Recap: In this 3-rounder from URL’s ‘Outside’ card, with his plethora of speedy/gritty punch work, salacious metaphors/wordplay and head-ringing gun bars Real Name Brandon keeps it close all the way. But after getting edged to his just as efficiently punch-heavy, but a little more condensed opponent in round 1, a more flow-steady, witty and bar-lit T-Top edges the 2nd round to even things up before the more versatile Bear uses a roundhouse of a 3rd round, filled with a gang of fire name flips, storied street raps and even more hardbody punches to handily take the final round for the win.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “This ain’t right ‘cuz this ass-whooping was for Loso, but I got Brandon [branding] on a tee like a logo, I’ll put homie before the ratchet…it’s the bro code!”
Recap: Fonz vs. Real Name Brandon (aka Ultimate Madness 1 tournament winner versus UM4 tourney winner) from The Riot contains a gang of stifling punchlines, spirited gun bars, lofty set-ups and graphic mayhem from both battlers in make things interesting for the 1st couple of rounds (with a maymaker-lit Fonz edhing round 1 before a 2nd round debatable). But thanks in part to RNB choking away his 3rd, it’s the Landlord (who also added some sizzling wordplay and fire name flips to the mix) what with another round of stealthy punches, who gets the win in the end.
Verdict: Fonz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Fonz – “Bro stop it, acting like this nigga the one, no this nigga my son, but he not me, he Jaheim, this R&B nigga a bum!”
Recap: Rum Nitty, a last minute replacement for Nu Jerzey Twork in this first round URL Ultimate Madness 5 matchup against Real Name Brandon, serves up a plethora of consistently fiery name flips, sizzling wordplay and stinging punchlines to get past a pretty solid and gritty effort from RNB and get the win in a battle that was shortened to one round due to Rum having only 5 days prep.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “This some shit to be mad for, ‘cuz they put me out this bitch with 5 days notice…I can’t wait to run into the landlord!”
Recap: From URL’s recent Initiation 2 card, in a close battle soaked in plenty of hard-hitting trap talk, rigid struggle bars and gritty punchlines from both sides, the slightly more consistently spicy, personal, set-up/storytelling-lit and wordplay heavy Kyd Slade edges rounds 2 and 3 (call round 1 debatable) for the win over Real Name Brandon.
Verdict: Kyd Slade (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Kyd Slade – “We not the same, you nigga’s re-up money is pocket change, I swap my gun with his gun, I been good at the stock exchange!”
Recap: As yet another reminder on why you can’t take the URL App vote seriously, despite Nu Jerzey Twork choking away this 1-round Banned battle to Real Name Brandon, somehow he still had 2,000-plus votes stating that he won as I write this recap. SMD. That said (and no disrespect to RNB who with his consistently-lit punches, stinging personals and spiffy wordplay, was just straight fire here), with the dominating storyline coming out of this battle being NJT choking once again, who’s to blame (to the point that his current manager Anwar and ex-manager Rome DMV had a heated back-n-forth online about who managed Twork better) and what to do about it, here’s some unsolicited advice for Twork (who when it’s all said and done has no one to blame but himself for his continual mishaps): no more distractions leading up to battles. As in, within the 48 hours leading up to a battle, no going out, drinking or partying, no phone calls (unless of course, it’s an emergency) and no stupid Twitter beefs (in fact, stay off social media altogether). No anything. Nothing but staying on lockdown and practicing his rounds over and over again right up to the battle (and that even includes any pre-battle interviews) to the point that they’re so embedded in his head, that hopefully he’s never capable of choking again. Hey, if professional athletes can take away the distractions while they prepare for a big match, then so can Twork (esp. when you consider the amount of $$$ he’s being paid nowadays). And if his manager can’t make sure he has no distractions beforehand, then Twork should find himself a new one.
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “You thought you was gonna get up here and push a fat nigga around?, I ain’t Norbes at all!”
Recap: A bit quicker to the punches, fly with the name flips, consistently bullish with the mayhem, some fire storytelling and able to work in some elite gun bars, gang talk and witty barbs throughout his 3 rounds, in this bout from URL’s/Smack Volume 8 card, Shotgun Suge, after getting edged in round 1, comes back to take both of the latter rounds against an overall pretty solid and mostly punch/wordplay/gun line heavy (but a bit filler-prone) Real Name Brandon for the win.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “I’m outside with my new .40, I’m Pete Davidson!”
Recap: Despite a pretty solid effort (thought his best round was the 2nd, which with a slightly more condensed, but just as haymaker-lit as his opponent turn, I had him edging) here in this semi-final round of URL’s Ultimate Madness 4 tournament, NXT’s controversial run in this tourney comes to an end as the young, lite-skin spitter loses out to Real Name Brandon’s stifling storytelling bars/schemes, righteous darts, boastful bully talk and wicked punchlines in the 1st and 3rd rounds to get the win and move on to the finals taking place at Summer Madness 11.
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “I don’t take threats lightly, all that tough talk?, that shit bore me, last nigga that said he had a plot for me, didn’t live long enough to tell the rest of the story!”
Recap: That “Yoshi G., I’m a battle rapper now, are you fucking?!” bar by MVP in the 1st round of this Ultimate Madness 4 tournament final at Summer Madness 11 was fire. But other than that and some gritty/witty lines here and there throughout the battle, one too many subpar similes by the St. Louis battler and a Real Name Brandon who stood tall throughout this championship bout with a gang of sublime local references/heaters that played extra well with the Houston crowd, piercing punchlines and boastful barbs to go along with a spitfire, punch/storytelling-lit and nostalgic 3rd round that the Pasadena, CA, battler dedicated to his grandmother, equated to a hat trick for RNB.
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “Let you walk away with this bread, I’ll spin the block quick, Glock lift, he gonna be dying to get out of Houston…DeShaun Watson!”
Recap: Fiery schemes, blazing gun bars, slick wordplay/set-ups and graphic/stinging punchlines, it’s all there for Real Name Brandon in the first couple of rounds of this dope Ultimate Madness 4 matchup from URL, giving the West-coast native the win before a more steadily hitting, gritty and punch-lit Swervoo took the 3rd to avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “I was in the Charger with the .9 before anybody knew Drew Brees!”
Recap: From The Riot Network, Real Name Brandon offers up a bunch of slick wordplay, fiery punchlines, stirring mayhem, heated gun bars and righteous zingers/personals to get by a Marvwon who while dialing up a competitive host of witty big man personals, hardbody punches and dicey heat, couldn’t quite keep up with his opponent’s more haymaker-lit servings in round’s 1 and 3 (call the 2nd debatable).
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “I’m tired of you old nigga’s, thinking you gonna last forever, nigga your time is done, if you was nice you would’ve been dead, they say the good die young!”
Recap: ATL’s Chef Trez visits the West-coast for a Riot Network battle against Real Name Brandon and for the most part doesn’t miss a beat, using a boatload of fiery gun bars, gritty set-ups/punchlines, some dope rebuttals and fierce wordplay to take both of the opening rounds for the win, before an top-to-that-point topsy-turvy RNB puts it all together with a stirring, punch-heavy and mayhem-dishing 3rd to avoid the 3-0.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Why you after me? I’ll put a glock to him, send shots to him, fuck it I’ll just box with him, we in Cali, you’ll get a hook like Nate, but in the end he gonna look like Robinson!”
Recap: Not quite as thrifty with the wordplay as his opponent, but still live enough in the building to score with plenty of raucous punchlines, steely name flips/gun bars and loud, righteous street banter, an also cleaner-flowing Pop delivers more than enough stifling bangers in the 1st and 3rd rounds to get the win over West-coast battler Real Name Brandon in this close 3-rounder from We Go Hard.
Verdict: Pop (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pop – “You go by Real Name Brandon, Tuh!…nigga, my whole life I’ve been branding my real name!”
Recap: Fierce PG battle between Real Name Brandon and Jey The Nitewing sees the former (after a pretty pedestrian 1st round) dish a plethora of glorified mayhem that made what was looking to be a one-sided match into something competitive. But aided by his unorthodox delivery/performance, intricate wordplay/personals/name flips and steely flexing with his punches, it’s Mr. Nitewing who takes edges the 3rd (after a debatable 2nd) and earns the win.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “Fuck letting a glock burst, I’m big, you big, let’s see which one of us drop first, I’m fat, you fat, let’s see who’s gonna stop first, I’m dying to go to war wit’cha. I’m black and Samoan, so go figure, you know what you need for that type of shit?, some more [Samoan] niggas!”
Recap: Overall fire and competitive PG battle between a wordplay/punchline-heavy Real Name Brandon and and a gun line feening Fixx is split going into the deciding 3rd round which sees both battlers put forth plenty of righteous heat, but it’s Brandon flexing with more crafty punches as well as a displaying a nice research game, that edges the final round for the win.
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “This bitch is ready to bust, I let my .4 play [foreplay], I lean in without touching the ground, like ‘Eddie, are you ok?'”
