Recap: Good to see Bill Collector back on the stage, a little less animated, but more consistent and still able to put on a quality show. Against fellow PA homie E. Ness, Bill stuck to a balance of familiar jokes on his opponent’s renowned rap history, some ill personals, righteous gun (“No cheap sneaks, this a math test with no cheat sheet, hot 12 will get you squared from one .44”) bars and even some nifty wordplay (“You still the same OL E”) that all delivered on the scorecard. A terrific first round by both battlers had the crowd hype. But in the case of Ness a little too hyped as while BC for the most part stayed true his character, while Ness had his (“Watch how my trigger finger do a thousand reps”) moments after round 1, he seemed to gas himself with some of his own more lukewarn bars (it’s arguable too that Ness used some mixtape verses in his round 3 since his crew seemed to know what was coming) while showing more concern for putting on an entertaining show in front of his hometown fans than actually out-rapping his opponent. First two rounds tied, Bill edged the 3rd with more variety along with enough performance bars to make the late, great Robin Harris proud.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 2-1
Favorite line: E. Ness – “I’ll send shots that’ll pass through Bill, cut his fucking lights out, that’s a past due Bill”
