Recap: From URL’s ‘Final Exams’ card, against a Steams who at times was punch/name flip-heavy and pretty gritty throughout, but had way too many unforced errors (including choking away his 3rd) to keep count, Hansel has an easy time to it. The EFB spitter utilizing a plethora of spicy gun bars, righteous storytelling, boastful barbs, hard street rhymes and a bunch of piercing personals/punchlines to handily score a 30 in this mostly one-sided 3-rounder.
Verdict: Hansel (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Hansel – “Entry wound, size of a shot glass, exit wound look like I shot glass!”
Recap: Heinous and rigid when it comes to delivering mayhem, all the while sporting some insidous wordplay and effectively pronounced punchlines to keep you paying attention, Tink The Demon scores with enough heat to take round 1 and edge round 2 of this Born Legacy NW battle and get the win over gritty and lyrically stunting (esp. in round 3), but too topsy-turvy early on Steams.
Verdict: Tink Da Demon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tink Da Demon – “Jesus turned water into wine, I turn beef into vegetables!”
Recap: The ‘Craig/Friday’ name flips are at this point a no-brainer. But an otherwise gritty, wordplay/personal-spicy and back-to-back punch-lit performance by Steams gets him a 30 over a solid at times, but also flow-challenged to the point of choking away his 3rd round Craig Lamar in this App Exclusive battle from URL.
Verdict: Steams (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Steams – “You more metro than a San Francisco trolley!”
Recap: Good to see an underrated puncher like Johnie Alcatraz back in the game after a long time away. And the Jersey rapper does well here in this CGBL 1-rounder against Steams, serving up a nice mix of piercing punchlines and rugged gun lines amongst other gritty styling’s. But a confident Steams, consistently hitting on all cylinders with a gritty series of stifling punches, quality wordplay and stirring 4-bar set-ups/boastful barbs ends up getting the win in the end.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “I’m not a nigger you could belittle with bars, you hear me? hear ye, lighten your tone ‘cuz you Envy Da God!”
Recap: Good thing he caught himself and got back to spazzing as a near choke midway through what was a fierce, punch-heavy, wordplay-nice, name flip-lit and electrifying turn from Steams almost prevented this We Go Hard 1-round win over a pretty solid and ever eccentric, but not as consistently biting Gwitty.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “Midterms coming up, I’m a finish you Paper, you got a problem? Doctor’s appointment, It’ll get physical later!”
Recap: While True Indeed was dialing up a gang spicy personals and hardbody punches in this close 1-rounder from We Go Hard, a slightly more consistently gritty and name flip/punch/wordplay-lit Steams gets the edge here.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “This nigga sick, ‘cuz I’m Joe Jackson…go get the switch!”
Recap: Mr. Wavy just kills it here. Battling against fellow We Go Hard alumni Steams in this 3-round Ultimate Madness 2 matchup, a turned-up Wavy unleashes a consistent barrage of raucous gun lines, mocking personals, flexing punches/schemes and other obligatory damage over the course of 3 rounds to easily beat back his punch-worthy at times, but mostly subpar opponent and move on to the next round.
Verdict: Mr. Wavy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Mr. Wavy – “Weapon shoot, potato on a barrel, Steams [steam] vegetable!”
Recap: More condensed overall, name flip efficient, intricate with his punches and also more versatile with the bars, despite struggling with his flow here and there, Steams does just enough to beat back a solid, rebuttal-flipping and punch-heavy, but mostly one-dimensional and less direct showing by LL Coogi in this 1-rounder from JCBL.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “Big [B.I.G] nigga and I’ll rock Coogi’s better than anybody!”
Recap: Besides dilly-dallying in a rapid mix of potent name flips and personals, in this 1-rounder from Colosseum Battle League, it’s a boatload of crafty punchlines and fierce set-ups that gets Steams past a nice at times, but mostly pedestrian Nu York.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “Nice Catholic teacher, I used to hit my students but I give ’em time!”
Recap: More lyrically adept and punch-centric overall, name flip/gun bar savvy, condensed and consistent despite struggling with his flow at times, in this close 3-rounder from Bullpen Battle League, Steams manages to edge rounds 1 as well as the deciding 3rd and take the win over a gritty, intense, scheme-heavy and moment-lit, but a more pedestrian bar-inclined Superblack.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “I’m a black on Black, fold his cap till it crease, who said Black don’t crack?!”
Recap: Not sure where the ‘soundalike’ stuff comes as not only are the cadence’s much different, while Steams can certainly dish some rich schemes here and there (but nowhere near Chilla’s level), the feeling here is that the Brooklyn spitter’s more noted for his unorthodox wordplay, gritty punches and 4-bar setups than anything else. That said, outside of a close 2nd round, Chilla Jones just toys with Steams here, using a gang of ridiculous punchlines, pointed personals, stinging metaphors, boastful shiners, fierce gun bars and of course, heavy-loaded schemes to easily take the 1st and 3rd rounds over his sometimes flow-challenged opponent, gain the win and end up settling for a debatable 2nd round thanks in part to the Kingpen rapping too long.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “A knife to his face, swipe through the Cakes, slice through his face, I’m Nelly in ‘Tip Drill’!”
Recap: Steams versus Teewhy would’ve been a better battle if the former hadn’t struggled with his flow in the 1st round and literally given up on his 3rd barely a minute in. Competitive, mayhem-friendly, punch/wordplay-heavy and name flip sauteed when they both were on point with the bars, a clearly more crisp with his flow and passionate with the punches Teewhy also dishes more haymakers to edge round 1, before a debatable 2nd and partly due the aforementioned capitulation by his opponent, easily takes the closing round.
Verdict: Teewhy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Teewhy – “I’m a pop this thing, Glock’s will ring, thsi bicth fit for a body, I’m bringing bars back and leaving more Cakes stretched than squat machines!”
Recap: iBattleTV matchup between King Jables and Steams proves to be witty (esp. on the side of KJ), punch-heavy, name flip savvy and loaded with mayhem. A more consistently nice and intricate (“Make a move or I wish you’d flex, the C’s will drop J and cables is what you’ll be hooked to next!”) Steams takes round 1, before a vigorous, flow-centric and haymaker aplenty Jables comes back and easily takes a 2nd round that was even more solidified by a Steams choke. Tied going into the 3rd, both battlers came with even more rigid punchlines and some dope wordplay. And while Jables was a little more versatile his bars, a slightly more consistent Steams came hard with enough heat to make this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: King Jables – “Ypu know he don’t travel, this clown runs his own league, hosts his own battles, like round 1 it’s on me!”
Recap: Jakkboy Maine versus Steams reps for the first URL/Smack “Banned” battle and it’s a doozy as Steams’ crafty wordplay for the most part, competes well with Jakkboy’s electrifying darts and righteous performance bars. Looking back however, this one comes down to the second round as a tight and sizzling on both sides 1st gets edged Jakbboy’s more potent, versatile and consistent heaters, while Steams takes the 3rd with a more condensed, lyrical and gritty turn to beat back what was a less satisfying and elongated round from Jakkboy. And while a dope and competitive throughout Steams came through with a solid 2nd, it’s Jakkboy’s exhilarating set-ups, witty N.Y. trolling, fiery name flips and the scintillating execution of his bars that makes the round the only decisive one, with the Richmond, VA rapper getting the win by taking it easy.
Verdict: Jakkboy Maine (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jakkboy Maine – “[Bwoh!] his name Steams, but when it disappear, who really miss it that much?!”
Recap: Call this a tale of two halves as Steams’ potent punches and sizzling name flips easily gets him round one over a more bark than his bite Coach Corleone. 2nd round sees the story begin to flip however as the N.Y. rapper, while still delivering more fire lines, struggles with his flow, leaving his opponent with enough room to take the round with less intricate, but still dramatic bully bars, fiery (“You like Lebron wife, sleeping on a nigger with all of them skills!”; “Fuck your team, I’ll have .25 sent [cent] for the Cake!”) wit and dogmatic street theater. Going into the last tied, a still stumbling Steams needs an able assist from Prep to complete his round, giving an admittedly better as the battle progressed and consistently solid Coach Corleone the come-from-behind-win.
Verdict: Coach Corleone (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “I’m not worried about you aggress-ing me nigger, LeBron James and Ty Lue, this Coach can only talk to the rest of these nigger’s!”
Recap: In this 3-rounder from WeGoHard, Steams uses a nice quartet of intricate wordplay, ill set-ups/personals, snappy name flips and steely punchlines to survive both a 2nd round choke and a sterling middle round from Ish Mula, who while forever gritty and aggressive with his punches, came with too many reaches/pedestrian bars in the first, before an elongated and pretty average 3rd got him edged there too.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “Ish wanna be the shit, but that’s a gift and a curse at the same time!”
Recap: Using some slick (“Fuck is y’all selling me Diesel for, [when] I’m already on Smack?!”) wordplay, fierce name flips and hearty punchlines, a confident Steams survives a sputtering round 3 to take the first two rounds and beat an overall (“Watching Ninja Turtles taught me having a gun so bigger gun…man that shit is wack, cuz’ yeah the ‘ooouuu’s will give you bigger shells, but it’ll also create bigger rats!”) solid, but slightly undermanned with the bars Diesel in this West-coast Traffic battle from Smack.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “I serve vets, why y’all give me this herb next?, I’ll bursts tek’s or you’ll get poked in the temple like church sex!”
Recap: Despite a mid-round slip-up, Steams’ boatload of slick wordplay and fire set-ups/name flips are more than enough to beat the mostly standard punches of Black Gemini in this one-rounder from Bar4Bar Battle League.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “The gauge hit him, since all you Cleveland nigga’s want to be Lebron, I’m just another PG who won’t play with him!”
Recap: A testament to the idea that URL would do better to really promote their respective PG classes, Steams vs Danny Myers (who both got their starts on Smack in 2015) definitely goes down as one of the best battles of 2017. The ever-crafty, clearly motivated and flow-crisp Steams turned in a sublime performance for 3 straight rounds with spicy punchline after punchline when he wasn’t spouting some sizzling wordplay, nasty scheems, persistent heat with the (“Or I’m at your door, puttin’ in pain (Payne) wit’ the Roscoe, it’s long, and the front of it drip: it’s a snot-nose!”) gun bars and fierce name flips/personals. While an always game Danny supplied a gang of aggressive West-coast bangers, witty (“Miss me with all the hi-jinks!, nigga, you 30, and best friends wit’ a nigga who can’t even buy drinks!”) personals, piercing name flips of his own and plenty of ringing mayhem. Each round was close, but after a debatable 1st, we have the slightly more consistent and punch-heavy Steams edging both of the latter two rounds for the win.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “Let me stop, ’cause I can’t understand the position this tranny’s under, with eight rugrats, this nigga has got to be scared of rubbers, the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who likes it ‘Raw’, if a bitch fuck him, then I’m scared to touch her [Why?!], ‘cuz that pussy gotta be a Lethal Weapon even if Danny glove her [Glover]!”
Recap: The battle rap vet 100 Bulletz overall shines better with the (“You a maintennace man Kareem, so I know you ain’t gonna let the heater bust, if Mike P [pee] in the building, you gonna have to clean it up”) jokes than the bars, which edges him the 2nd round. However, it’s Steams, consistently working the body with hard (“A shootout is the only time I’ll check for Bulletz [bullets]!”) name flips, dope personals and some fiery (“What the fuck is a Bullet if the gun jam and the shooter pussy?”) wordplay/schemes, who easily takes the 1st and 3rd rounds for the dub.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “Hood nigga shit, and you from Canada, where good niggas live, health care free, how the fuck you planning to be sick as this?”
Recap: First, props to Pharoah for the fire Nia Long jogging performance bar (a beautiful scene that over the years hasn’t quite gotten the love it deserves when you consider the shitload of Friday lines you’ve heard in battles). Other than that this 1-rounder was all Steams, who beats back a solid showing by his opponent with a raucous turn that featured spitfire punchlines, salacious name flips, rigid personals and some robust wordplay.
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “Pharoah just here watching a star like his ancestors!”
Recap: If battles were based on entertainment alone, E. Ness would’ve won this one hands down. What with a steady stream of loud (“A headshot in broad daylight, that’s how you daydream!”) performance bars that kept him in this battle against Steams–especially in round two where his enduring theatrics were nimbly weaved with frenzied (“You a bitch with a dream like Coretta King, treat you like a bill collector, I’mma let it ring!”) bars and rich (“Fuck a drive-by, I’ll do it on a hoverboard!”) line execution–Ness was able to keep the crowd hype throughout. Still, for all his entertainment value it’s too bad that Ness still often suffers from dated bars and elementary school (“You softer than an elephant”) filler. The latter two elements of which makes you appreciate even more here, a way more consistent (and more importantly concise) Steams’ penchant of dishing nifty (“Code word: river, and my nigga’s put E’s bae in the East bay or strip for them, I done sat in front of more bodies than a speed date!”) put more bodies wordplay, fierce (“He’s a self-proclaimed legend, I be with with Chess, I don’t play checkers, you can’t King yourself!”) personals and stinging (“If I toss him a shot, I don’t expect to get it back…like a pass to Melo!”) punchlines that got him rounds 1 and 3 along with the win here.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “You say a lot of fuck shit while you winded, you need to pause more!”
Recap: After slumping a bit in hi slast battle against Born Xcel gets back to basics with a combo of exemplary wordplay, superb rebuttals and a legion of sharp-witted (“I leave earth every time I’m spitting, my alien writtens cut deep, I’m Zecharia Sitchin!”) bars to take a close one from the steadily (“I’ll tag Xcel [XL] with this shit that go over the head…I’m not putting you on”) improving, but still too often word-stretching Steams.
Verdict: Xcel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Xcel – “My first thought, when I caught the first draft of y’all name…was Little Debbie, cux all the Cakes come packaged the same”
Recap: Honestly, it doesn’t get much better than this as Rum Nitty and Steams each put forth one of their best performances in this URL/PG battle on the West coast. Going toe-to-toe with plenty of (Nitty: “Think this one shot Mrs? I doubt fire on Kareem [Cream] face”) haymakers, sharp (Steams: “It might look like it, but you don’t really cook, kid’s ovens”) darts, sizzling metaphorical wordplay, name flips, rich performance (Nitty: “Nigga my whole team will shoot, big shit, let an eagle loose, you gonna pull to the side like da ambulance is comin’ and you gonna need ’em too!”) bars and steady urban theatrics, the shouts in the crowd for ‘Battle of the Year!’ were more than warranted. Still, what with Nitty edging the 2nd and Steams edging the 3rd, it’s Nitty’s comeuppance (“I’ll whoop your ass then whoop your ass, I’m on repeat, you’ll get washed up then dusted off again, I got OCD”), fresh personals and hard gun lines that wrecked havoc on an animated and (“Your girl I peep for free, speaking of in boxes I was whispering in your bae’s [bay’s] area like Keak the Sneak”) potent, but inconsistent and overanxious Steams in round 1 to clearly give Rum that round and earn him the overall dub here. Either way, it’ll be hard to top this one in ’15.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Cali, Atlanta, Canada now I’m going to Vegas, I’m doing my numbers around the globe, that’s a notification”
Recap: A consistent, forever animated and bar heavy Steamz puts forth arguably his best performance against Prez Mafia, who like Superman just seemed to get weaker and weaker the more his opponent kept pulling out the kryptonite. Round one was easily Mafia’s best, an impressive display considering how dope Steamz (“Remember I said I don’t know why they called you his clone? Sike I lied like the next ‘Born was offered a dome”) first round was as well. Yet, using a steady stream of winning personals against Steams and his team, whipping out potent performance bars and earning the crowd reaction with gripping (“Cuz niggas said they want that old Prez back, so meet Bill Clinton”) punchlines, Prez just outwitted Steams and seemed to be on his way to an easy dub. Too bad for him this version of Steamz came willfully prepared, staying on the attack with witty (“Get Prez a dental plan [Presidential], cuz whatever he’s doing ain’t working, it’s like Obamacare”) wordplay, wild anecdotes and too-nice personals versus a round of too many elongated set-ups and subpar personals between a couple of haymakers from mafia. 3rd round was an easy win for Steams, too many hot (“Tell ‘Born I still body sidekicks like War Machine”) bars, an ill performance and hitting personals throughout against a short, slip-up steady and completely tired out mafia.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steamz – “This average nigga, don’t move me like Thor’s hammer”
Recap: So what if he seems to be another PG battler built in the mold of Tsu Surf, as seen here Stylez’ still got plenty heat for that ass. Against the ever competitive (“Fabio, No!, I’mma pop the bottle like ENJ and put styles on you…”) Steams, newcomer Styles displays a roundhouse of hard-hitting bars with confident (“This ass-whooping worse than a booking, I don’t fear Steams, open the window while I cook him, I’ll air Steams!”) swag and precise execution. Steams stayed in the match (“Tell bird chest I’m bringing the eagle so put that hawk away”) through the 2nd round, but some late stumbles and Steams continued dope personals, punchlines and schemes was just too much to overcome.
Verdict: Stylez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Styles – “Slightly after a few battles Steams and Prezzy was buzzing, [till] I let this llama bake and a sucka relate like first cousins”
Recap: Besides both rappers choking in round 2 (I gave it Steams because he went a little longer that Ave did) and Steams struggling at times with his flow and tepid reaches, Ave easily takes the 1st and 3rd rounds of this matchup with more consistent punches mixed in with some stirring personals and better overall wordplay.
Verdict: Ave (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ave – “Fame got you thinking you hot, watch how this flame rock you, you couldn’t handle lines this raw with a Rick James nostril!”
Recap: Can a PG rapper actually face and beat a top tier before he starts talking reckless about one? I’m just saying. Anyway, good battle, but Steams outnumbered Anubis (loved that “your big bitch ass ain’t real like you sitting on a sink” line tho) on the execution, delivery, punches as well as the wordplay throughout all 3 rounds to earn the win.
Verdict: Steams (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Steams – “If he move, I got under the knee tools, the shit I lick-a come from the bootleg like cheap booze”
Synopsis: Dope battle, a definite barfest, both came and did their thing. However, as much as Steams’ 3rd round was over-the-top on bars (“You’ll hear a pow then Boom in a cloud like a Batman fight”), performance and delivery, the feeling here is that Boom flexed a little more (and upped his bars) in the starter (that scheme transition lines was mean!) rounds to get the victory by a nose.
Verdict: Ah Di Boom (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ah Di Boom – “I swear I’m like Majin Buu the way I’m ’bout to body Steams”
Recap: In this one-rounder from ENJ Battle Grounds, Steams struggles with his flow at times but is still able to dish some fire (“You might win a round, if that, don’t get Conceited, I’m known to hold more Ill rounds than Smack!”) wordplay…but in between a lot of mediocre average bars that failed to land. On the other side, a way more consistent Cream wastes no time shredding his opponent with steadily nice (“I hold weight on my block, I make everybody in the street go off, yeah you work for Housing, but won’t be no fixing shit if this [makes like he has gun] heat go off!:) punchlines and spirited name flips that combined to give him the win/
Verdict: Cream (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cream – “I’m glad you rep Crip when you rapping and talking, at least you know it’s gonna take 6 nigga’s to carry your coffin!”
Recap: Hard to go against Steams again, as he always represents with the passion, delivery and the (“You can’t replace hot bars with…A…C…not even some of the time”) bars. But some of his schemes take too long to hit while not quite meeting his energy. Then too, as is the case here, sometimes his opponent just ups the ante and puts on a better show. But while Brooklyn Carter stayed in beastmode throughout, too many of bars could’ve been used against anybody and if you listen closely, there were definitely some line flips and filler. Bar wise I give it to Carter, but creativity and originality I give it to Steams. You can make a good case for either guy tho.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Brooklyn Carter – “If I put that 5 on your back….[burps] I’m not trying to burp you!”
Recap: “This nigga don’t deserve to be in my highlights”….that pretty sums this battle up as Steams’ hot bars, delivery and execution provide more than enough material to perform a body on K.O.
Verdict: Steams (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Steams – “How can he not die?, y’all two jokers rolling with two deuces, the ace of spades will give his top 5”
Recap: Outdoor, lower league battles can be appreciated for their grittiness, but too much extra noise in the back begs for better crowd control. Either way I definitely wasn’t expecting that ending….still Steams got this.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “In my last two battles, niggas said I work housing so I’m used to putting garbage where it belongs”
Recap: A more versatile with the bars, condensed and punch-heavy Steams takes this early We Go Hard 1-rounder from a braggadocio-inclined, but elongated and redundant SpazzOne/
Verdict: Steams (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Steams – “Fuck he gonna teach me?, I’ll chalk this nigga, you know rappers shien when they dead, glow in the dark this nigga!”
