Over 4,000 Recaps!

Tay Roc defeats Brizz Rawsteen

Recap: It’s just too much Roc in this one, as despite Brizz Rawsteen bringing his entire arsenal of deft performance bars, (“Two hands on a .9, that’s real nigga time!”) loud/aggressive and hitting punchlines, pronounced delivery and witty polemics/personals to the match, Tay Roc’s steady ability to floss with rich gun lines, spitfire punchlines, kindred vet (“Nigga’s always talking about what they woulda did, till they the one’s that it happen to you!”) speak, fiery wordplay, ‘random’ (“I said, Summer Madness coming, Calicoe, stop running, Conceited, how you 4-foot 5 and still ducking?, John John still talking shit, he gonna make me steal something…”) shiners and braggadocio haymakers (all of which particularity shined and got him rounds 1 & 2, before a debatable 3rd) prove to be too much for the Dark Side up-n-comer, who while getting better as the battle proceeded, not only had too many dry spots, for the most part just couldn’t match his opponent’s consistency and versatility.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Hey, to all them nigga’s claiming Gun Bar King, them nigga’s not me, I used to carry 1, now I pair it [parrot], they trying to mock me!”

Tay Roc defeats Tsu Surf

Recap: Some battles lean on consistency and some lean on moments. Tsu Surf vs. Tay Roc? Definitely more momentous, which thankfully didn’t make it any less competitive what with a bar-heavier Roc taking the 1st round before Surf made a pretty flexing comeback in the latter half of his 2nd round to edge that turn and make things even going into the 3rd. A battle littered with plenty of ferocious gun bars (esp. from Roc), understated wordplay, very little personals, a bunch of name flips, boastful barbs, a boatload of dry spots and a slew of graphic mayhem, would see its climax in a surprisingly underwhelming final round that the steel gripping lines Roc managed to edge…because he just happened to have more moments than his opponent.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Test Roc, get a cracked head and a neck shot, paralyzed from the neck down, he can’t even play his X-box!”

Tay Roc defeats DNA

Recap: “Just having fun”. In rounds 1 and 3 anyway, Tay Roc literally toys with DNA here, using steel gripping (“Fuck you and the clique you rep, red beam on your lip. looking like a lit cherry on a cigarette”) lines, gritty gun (“Roc tripping, I will let a glock hit him, man the can come from under the shirt like I’m shoplifting”) bars, congenial name flips, Dot Mobb (for every diss DNA hurled at Dot Mobb, Roc had an answer) darts, a killer rebuttal for his boy Smack and hard (“That tooth, that’s in your mouth? I ain’t got time for all that [instead] I’ll put a loose one in ya mouth like you ain’t buy a whole pack”) personals to overwhelm what was exactly a pretty nice round (“I tell my man keep ya eyes on the clock, so when I shot at 8:59, all y’all gonna see is 9 on the Dot”) from DNA. And while DNA stepped it up round two, using aggressive bars. feelgood (“Since he for peace [4 piece] tell Smack to set it up with Factz if you get the cheese, cuz’ once I serve Tay with this Big Mac I’mma give Mickey these”) wordplay and dope personals (“See? When DNA don’t make sense it’s because I freestyled it, thought of it this very minute, when you don’t make sense you went home, took time out and it was written”) to outwit a pretty average 2nd round from Roc, dissing Smack on SMACK and his boy/fan fave Charlie Clips just made no sense, much less did letting the crowd get to him considering how long DNA’s been in the game for (and he must remember THIS, right?). Indeed, with this battle now posted if DNA’s ever gonna get that match he wants so bad with Mook, he’s gonna have to show more poise, consistency and come up with a better game plan.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line:  Tay Roc – “I am pure violence, I don’t decide peace, pimp shit, i came with my main bitch and my sidepiece, aim it at that side, you could tell that whole side peace, i done hot so many niggas with the side piece, I lost a sidepiece!”

Tay Roc defeats Charlie Clips (Rematch)

Recap: When Tay Roc got 3-0’d in the first battle between him and Charlie Clips, the biggest critique for Roc might’ve been his lack of aggression throughout the match. A big surprise considering that outside of that now classic battle, the legendary Baltimore, MD, spitter’s aggressive flow has almost never been called into question. And that’s the case here in this long-awaited rematch between Roc Clips that fires on all cylinders when it comes to not only Roc’s assertiveness, but also on a whole standout lyricism, heated gun bars, dope schemes (from both battlers), fierce punchlines, fly wordplay, crafty wit, shout-out’s to Clips’ grandma and of course, fiery lines concerning their previous (btw, nice move by Smack to bring Loaded Lux up the stage before the start of the battle in a salute to Lux’s old Lion’s Den, which is where these two first faced off) encounter. That said, with both battlers having gained so much experience and star power since their first meeting, it’s only right that they brought their A-game and that this rematch goes into the 3rd tied (what with a punch-heavier Roc edging the 1st round, while a more personal and creative storytelling Clips edged the 2nd)/ And it’s Roc who edges a close 3rd here, getting some major payback via a slightly more consistent turn with the heat, more condensed when taking in account an equal amount of haymakers from both battlers and less bent than his opponent on the usage of redundant personals. Either way, a spitfire battle altogether and one can only hope for a Part 3 to take place sooner than later.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Fuck you, this rematch unnecessary, who’s the legend?,beating me is what made you legendary!, Charlie get hit with the 1st and then the secondary, then DNA get the business like its hereditary!”

Tay Roc defeats JC

Recap: Tay Roc goes postal in the first two rounds here against JC, delivering a splendid round of (“Once these HIT MEN your brother gone have to hold u up, get close enough then Dose you up!”) haymakers, sizzling gun (“Laid my mag down she new I wasn’t tryin to fuck”) bars, congenial wordplay, aggressive (“I caught him with his bitch, I had time enough, I whipped out my blade and laid my Mac down, she knew I wasn’t try to fuck”) punchlines and personals to not only take this highly entertaining battle, but score yet another win against a Michigan spitter. JC’s 3rd round was crazy (“I’ll fry to the death, Paul Walker”) nice with nice schemes, wordplay and metaphors galore, but taking somewhat long with his set-ups, using nonsensical angles (treating Roc like a no-name by saying you didn’t even do any “research” on him was a non-starter) and a little too much filler during rounds (tho the “Paramount” scheme was nice) 1 and 2, took out any chance he had to compete with Roc here.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line:  JC – “I’m not a Vice Lord, my brothers are, so I eat with 12 like the Last Supper”

Tay Roc defeats Ill Will

 

Synopsis: Roc all day. Ill Will is a dope up-n-comer, aggressive, bars, ability to rebut, do personals and make turn basic lines into memorable bars. But Roc’s a vet at this, with all the ingredients necessary to take on any comer. Plus, he’s been on such a tear lately that anyone could make a legit debate that he deserves Top 5 status. So with two similar styles (and undeniable tension), this made for a dope battle and for the most part it was. After a first round that you could edge to Will for the “banana clip” bar alone, Roc came through with a classic 2nd (“if we argue in the middle of ‘talking’ you get a ‘k'”, “head shots, he won’t remember a round, I’ll Yung Ill Will”) that put an end to any momentum Will built via his first. On the flip side Will clearly got a visit from Earl early in his 2nd (tho partly making up for it with the Lux diss was funny) and his 3rd, while alright, didn’t register much of a buzz (and really dissing Don DeMarco was lame). Meanwhile, Roc stayed consistent and aggressive throughout, which left the crowd hyped–to think Roc’s confidence has reached the point where he could even throw in a Charlie Clips diss. Bars over names indeed.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Best line: Tay Roc – “Niggaz die, I don’t change shit when I’m strapped on ’em, gun bar after gun bar ‘cuz I’m strapped on ’em, when I clap on ’em, it’s a wrap on ’em, since he from Yaktown, I’ll have his town pouring out gats on ’em”

Tay Roc defeats B. Magic

Recap: Toss out Tay Roc getting the face wrong (it’s Grant, not Jefferson) on the 50-dollar bill because he would’ve lost that round anyway here B-Magic, who after a pretty light first round, upped the ante and used some nice personals, punchlines and hard (“Trip dog and I’ll stage a shooting like Rick Ross”) bars to split this match after two. With Tay easily taking the first (“Man for real, who the fuck is B stopping?, you got 3-0’ed like two battles ago but now B popping?, let me catch B plotting, I’m griping the waist, I’ll pistol whip [smush] push in his face like B. Hopkins”), this one came down to the 3rd which saw Magic snapping away with frequent punchlines and name (“For trying to Jack Black, I’ll teach you how to school a Roc”) flips, yet Roc did him one better with a steady diet of effective punches, wordplay (“I don’t play, this mac ain’t Beanie Sigel, once I rock him y’all won’t see him again, I’ll Memphis Bleek you”) and elite gun bars to take it at the finish line.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “If he see me on his block when he roll around, the chopper Conceited size, I wish he would slow it down”

Tay Roc defeats Rolla

 

Synopsis: Real good battle. I had no idea who Rolla was before seeing him here, but judging from this battle vs. Tay Roc we need to see more of him–he’d make a good impression on URL’s Proving Grounds stage ’cause he’s funny with performance and has bars (love the shots he took at Roc’s hypeman here). However, Roc was typical Roc tho with aggression, vet status, delivery, nice schemes and just better consistent bars (esp. in rounds 1 and 3) to give him the win.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Best line: Tay Roc – “You dead, your family gonna need a wigi board to talk to you”

Cortez defeats Tay Roc

Recap: While this battle will mostly be remembered for all the Spanish/Mexican jokes Tay Roc spit at Cortez (which is out of ordinary for a gun bar fiend like Roc), it’s definitely one of those battles can upon a first look could be seen as highly debatable–yet it’s not just what shows up on the stat sheet that decides who won and who loss and this one of those examples. I got Roc taking the 1st round as while Cortez stayed aggressive and dropped a few (“I’m cooking rock [Roc], but ain’t nothing crack about you”) shiners, for the most part his bars contained too much filler and were just average in potency. On the other Roc had perhaps his best round with nice wordplay, aggressive gun bars and better (“These bullets play Temple Run, why get the phone app?”) punches throughout. Cortez stepped it up in the second round coming harder with the performance, feelgood Dot Mobb personals (“You ain’t a hustler, how’d you hustle and move keys?, you’ze a worker, you got 5 hundred for QP’s”) and this time hitting with more force on the wordplay and friendly (“You in the building but Randy’s taking your house payments”) tutorials. For Roc’s part, while his battle rapper name schemes in round two worked, they could’ve used against anybody. Better instead was Roc’s ethnic lines (“I’ll do a Mexican dirty, I’m desperado with that guitar case”) even if he had the wrong race (which Tez effectively rebutted in round 3). Round 3 saw Cortez set the tone challenging Roc to go ‘bar for bar’ and winning with gems like “Look me in the eyes I’m like God, I’m taking caps off, they type small” and witty (“Let’s talk about his clique, a bunch of ass-grabbers, none of them ashamed, it makes sense because all cavemen cuddle by a flame”) personals that even had Roc smirking. Roc’s 3rd was nice and had some hard-hitting bars, but some of his lines were a little too predictable (esp. with the continued Mexican jokes) and featured schemes (esp. the “Cortezmanian devil”) that didn’t hit at all. Close throughout, but Cortez edges it.

Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Rex and K-Shine, I spar with them, it’s no comp with him, I’ll target him, I go harder than 8,000 army men, a tank and a ship, airplane, I’ll Pearl Harbor him”

Tay Roc defeats Rich Dolarz

Recap: With Tay Roc and Rich Dolarz battling each other you’d expect a good showing and they did exactly that. Rich built his rounds around themes (Roc being “dirty”, joining Dot Mobb because he wants to be Mook, stealing ideas for bars and allegedly “lying” a lot in his rhymes) that for most part worked, especially in round 3 which saw Dolarz drop this gem: “When people hear Tay Roc the first thing they hear is Dot Mobb, I built my own name, you wouldn’t even fucking try, it’s Mook, Rex, K then you, for me that wouldn;t fucking fly, you below the son and for you that’s fucking fine, so even when it’s cloudy out you’ll still be under shine”. Still, for all of Dolarz’ originality and subject matter, his set-ups took too long and outside his motifs, there wasn’t much bite in his bar game (that is, outside of repeating other rapper lines to make a point). A worthy performance still by Rich, but with the type of heat Roc was spitting in the first couple of rounds, winning was not an option. If Roc’s first round wasn’t enough in hard-hitting (“Tried to tell you I’m a Hitman you could holler if you want, if you owe me I’m find him with the pump, it’s like I’m St. Louis in ‘Players Club’, I’ll put Dolarz [Dolla] in the trunk”) bars and execution, his second was a pure classic with a steady of name flips, (“i seen you out in Detroit I know your hood’s mad, Factor should drop the ‘X’ off his name you made it look bad”) personals, (“Look at Smack like Alpo because he set up Rich to get killed!”) haymakers, tutorials, jokes, (“…knock his box off the screen like we playing X-box Connect”) execution and even a few shots at Calicoe just in case he wasn’t paying close enough attention. Roc all day.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Two battles ago you was fucking dead, word up, you heard what the fuck I said, I’ll Pop off, dump the lead, knock off a chuck his head or I could put the dots on him like Wonder Bread”

Tay Roc defeats QP (Qleen Paper)

Recap: Tay Roc is both a seasoned vet and a good challenge for anybody, thus one would think that in front of his home crowd a rising neophyte like QP (Qleen Paper) would not only be prepared, but amped to put on a dope performance for his native Detroit. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here as after putting forth a stellar first (“I’ll sweep ya grandma cane, sleep that bitch and tell her get up off the floor and out your teth back bitch!”) round, which featured a lot potent trap talk and hard-hitting bars, Qleen’s stock went immediately downhill as loaded bars were replaced by a whole lot of filler, dry spots and a 3rd round that’ll probably go down as the beginning of Qleen’s “I don’t give a fuck” run. Meanwhile, Roc had a strong and consistent performance throughout, dropping straight (“ya man got an issue, whip out that pistol [points] then Qleen next!”) heat, landing punches with aggressive bars, nice (“I’m in Detroit, where you riding, wack nigga, word is in Detroit is he a lying [Lion] ass nigga”) personals, dope name flips (esp. the Detroit battle rapper lines) and killing it with the (“We pull up right beside of ya, shooting, no photographer, you don’t wanna dance with me, get ya choreographer”) wordplay. Altogether, a sound performance on the road by Tay Roc and another dub for Mr. Maryland.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Qleen Paper – “I’mma play the bishop role, you could have King, I don’t care if you with your bitch, I’ll make a bad scene, grab weave and pull it down the block…that’s a drag queen!”

Tay Roc defeats O-Red

Synopsis: I loved Tay Roc’s aggression, performance and consistency in delivering hot lines in the first couple of rounds. Roc not only hit O-Red with great bars, but nice schemes and personals….to the point that it made you feel that he wanted this win more than Red did. O’Red had a hot first two rounds too, but wasn’t quite as consistent as Tay was in round one so I gave Roc that one. The second round was Red at his best, in-ya-face aggression, cracking jokes and delivering straight heat (“marksburg open ya chest, I got that asthma pump”) and tho I’m not sure if those personals he hit with Tay with here were true or not they still worked, so Red edged round two. As for the 3rd round, while both calmed down a lot, Roc stayed consistent enough with better bars to get the win.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Best line: Tay Roc – “What you think of that?, nigga think Tay trippin’, niggas try me before so if they catch Tay slippin’, I’m a catch him outside, go to the whippin’, start bangin’ over top of the cars, Blake Griffin!”

Tay Roc defeats Young Kannon

Synopsis: Roc takes the last two rounds to edge this one from the always energetic Young Kannon.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “And don’t speak bad ’bout my city, you ain’t never been through The Wire, you Kanye before the crash”

Tay Roc defeats P.G Skillet

Recap: A battle that’s always in those “Most Awkward Moments In Battle Rap” videos due to Tay Roc nearly vomiting in round 1, this Blood on the Shoes bout versus P.G. Skillet still made for a competitive and intense matchup due to Skillet and Roc’s noted Maryland roots. That said, despite being under the weather and dealing with a lot of hardbody punches/personals from Skillet, Roc gets the edge here, taking both the 2nd and 3rd rounds thanks in part to a wide load of pedestrian bars from his opponent, but also displaying better consistency when it came to spicy punchlines, some fierce name flips, boastful stunting and plenty of flexing gun bars.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “He lightweight so I ain’t have to prepare a lot, how you cooking Tay when a skillet ain’t how you prepare a Roc [rock]!”

K-Shine defeats Tay Roc

Recap: Can’t recap this battle without mentioning how funny it is seeing white people walking past outside wondering what the fuck is going on in there. That said, spazzing left and right with heated urban colloquialism’s, aggressive braggadocio bars, graphic schemes and fierce punchlines, a righteous and aggressive K-Shine, takes the first two rounds to win this one before Tay Roc salvages the 3rd round with more potent heat and more gut-wrenching/wittier bars.

Verdict: K-Shine (W) 2-1

Favorite line: K-Shine – “Run up on his whip, leave a stained dash, change masks ‘cuz I’m overloaded like Aaliyah in the plane crash!”

Tay Roc defeats Ronnie G

Recap: Annoyed at the strength of his competition, Tay Roc punishes his subpar (and mixtape using too, judging from the girl in the back of him seemingly reciting his rhymes) opponent Ronnie G here for two rounds with a barrage of boastful punches, local Baltimore wordplay, rigid gun bars and stifling personals to catch a body and keep his hood on notice.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-0

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “I got extra weapons, I’ll leave ya brains on a wall, looking like some 3rd grader did some Etch a Sketch-ing!”

Tay Roc defeats Shotgun Suge

Recap: Besides finding out that Shotgun Suge is a huge “In Too Deep” fan, this outdoor battle between Suge and Tay Roc doesn’t amount to much more than who can talk that real shit and spit potent, more authentic bars. Staying consistent while laying into Suge’s realness, Roc wins with a better overall delivery, (“You say you’ll eat me, rejected, not even if he had cheerleaders with him like B-E aggressive”) jokes, hard-hitting (“And since a nigga back on, tell him back off or I’ll put a nickle to him like a scratch-off”) bars and punchlines. Suge had some funny (“I wish I could pick the world up and drop it on his fucking head!”) lines and gutta bars, but too many movie couplets and filler eventually did him in.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “I control the block, you got lookout status”

Kaboom defeats Tay Roc*

Recap: Over a decade later and this classic Lionz Den battle between Tay Roc and Kaboom still has a cloud of controversy over its head. The debate centering around whether or not this was a 4-round battle to begun with or if it went the usual 3 rounds with an OT round thanks to the judges or if the 4th round was just Roc and Boom giving the fans an extra round for fun, knowing that it wouldn’t count in the end. I’m going with the latter and got Boom winning this in 3. After all, most Lionz Den battles were 3 rounds long. Then too, the fact that Roc turned around and spit his bars 1st (after going 2nd all through the earlier rounds) in the extra round should tell you that this was a bonus turn. That said the decision here is pretty clear with Roc’s consistently lit, street themed bars handily taking round 1 before an elongated, but aggressive, witty at times, mocking, boastful and punch-heavy Boom clearly took rounds 2 and 3 for the win over what could arguably be seen as two of the two most basic rounds Roc has ever spit. However, let it also be said that Roc’s 4th is a certfied classic with its fiery storytelling, brazen punches and stellar intermixing of noted Philly rappers.

Verdict: Kaboom (W) 2-1, Tay Roc (W) OT

Favorite line: Kaboom – “You wack, your mixtape is a frisbee, take this filthy nigga back to Walt Disney!”

Tay Roc defeats 45th Focus

Recap: Slow start by Tay Roc here in this Lionz Den 1-rounder versus a gritty 45th Focus. But with the second half of Roc’s turn featuring more piercing punches and righteous boasts, the Maryland spitter ends up getting the edge here.

Verdict: Tat Roc (W) 1-0

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “That chopper like Red Lobster…you could inhale shells!

Charlie Clips defeats Tay Roc

 

Synopsis: Not much more can be said about this battle that hasn’t already been spoken. A battle that put Clips on the map and literally gave him “legend” status all the way through to his battle with A-Verb a few years later on URL. As for Tay-Roc, compared to the high-caliber version of Roc that we see now, the version we see here just seemed happy to be there (tho his 1st and 3rd rounds weren’t that bad), which killed the B-more legend’s rep until he’d later take it all out on Kaboom in that famous OT round on the Lion’s Den later down the road. Other than that, peep Clips just dropping fire punch after punch while roasting on Roc for 3 rounds as well as Teyana Taylor in the audience for your added viewing pleasure.

Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 3-0

Best line: Charlie Clips – “See the reason I go crazy and I be blacking it out, is because my grandmother said, ‘If you lose to this Tay Rock nigga, don’t bring yo ass back in my house'”, What, can you picture me losing for that good-ass cooking? For my grandmom’s I do time in that hood ass booking, he wanna fight I throw a left then a good-ass hook and, have him like, ‘woop-woop!’, you know, when you used to get that good-ass whooping”

Tay Roc defeats Skarr

Recap: In what was a mostly one-sided matchup, a young, loud and aggressive Tay Roc spits nothing but mayhem and fiery boastful barbs at a gritty, but ultimately overmatched Skarr in what looks to be a local battle brought to you from Orv BornReady.

Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-0*

Favorite line: Tay Roc – “Slugs like teabags, they hit your mug and sink in!”

Asterisk denotes that Skarr’s 3rd round wasn’t made available in the video.

Michael Wayne defeats Tay Roc

Recap: Able to combine slices of wit to his spicy punchlines and boastful barbs over the course of 3 rounds, a gritty Michael Wayne is able to beat back a young, disrespectful and aggressive, but mostly pedestrian Tay Roc in what looks to be a local battle from Baltimore.

Verdict: Michael Wayne (W) 2-1

Favorite line: Michael Wayne – “He 16?, I got a bullet for every year in his life!”