No Bias. No Narratives.
Recap: Split going into the final round of this gritty RBE Straight To It rematch between Money Bagz and Chef Trez, a surprising choke by Bagz in the 3rd and deciding round helps give a consistently gun bar/punch-lit Trez the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You can’t get the drop on me, my reaction time on Gwitty level!”
Recap: Punchline for punchline, the returning-to-battle-rap Money Bagz and Chef Trez are about even in this dope 1-round, Social Distance battle from RBE. But Trez’s addition of fierce personals, braggadocios shiners and more potent name flips in the long run gives the Chef the edge.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Well, let’s get this bread, class in session, I’m ripping lead, they asking if he’s black or white, sssshhhhit I just know the nigga dead!”
Recap: While Money Bagz does the wise thing by mostly staying away from the usual assortment of Christian rebukes we see against Loso, in this 3-rounder from KOTD, Bagz punchlines and wit fail to make any hay when faced with Loso’s salacious name flips, stifling personals and salient wordplay/set-ups.
Verdict: Loso (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Loso – “I brought the ratchet in church…that’s Medea!”
Recap: Here we find a couple of old Grind Time vets, Young Kannon and Money Bagz, finally meeting up to go at it on the URL/Smack stage. 1st round is the only decisive round with YK’s usual emotive assortment of killer (“Make a Stone Cold entrance, yunno, the glass break when a bald head rush through the door?, I’m dancing with the sweeper, that’s Turbo in front of the store!”) punches and fierce wordplay easily beating back a staid turn from Money Bagz that featured way too many outdated bars. The middle round saw things get more competitive as Bagz lifted up his energy and delivered with some rich (“Oh, you got a gun up on your waist?, well that’s how you get your dome split, reverse psychology, I’ll take it from you and hit you with your own shit!”) set-ups and aggressive punchlines. However, coming off resoundingly consistent throughout this battle, YK hits right back with a potent mix of witty (“Your girl pussy taste like Starburst…the PINK one!”) bars, heated haymakers and piercing (“Do him dirty, then leave clean, that’s how I’m laundering Money!”) name flips. Behind 0-2 going into the final round, Money Bagz hangs in there with arguably his best (“How you in the field, but left your Shield like Roman Reigns?”) lines. However, a couple of slip-ups resort in the Team Homi member choking at the end, thus giving the round away to what was a pretty standard turn by YK.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “Catch him rolling up in his vehicle, throw 10 in a car, have half the body hanging out the whip like Kendrick Lamar!”
Recap: On an impeccable run since his return to the battle rap scene versus Dre Dennis, Prez Mafia continues his successful run with another strong and winning performance here against wily vet Money Bagz. Round one was fiery on both sides, but Mafia’s more intricate (“Nigga you could tell I’m better, nigga we could fight, he won’t be able to read the right, he get Helen Keller-ed!”) punches and sizzling wordplay more than edged the round, despite an overall solid, but a (“If it’s war, he getting hit with a 2×4 like I brought Hacksaw Jim Duggan out!”) little-too-old-school turn by Bagz. Second wasn’t even close as Prez stepped it up a notch with some dizzying (“So if you ain’t passing up the shine, I’ll make your team give it up for’em, like when the crowd not reacting to the line!”; “Spine shot!, nigga your next disc [disk] gonna drop with some features on it!”) haymakers in between fiesty name flips and potent storytelling bars, while Bagz, failing to take advantage of his first appearance on the URL/Smack stage, barely made it out of the round what with mostly modest lines that seemed like they were lifted from his Grind Time days. Last round saw Prez, who obviously wrote his best material for the first two rounds, go the safe route with more name flips and name schemes/history lessons that were both hit and miss, giving Bagz an easy opportunity to avoid a 3-0, which he did with some hard-hitting (“A real emcee would freestyle and choke before he took another man’s raps!”) personals and stifling wordplay.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia -“I look at God, like what more do you want?, fro me to die?, first nunn than Bagz, I look at Smack and he proved this is a sign…it’s nothing but communion and a rhyme, ‘cuz I’m back for the bread, but you give me two crackers instead and I didn’t even whine [wine]!”
Recap: A pretty solid effort backed by a boatload of witty personals and stinging punches/mayhem from Pass would probably give the Oakland Vet a win on most occasions. But in this fiery 3-rounder from KOTD, a versatile and consistently spicy Money Bagz, banging out sizzling punchline after punchline to go along with some piercing wordplay and name flips, takes the first two rounds for the win before a debatable 3rd.
Verdict: Money Bagz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Money Bagz – “Nah, fuck that, I’ll wait till he in the hospital and then walk up to the respirator and press every button like a bad-ass kid on the elevator!”
Recap: What Money Bagz had in performance and a little more variety with the (“.45 hit him outta nowhere, that’s a mid-life crisis!”; “You act savage and I’ll black Magic and I ain’t talking about a curse!”) bars, B Magic had in crazy (“Money know how to get peeled back, like I’m taking out a wad!”) name flips and infinite (“Don’t sleep on me, y’all know Bagz [bags] under I [eye]”!) punchlines throughout this judged battle. Therefore, pretty close throughout, essentially the difference here is Magic getting touched by a bout with Earl in both rounds 1 and 2, thus leaving Team Homi with the win.
Verdict: Money Bagz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Magic – “You don’t wanna feel nuthin’ Hot Boy, well leave the Cash, Money!”
Recap: Nothing too rich or extraordinary, but still a pretty good battle between Syahboy and T Money Bagz on the RBE stage. 1st round was close, but Syah’s splendid (“I’m ’bout the shit, you swing, I’ll dodge ya shit, I heard Money fake, so I’mma make sure these counters fit!”) name-flips and wordplay were more condensed and outshined an earnest round from Money, tho he occasionally took too long to hit the mark on his schemes and angles. However, after the first round it was all pretty much Money Bagz–a more versatile round of dope (“I be banging the metal like my weave stuck in the grinder!”) gun lines, wild jokes and hitting (“…my heart different like John Q son after the surgery!”) schemes in the 2nd and a dope DJ scheme along with more wicked (” I hear you be tricking on these hoes, Syah you be wilding, I give bitches hope, I wouldn’t give them soap”) punches in the 3rd. All the while, while Syahboy had some (“I draw on a whiteboy face, now you Riff Raff!”) shiners here and there and his delivery stayed aggressive, overall his bar quotient couldn’t keep up with Money’s Bagz.
Verdict: T Money Bagz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Syahboy – “Every battle, you be talking that tough guy shit, same outcome, niggas ain’t buying that shit….Rain album!”
Recap: Sno’s oft-lackluster name flips, repeated gun bars and racial (‘When that cig split, it’ll get you and your nig lit [niglet]”) undertones are no match for the forever slept-on T Money Bagz’s substantial punchline game, confident delivery and witty (“Treat him like JC battle, y’all gonna find half of him missing”) personals in this one-rounder from Bar Wars.
Verdict: T Money Bagz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Money Bagz – “I should spark the ratchet and start shooting Snoman like Django went to target practice!”
Recap: I hate ties, but this one could definitely go either way. I mean, Big Kannon came with his usual m.o.: sizzling bars, jokes, schemes, personals all wrapped up in a dope performance. But the always underrated Money Bagz came with a total barfest that was so surprisingly (“My homie had to use the sweeper 3 times in one day, now that’s a neat freak!”) consistent, overall it matched BK’s palette. Regardless, no matter who you think won, if Money Bagz were to make a case for getting on the big stage with Smack, he’d be well within his rights to use battle to cement his argument.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “But why he been sleeping?, when the thing that I’m keeping is a nice banger, long beam, light from the sco look like a lightsaber, come out with your green or see that tommy, that’s the white ranger to put a hole in anything sweet, that’s a life saver”
Synopsis: The underrated T Money Bagz pulls off an upset against S.O.N.S. vet Heartless who besides slipping up in the first round, just couldn’t deliver enough punchlines, metaphors and wordplay to keep up with Bagz’ aggression, storytelling and potent bars.
Verdict: T Money Bagz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Heartless – “Man I heard about you and that little boy, you oughtta be ashamed that nigga was nine, Michael Jackson, you was all in Billy’s jeans, trying to Beat It, Bad, but you Remember the Time”
Synopsis: This battle did not get off to a good start. Money Bagz had plenty of aggression, but some of his bars were nonsensical (men can’t menstrual) and during the first couple of rounds Real Deal too often seemed to sleep through his bars while looking to take the night off. But then outta nowhere Real Deal came with a way-too-hilarious “interview” scheme to save the day and take the win.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “I’m in the mecca going ham like I’m sacrilegious”
Synopsis: Nice battle, close throughout, both Money Bagz and John John da Don went in. However, I just think JJDD edged it with more versatility, and consistency along with better punchlines.
Verdict: John John da Don (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JJDD – “…You that nigga on the roof giving signals for the cops, your nickname is ‘Teapot’ you just whistle when it’s hot!”
Synopsis: Not sure if this was a 3 round battle because the vid seems to be missing a round, but nonetheless it’s an easy win O-Red whose aggressive heat, punchlines and gun bars wiped away Money Bagz’ basic filler.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “That shotty blast, knock the Rocky out your cocky ass, heat burst till the beef jerk, teriyaki swag”
