: Nice come-from-behind win for Presidential Dubz, who doesn’t allow an eclectic round 1 from Piffy P to phase him. Instead raising his stock with feelgood schemes and gritty punchlines to snatch it at the end.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz -“You claim you good in the hood and you hugging the block, you only good with the law ‘cuz your mother a cop!”
Recap: Having your parents supporting what you love to do is a beautiful thing, but actually bringing your mom’s to a rap battle?!? Right…well, moving on, nothing spectacular to see here as D-Money and Presidential Dubz both had their moments as well as a few stumbles along the way. But I got Dubz’ punchlines amd wordplay outshining his opponent’s in rounds 1 and 3, which equates to not only a win, but a mom who’s undoubtedly proud of her son.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Slugs open that stomach up, that means I see section [C-section]!”)
Recap: With terrifically basic bars like “But to be real I ain’t looking at you, I’m looking past you”, the ruthlessly named Killa Killa stands no chance against the clever wordplay, nice (“…got a cold gun that kill early, Young Kannon!”) schemes and repeated punchlines from Presidential Dubz, in this one-rounder from We Go Hard.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz -“Your sister wanted me to fuck her in the Coupe, but shit, it’s like I threw two fingers up, the way I do sis [deuces]!”
