Recap: North Carolina battle emcee Eaze’s effort to pull off an upset against T Top are a mixed bag of predictable fat jokes, reaches and standard (“I came to put the can in Top, that’s a cabinet!”) bars with little to no impact. In other words, no match for Top’s relentless schemes, steady name flips and rich (“The blade go either way [swipes arm in air], that bitch debatable!”) performance bars in this one-off from Rose Court Battle League.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T-Top – “I’ll head tag him, watch him fall, leg drag him…I learned if you move the body it bled faster!”
Recap: Fiery trap (“I’ll show you how we moving the work, he still hand to hand’s, Sandra Bland, y’all won’t get the picture till ya man is dead!”) talk, gritty street (Rex: “I was taught not to run to police, you supposed to fire back, so much gunsmoke they be looking like where the fire at?!”) semantics/tutorials, salacious (Rex: “These bullets are like child support, they gonna go to mama, even tho they was meant for you!”) gun bars, steely punchlines/schemes…they’re all there in this dope battle between the stay grinding T Top and wily veteran T Rex. However, it’s a shitload of stinging personals and fire wordplay, mostly served up by Top, that make the difference here, whether it was slamming set-ups on his punches, pointed Rex/Mook comparisons, real life street shit or flexing/witty bars on Rex’s (“Ironically, I’m a have a dot when I reach his ass!”) Dot Mobb crew, his battle rap career and/or his sex life/marriage problems. And while credit will be given to the sometimes lackadaisical-with-the-pen Rex for coming prepared with 3 fierce, braggadocios and at times, performance-rocking rounds, it’s a more versatile, consistent and haymaker-dropping Top who takes this one.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “The mac hanging out the window, it’s like a drive-thru, potato on the front of the barrel, you getting fries too!”
Recap: When it comes to Shotgun Suge, it’s never really been a question about his performance or his ability to ‘talk that shit’ that the so-called real street dudes love so much. Hell, independent of his renowned shock value bars, Suge can even hit the occasional haymaker or two. Instead with Suge his won-loss record has almost always relied on a combination of his motivation, delivery and consistency and too often he’s failed to deliver the three with any efficiency. Well, T-Top must’ve awoken to the real Gooch in Suge because after watching this battle I dare anyone to find a more sublime Shotgun. From jump, in what was expected to be a slugfest just on name alone, both Top and Suge came to kill. First round sees Top rip the stage with wild gun bars and fiending (“….leave a pudding cup and a note that say Cosby did it”) anecdotes. Only when he tried to personal, rehashing Suge’s Detroit adventures, did Top not hit quite as hard. For Suge, who usually does his best work in the first round anyway, the gameplan was about the bars matching the aggression/performance and on this night they (“I got the D, but I give him the Cal, headshot [points gun at Top’s head], make him sit Indian style”; “Bandana on the barrel, shit built like a Swiffer mop!”) certainly did…for all 3 rounds. Still, Suge’s overall showing doesn’t take away from Top’s at times fiery lyrical (“I’ll smack the shit out your bitch with a boat starter!”) aggression and potent punchlines, which edged him the 2nd round over a still persistently (“You’ze a fraud nigga, say that, the streets? we don’t know you, like the bitch that scream ‘Maybach’!”) nice Suge, who only got edged for keeping his round a little too short. Last round saw both battlers stay high off that dope shit. And while Top’s continual street (“I like to play laser tag, but with a gun clip”) tales and storytelling bars kept the crowd on edge, Suge did him one better stalking the stage with a highly (“Put needles in her body, but I ain’t a voodoo doctor!”) entertaining and versatile performance that not only kept the crowd open, but more importantly got him the win.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “She call me for the bricks, I pull up on her like a Uber driver, and tell her what to do with the work, like a supervisor”
Recap: I agree with Jaz the Rapper on this one: Charlie Clips being on this Rookies vs. Vets card was just weird. No disrespect to T-Top, but considering that Clips is pretty much Top 5 on anybody’s list, to me a rook has got to put in more work before earning the chance to face the likes of Clips. So perhaps a more suitable option would’ve been Math (who’s publicly voiced wanting to face T-Top) or Cortez or even Arsonal. Still, a good match nonetheless and it was nice to see Method Man voice what I think most hardcore battle rap fans feel about mainstream artists trying to get down with the scene. That said, I got Clips (more variety, fierce schemes and sharper [“But if y’all do compare him to Tyson and he weave them first two rounds when that .4 bustin’, Total Slaughter ‘cuz the 3rd round dropping mics like Joe Buddens”] bars) clearly taking round one and Top clearly taking round two with that electric Trap talk, ill (“How many times we gonna guess what room in the same house?’) personals and wicked gun bars. A close 3rd round saw Top spit some nice personals and more of that real street (“I’m a drug lord, I’m only charging a rack a tier [racketeer])” chatter he’s become known for. Yet, Clips came one better here, mocking T-Top style and repetition before delivering a gripping prayer, some tutorials and enough stellar (“Maury show, I call DNA, he know who da [to] pop”) bars to edge this one at the end.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “All y’all see is fire, but I notice the kickback, that Clip worth two good rounds, like your bitch ass!”
Recap: Good shit here as Grandaddy Purp and T-Top go at it heavy-handed during a one-rounder in Purp’s hometown of Muncie, IN. Purp stood his ground with consistently nice street (“Nigga, your daddy passed you down jeans, my daddy passed me down cargo!”) semantics, but Top did him better with a variety of name flips, storytelling bars, personals and rich (“All my coke come in blocks, boy we need blenders, tree splitters, big-ass scales that hold three niggers”) trap talk that only those who’ve lived that life could possibly understand.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T-Top – “For them birds I’m pulling that Hazel, long nose and my back-up will give you the 30, that’s Morse Code”
Recap: In a battle between a couple of UFF champions it’s T Top all day as a shaky Sno delivers some lame follow-ups to his angles, mostly falls flat with the pen game and in round one can’t even make the 2-minute time limit, Still, for all his three rounds T Top’s resonance is too much to handle, what with consistently nice wordplay, dope schemes and his usual covert affairs on life in the trap game (“I be in the Yak week, I’m like a freeloader, no good conscious, devils on each shoulder, touch me and you gonna catch it, I’m Ebola!”) remaining electrifying.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “See I hate you, but the fans be thinking your flow nice, so when you say you about to fuck my mother…damn, you so right, cuz we been fucked by the white man our whole life!”
Recap: T Top wraps up this UFF Finals matchup against Brizz Rawsteen pretty early, using the first couple of rounds to spit some exquisite trap (“Selling blow up, I had to use too much bake, on a safety pin cuz razors leave too much shape”) talk along with elite storytelling bars that even left co-host Bow Wow a little shook. Rawsteen came with some dope (“I’ll cut your bitch head off, put the blade up in her, and leave the tip on the table like she paid for dinner”) bars here and there, but underperformed somewhat with a slower style that you’re not used to seeing from Brizz. A terrific battle nonetheless with T Top clearly coming out on top.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “See while you was doing yard labor, I was with the jar shakers, cooking back just to get it back, that’s hard labor”
Recap: T Top’s rich and potent trap (“I hit my plug like ‘yeerrppp’ we need more bails, but he nervous he only meet me in a cheap hotel”) talk proves to be too much for a spirited, but inconsistent Chess in this UFF semifinal matchup. No doubt Chess had his (“This nigga tried to walk the walk, I made him limp off”) moments along the way, but with candid storytelling bars, a more consistent flow, dope performance bars and winning name flips, T Top took this one easy to advance to the finals.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “I turn this chest [Chess] inside out like Will jacket”
Recap: T Top and Th3 Saga put on a nice battle for UFF/SMACK/ URL’S 8 man elimination MC Battle tournament. Both put in work, but Saga’s best moments were somewhat spoiled by a lack of performance and a need to update (using 80s and 90s wrestlers in a scheme just doesn’t go over well) his bars. Meanwhile T Top’s preparation here was especially on point using dope storytelling lines, that sizzling trap talk, a spirited performance and heated (“I don’t give a fuck what your image and status about, you can’t pray fast enough with a gat in ya mouth!”) bars that not only got him the win, but sure as hell made Satan proud.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “My moms was coke pitching, now she a stroke victim, that might be payback from the Lord but we coping with it”
Recap: T Top’s shrewd name flip’s, lofty mayhem and graphic street yarns/punchlines combine to beat back a hardbody and solid, but repetitive punching Ah di Boom in this griity 1-rounder from Angry Fan Radio.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I know Jersey hoods, they say you don’t play with them slugs, they ain’t hear Boom bang bang since he was playing the drums!”
Synopsis: Really good battle, but Rolla got this. His wordplay, name flips, jokes and gritty bars outnumbered and outmaneuvered T Top’s usual trap talk and tough schemes/bars. Having seen Rolla give Tay Rock good comp before, it’s no wonder he held his own here.
Verdict: Rolla (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rolla – “I’m a southpaw, as soon as you step left, I’m Right witcha!”
Synopsis: Chilla Jones nods his head at too many bars, I mean they can’t all be that nice, can they? Anyway, City Towers has some skills (“You say you trap dusk till dawn with your eyes wired, I’ll let a round flame your top if you a night rider, my con ride up them type riders, that’ll cock the metal back before another sentence, them typewriters”), but besides telling his entourage to ‘chill out, it’s just a battle’, he needs to work harder on his delivery, versatility and being more consistent. As for T Top, what more could you ask for? Street/gutta shit, storytelling, name flips, throw in a joke or two (“I’m gun pouting because I ain’t hearing you baby, I mean you barely got born, you a miracle baby”) to keep the levity all the while dropping more consistently tight bars. In other words, Carolina all day.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Best line: T Top – “16’s will put him in a box, that’s a Pro Tool, I’m still Chuck E. when I’m Fresh, I bust the dope moves!”
Synopsis: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when John John da Don isn’t stealing bars or continuing to use Serius Jones’ old-as-hell “Multiple Choice” scheme, he’s one of the nicest battle rappers out there, good comp. for just about anyone out there including top tiers. That said JJDD proved my point here (tho he did swipe that opening from O-Red), with a versatile array of personals, solid (those “Popeye’s” line was nice!) schemes, jokes and dope punchlines. Indeed, his experience came through here and it had to because a game T Top gave just as well as he took, only losing points for too many “Trap” bars and trying to use the “multiple choice” back on JJDD. Good battle nonetheless.
Verdict: John John da Don (W) 1-0
Favorite line: “It ain’t a hard choice, you want to earn all coffins, but since they riding with the dead we brought hearses for all of ’em, and when these shells get to bursting upon him, I’ll have his brains hanging out like they ain’t gotta work in the morning”
Recap: Automatic Ray scores with some jokes and nice (“Rap or otherwise, we get suckers cut, we engineers, cuz’ we punch niggers for fucking up!”) punchlines, but an inconsistent delivery/performance and a lame Loaded Lux impression does him in against T Top, who on top of the requisite trap talk, mixes it up a bit with a variety of dope wordplay. potent schemes and witty (“…her breathe smell like…aight I ain’t gonna start no shit, but she could say the holiest words and still be talking shit!”) jokes to score a 3-0.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I promise you gonna die, no might, it’s like Napolean, Len Bias style, you ending before the show begin”
Recap: Easy win here for T Top as his eccentric wordplay, potent gun bars and urban life (“My mom’s put coke in my pamper, I was born hustling”) tales are too much for Cephdeezy’s mostly rampant filler and predictable angles.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “They dropped you in the ring to die, boy you Owen Hart”
Recap: Appreciate the come up as in a battle of local North Carolina emcees, T Top takes out Punchline with a fiery performance that’s ably backed by winsome (“I came with a black-ass trigger, a 4-5, the kick back made me smack my nigga!”) dramedy, dope schemes and clever wordplay
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “Nasty with a noose, at no time his neck could fit, I thought he was dead, but it was hanging on his second chin”
Synopsis: Damn, this is a close one, both came with it, literally spitting that heat. Got the 2nd and 3rd rounds tied/debatables, 1st round edged to T Top on the versatility: visceral bars, metaphors (“Where I’m from you throw up something you got some shit to prove”), name flips and personals.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “Basically what I’m saying be cool or die, I let them boys sing in a group it ain’t Coolie High”
Recap: In full blast mode following a really nice (“It’s a brick in every house on my block, that’s a chicken strip”) round by St. Louis spitter Dubby Dub, T Top literally goes in with what he knows best: gritty street talk and unfettered (“You smokin’, you don’t know ’bout cooking weight by the ounce, walk in the crib, smell like you painting a house!”) drug game in addition to a couple of (“I might have you battling Chilla, that mean I scheme for a while just to cap him with filler”) haymakers to take this fiery one-rounder brought to you by Spit Dat Heat.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I’mma crack cutter, I be trying to get shake right, like a frat brother”
Recap: After a close and competitive (R Hood: “Snatch out, unload, that A-K crush him, so when a 6 throwing bullets at a Bear, know it ain’t Jay Cutler”; T Top:: “Start with me, I’m autistic, retarded clips, twin gats, this one drool, this [one] saliva spit!”) first round, R Hood’s performance stays steady in the latter rounds, but unfortunately the same can’t be said for his delivery and bar productivity. That’s all T Top needs to separate himself from his opponent by increasing his wordplay, come nice with the scheme game and deliver enough righteous urban (“Keep thinking I’m sweet, till your chin get the music”) drama to score yet another 3-0.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I go from corner to corner like where ya pipe at?, you go from order to order, like ‘Would you like that?'”
Recap: Killa Kel’s pen game more often than not couldn’t keep up with his fierce and aggressive flow, leaving T Top with an opening to drop three nasty rounds of voyeuristic heat along with some witty (“They say her and coke were best friends, cool as a Chevy, Boosie and Webbie”) personals and take this one with ease.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I heard you like to dance in the clubs, that’s what you lied about, my niggers dance too, but we only doing [forms gun with arms] the shootie bounce”
Recap: I don’t what’s worse, watching this one-sided battle or Chinese water torture. Yeah, it’s that bad as Juice’s consistently lame (from that horrible ‘milk this cow’ spiel to that terrible ‘I’ll come to your head quarters like George Washington to bring you pain’ line) bars, underwhelming delivery and annoying hypeman seemed to even make the steadily on point (“Your battles getting views my nigga, I’ll give you that, but now your career getting cut shorter than Midget Mac”) T Top have a hard time getting through this battle. Granted, Juice scored just enough points to prevent a bodybag, but the simple fact that he didn’t even know what position Terrell Owens plays (he was only a Pro Bowl wide receiver and NOT a tight end) should be reason enough to never have to watch him battle rap again.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “Listen bitch, all that staring could get your vision split, 20/20, that’s a big .40, now spit and whip”
Recap: An up-n-coming. inspired and seemingly pissed-off T Top lays the hammer down on a clearly overmatched Young N Wise, lacing a bodybag with straightforward aggression that’s equaled by debilitating (“I know it’s iron-ic, that iron make him freeze up, and that blade will make you fold your load, it’s like a crease cut”) bars, fierce punchlines and ferocious wordplay.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “Ya grandmama shaking her head, that’s a mean bump”
Recap: Really, it’s not that serious. Here we find what looked to be building up to a decent battle between T Top and R Streetz, get spoiled by heads in the crowd taking things a little too personally. Reminder: it’s a rap battle people and heads who can’t differentiate between entertainment and real life shit could do us all a favor by just staying home.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: T Top – “The armor clap will send this army brat back to Iraq”
Synopsis: Good battle, competitive throughout and all of that. T Top came with creativity in round 1 with nice Grandma/MacGuyver storytelling bars, while Kenny MacGuyver went for the fat jokes (and played my man Steele from “Juice”) in round 2 to grab that one. With the battle up in the air come round 3, Top’s trap talk and gutter punchlines ably beat MacGuyver’s simply alright bars.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “Your bars be average, mines fantastic, I should be on that carpet with Jasmine, fuck Aladdin”
Recap: Almost didn’t recognize him at first, but the infamous Lee Hustle gets in the ring with T Top in this one-rounder from Goonie BattleGroundz. All these years later, Hustle still displays an aggressive style and still doesn’t have a problem talking while his opponent raps, but within a shortened round is only able to spit a couple of standout (“Top, you wanna know why my fans come around? Cuz’ my shit raw, I got the shit that put Whitney in the ground”) bars outside of what amounted to mostly average lines. On the flip side, T Top literally goes ham for like 8 minutes, amping the crowd with crazy personals, steady schemes, raw (“Lee Hustle, you fat muthaficker you, but ask him moms, I’m a fat mother fucker too!”) jokes and persistent name flips on top of a mean performance that allows his to leave the show with a body.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “Fuck Hustle, I’m coming for your fam Lee, send Deebo in ya crib, I can’t stand [Stan] Lee!”
Recap: K.O. kept it close with some tough (“These niggas wanna talk shit, but then they scared to get hit, it’s flag football!”) lines against T Top, until he pulled a Canibus and starting reading some bars from a piece a paper in round 3. A little flat with his wordplay and struggling a btitwith his delivery, T Top still managed to spit enough potent bars to get the win.
Verdict: T Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T Top – “Bitch niggas, i turn my back on those pussies, I like twat, so I might just look back at them pussies”
