Recap: Since he has one of the most generic (and all too popular when it comes to subject matter) monikers in battle rap, the easiest route to go when facing Drugz is name flips. So if you’re gonna there and want to stand any chance at winning, ya better be unique with it as Yung Griz displays here. The West-coast battler shining throughout his one round with a gang of sublime flips on his opponent’s name when he wasn’t scoring with popping wordplay, some dope personals and daunting gun bars. And with nary any filler, Griz’s top-notch effort would still only edge a pretty solid and gun-centric showing from Drugz.
Verdict: Yung Griz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Yung Griz – “Your name Drugz and you look like you used to do drugs, I get the feel, like if we give you a plate to go and a plate of blow, you would skip the meal!”
Recap: The guy willing to sing usually wants it more anyway. Crooning at times when he wasn’t spitting hard punchlines as well as some fire personals and fiery gun bars, a more versatile Bandit Montana edges a solid, but a little too gun-crazy and Avatar-bar lit Holmzie Da God in this 1-rounder from the NY.
Verdict: Bandit Montana (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bandit Montana – “You know what got me fucked up, you go like public about your mental issues my nigga, I hope you find somebody in that field for help, you remind me of that nigga who used to just text his bitch, if you don’t come home now I’m a kill myself!”
Recap: Solid, 1 round, Go-Rilla Warfare battle between Chicago’s Sammy Wild 100’s and Marvwon has the Detroit vet taking it in lieu of a more condensed turn that was littered with a gang of gritty punchlines, hitting name flips/personals, potent set-ups and stinging gun bars. For Sammy Wild 100’s, a few haymakers here and there, but one too many obscure lines, mediocre schemes/punchlines, an elongated turn and of course, his opponent’s more potent raps, would do him in.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, y’all know, I don’t respect y’all crew, nigga, let Sammy Wild in here, nigga, you know we Draw too [two]!”
Recap: After a debatable 1st round, Jade keeps it popping while making sure her trip all the way to Canada wasn’t a waste. The Harlem battler using a fiery fleet of stinging gun bars, piercing name flips and witty/salacious personals to take the latter two rounds and beat a solid and punch-heavy at times effort from Yasmin on Beastmode.
Verdict: Jade (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jade – “My career like Facebook notifications, ‘cuz before I started ringing bells I was doing numbers all over the globe!”
Recap: From URL’s Lockdown card, in Philadelphia against the gritty stylings of hometown fave Reed Dollaz, a performance-lit K-Shine uses a barrage of rare off-the-dome heat, head-ringing gun bars, fiery name flips, stifling personals and raucous punchlines to handily beat back an oppoent who while solid throughout, was hurt a bit one too many subpar punches/similes, granting Shine (who really wasn’t on his A-game) the ability to still score a 30.
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 3-0
Favorite line: K-Shine – “Kaboom, was a part of y’all crew, but why you think eh came to NWX?, the trust fund, it’s crazy, he had to put Dollaz aside to touch money!”
Recap: In this competitive battle from KOTD, a rarely-seen-solo Quest Mcody puts forth a solid effort with a wide load of brazen punches, witty barbs and even some off-the-dome freestyles. But over the course of 3 rounds, a more condensed Xcel proves to be too much for his opponent, using a wide array of righteous punchlines, potent wordplay and fierce name flips to score a debatable 2nd round when he wasn’t edging both the 1st and 3rd. Verdict: Xcel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Xcel – “A death match how?, this ain’t even a setback now, when X marks the spot, yo I got Quest mapped out!”
Recap: As usual, another solid effort from Gary Indiana’s Mr. Mills, whose rambunctious (“Y’all thought I was gonna lose, wait [weight], y’all just be saying shit for cheap thrills, till I wound him and ask him are you gonna die yet?, then give him another Sub for trying to cheat Mills [meals]!”) wordplay/schemes and raucous gun bars were enough, here against Dre Dennis, to even things up after a 2nd round he needed upon surviving a superbly spitfire turn from Dre in the 1st. But with Mills delivering a shortened, but still sound turn in the deciding 3rd, after a somewhat subdued (for him) 2nd, Dennis turns it up again with a nice combo of righteous (“Extended clip, I just need 30 for Mills, I’m on my lunch break!”) gun bars, steely name flips and a host of potent punches/personals to easily get the win.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Spine shot, running in back of Mills [meals] like nutritional facts!”
Recap: Having the stamina to out-punch Ave is not a task we’d recommend to anybody, but credit Glueazy for making a valiant attempt here in this Banned Legacy bout from URL. Indeed, it’d take a consistently spitfire, more condensed and (“I’ll snipe a boy, ask your daughter if she like the boy, if not [Bow!], pops get a chopper through the window like Biker Boyz!”) herculean effort from the Goonie rapper just to edge the first round over Ave’s vociferous and steadily hitting punchlines. And afterwards, while Glu would deliver a couple of punch-heavy, gritty, name flip spazzing and performance-heavy rounds to stay competitive, one too many personals towards Tay Roc (instead of his opponent) and a slight bit less consistently to his raps would hurt him in the long run. Of course, the biggest key to Glu inevitably losing this match, was an Ave who stayed locked in the latter two rounds with a gang of boastful heaters, stifling gun bars, racial shiners, aggressive (“He’s worthless, shit make me wanna get the tools poppin’, .40 on Glu(e), that’s some expensive school shopping!”) punchlines, roundhouse mayhem and something he doesn’t get enough credit for: head-ringing personals.
Verdict: Ave. (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ave. – “We was fed off the strip, all of my niggas split bread, Eazy (easy), like red sausages, no matter the cost, ya dig?, we figured we should be paid, whether pool flips or a smooth lick, the pussy shaved!”
Recap: With Prep recovering from a couple of near-chokes with a gang of potent freestyles, fiery rebuttals and a boatload of nifty punchlines, in this competitive 1-rounder from Colosseum Battle League, it takes a cleaner and more versatile effort from Mo Mula, filled to the rim with stinging personals, a fire scheme/4-bar set-up game, witty barbs and lucid performance bars, to edge this one.
Verdict: Mo Mula (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Mo Mula – “As far as becoming a vet, you failed son, freestyles?, you nailed some, but if you’re cooking and not really ready, why you expect to get a ‘Well done!’?”
Recap: Took him a round to get it together, but after a couple of hiccups in an opening round that also saw the challenger struggle with their flow, yet Chef Trez still edged thanks to scoring more haymakers, Trez proceeds to ride the remaining beats in the latter rounds of this Verbal War Zone battle versus Casino PA with a steady, uninterrupted flow, while dishing a sturdy amount of spicy 4-bar setups, rigid punchlines and fiery name flips to easily beat back his punching, but much less intricate opponent and score a 30.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Many opps, that’s why I’m quick to let a semi pop, machine putting rounds in a Casino, now he a penny slot!”
Recap: At times to his opponent’s clear annoyance, a pretty solid throughout Don Marino pulls out all his tricks in this Survivor Series versus Swamp: Mexican bars, fiery punchlines, NWX entries, struggle bars galore, jaunty name flips (tho he did go overboard when it came to using Swamp’s gov’t name)/personals and a host of pointed gun lines. More than enough altogether to take round 1 over a less direct Swamp and potent enough to him competitive in the latter rounds. In other words, Marino made Swamp earn this one. And the South Carolina spitter certainly did, getting more direct with the punches in rounds 2 and 3 while also adding a gang of filthy trap talk, mocking personals, hitting rebuts on his opponent’s struggle narratives, rich set-ups, blistering punchlines and piercing gun chatter to take both rounds and get the win.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swamp – “Fix ya face little bitch, he stressing, depressing, get him a Volume please, leg shot, his legs looking like Megan the Stallion knees!”
Recap: Solid, bar-lit 3-rounder from KOTD sees battle vets Pass and E. Ness go at it for 3 competitive rounds with the only occupational hazard occurring during Pass’ 2nd round, a couple of slip-ups that along with a turned-up (“They say you’ze a douche-bag, he’s a real asshole, hit Pass with the combination, got the pass code!”) and witty Ness cost him the turn after the two battlers both had an equally seismic, punch-heavy 1st. But with the ever-confident Pass rarely losing his cool, the Bay-area maestro came back with a sizzling 3rd, fresh with feisty personals, some potent wordplay and dope punchlines to edge the round over a much less formidable showing from Ness and earn a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Pass – “Fred got you famous from a headlock, arms wrapped your throat, now Loaded Lux ain’t the only one with a classic choke!”
Recap: When he wasn’t speaking up for gay rights or spouting some witty (Mitch!) barbs on long-held allegations of Young Kannon messing with trannies, J. Murda’s rampant yarns of mayhem was just enough to edge a close 1st round. Besides that, this one was all YK, who after a pretty solid 1st that he barely lost out on, used a gang of spitfire gun bars, stellar punchlines, hitting hometown ATL bars and some potent personals/wordplay to overwhelm a couple of dope at times, but at times lackluster turns by Murda.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “…after all that, y’all battled and he smoked you, you was chasing clout for no reason, I mean yeah you pulled Red shirt and then he sat you down for the season!”
Recap: Guess you had to be there what with all the jokes taking place during the battle. Yet, all the crowd distractions doesn’t stop Jade from losing her mojo and delivering an aggressive round of stifling name flips and piercing punchlines to easily beat back a mostly mediocre Fuse Da General in this 1-rounder from Showtime Battle League.
Verdict: Jade (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Jade – “This shit’s a scandal, my advice?, you better get a handle, ‘cuz I don’t give a fuck about Fuse TV…I’m on a different channel!”
Recap: Back from a short retirement, Nunn Nunn uses a more consistent pen, (“One shell, I’ll kill him, crazy as fuck, that’s one Buc [buck], like Smokey’s mom, I’m a make it enough!”) heavy-handed/versatile punchlines, steely mayhem and some tailor-made Cave Gang personals/name flips to beat back a cadence-lit and rapidly (“I said, you brought your bitch to jump Ave, my nigga that’s dead lame, lead bang, I’ll hit his shin like a bed frame!”) punch heavy (including a spitfire 2nd round), but slip-up prone Burke Bucs in what was otherwise a pretty solid battle from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Nunn Nunn (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “But I get it, I’m white, I’m from the South, I live in a trailer, I can’t front for y’all, I am a redneck, with this rifle I could put Bucs head on a fucking wall!”
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: Armed with a fire rebuttal game to go along with his noted arsenal of gritty street tales, flexing (“You like to put your pen to the pad, they wanted to make the pen my pad, we got different rap sheets!”) personals/punchlines and a boatload of raw machismo bars, after getting edged in the first round by a (“Geechi got bundles and Geechi got shot, that’s what you telling me?, well damn, I ain’t know the hair business was this deadly, Sheesh!, you selling weed, I could help you triple your units, Geecho got bundles, I got a bald head, business is booming!”) spitfire, versatile, personal and slightly more consistent turn by John John da Don, Geechi Gotti formulates a comeback that despite a valiant and competitive effort from JJDD in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds, gets beat back by more haymakers, some nice freestyles and also a couple of multifaceted turns by Gotti.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “Good shit John John [claps], but now I finna snap on him…y’all ain’t even catch that I told Johnny [Bravo!] then let it clap on him!”
Recap: There are tough crowds and there was this Philly crowd: intuitive, hanging on every bar, tough and downright mean with nary a thought of letting any wack shit, tag-ins (as T-Top found out in the 3rd round), repetition of bars or dry spots get pass ’em. Indeed, after a dope 1st round that saw Calicoe deliver his unique style of commentary linguistics/real rap shit with some fly personals mixed in towards the end of his turn to only get beat by a more condensed, raucous, gun-heavy, personal-savvy and consistency potent Nu Jerzey Twork, the crowd really these two have it. This despite valiant attempts by Cal and Twork to just rap and put on a show, suddenly they’re booing both battlers for the slightest hiccups, rehashing of lines or filler to the point that Cal would choke away what was looking to be a pretty dope 2nd round (which Twork–who got heckled too–just by getting through his round with a clean turn would edge as well) and in the face of more vexing boo’s freestyle and deliver mixtape bars to get through his 3rd (call this round for Cal as while Twork’s turn was leaning towards being epic, the attempt to tag-in T-Top midway spoiled the momentum and Twork deciding to end the round after seeing Top get clowned on stage hands his opponent the win).
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Y’all think he tough ‘cuz he said he’ll pull my hood off?, c’mon, that’s all?, I’ll be impressed if you live after it, let’s see if you can pull that off!”
Recap: Spouting an abundance of spicy punchlines/personals/mayhem/schemes with a more consistent handle then we’re used to seeing from him of late, Ty Law does enough in the first two rounds to get by a performance-heavy E. Ness, who while staying close with fierce anecdotal punches, witty barbs and name flips, suffered from one too many dry spells to stay in the bout early on before a spitfire 3rd round allowed him to avoid the 3-0.
Verdict: Ty Law (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ty Law – “He say he the punch king, he don’t got ’em like that, who punch harder?, E, Con or Me [economy]?, they got you on the bottom like blacks!”
Recap: Fiirst Ladii Flamez and Coffee Brown both step up to the plate with their A-games, making for a spitfire match on this URL/QOTR Banned Legacy card. The ever-aggressive and earnest Coffee brought the heat throughout the battle, using a barrage of steely trap talk, piercing personals/gun bars, dope set-ups, boastful barbs, greasy punchlines and a couple of hitting rebuttals in round 3 to flex her versatility. On the other side of the stage, a more condensed Flamez kept the crown rocking with continually hitting wordplay, head-ringing punches, rich mayhem, salacious personals, rigid name flips and stifling (“You believe in God right? well hell let’s even shit up, test my gangsta and I test your faith and feed you the pump!”) heaters. A close bout throughout, after a debatable 1st round, a slightly more versatile and haymaker-lit Flamez took the 2nd round before Coffee, helped by those fire aforementioned rebuts, took the 3rd for a draw.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Coffee Brown – “Your nigga say cook something, she was thinking Mexican, probably made him a burrito, my nigga said cook something I was thinking Mexico…came back with a Kilo!”
Recap: Don’t get to see Bill Collector on the big stage too often these days, but he turns in a nice showing here against DNA–the Norristown, PA, vet recalling his old days on URL and equalizing his usual performance-rich antics with a gang spicy/witty punches/personals in round 1 to force a draw. However, things would veer left and go back to what you probably expected in the latter rounds of this battle with DNA still dishing a plethora of fierce gun bars/4-bar setups/schemes, consistently hitting punchlines, fiery personals and solid name flips/wordplay while Bill, never able to quite reach the versatility and depth he showed in round 1, settled back into a bunch of questionable personals (too often at others that weren’t his opponent), some witty lines here and there and one too many pedestrian bars, thus giving DNA the win.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “I’m getting super-duper close, then I’m gonna aim, what good is a Super-duper scope [moves towards B.C.] when you close range?!”
Recap: Scoring left and right with a boatload of fiery personals, gritty punchlines, some fire set-ups and your usual assortment of aggressive mayhem/braggadocio bars, during this 1-rounder from Any Body Can Die Battle League, Noah even does a good job at predicting his opponent’s angle’s, leaving a recycle-prone and a bit flow-challenged, but still competitive Nu Jerzey Twork with yet another surprising loss on his record.
Verdict: Noah (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Noah – “Nigga, this shit is murder with a smile on, bodies to pile on, while you was setting goals, I was already breaking the pile-on!”
Recap: Nice of Illmaculate to finally show up in the 3rd round what with a punch and rebuttal-heavy turn that was certainly crowd-pleasing. But before that, this KOTD 3-rounder was all Ill Will, the Yak-town battler bringing nothing but steady heat via potent name flips, fiery gun bars, witty A. Ward barbs/personals and raucous punches in the opening rounds (while Illmac was rich-deep in mediocre schemes and punchlines that were hit-n-miss) to earn the win before a debatable 3rd round prevented a shutout.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ill Will – “But bruh, you ain’t been the man in almost 15 years, still bringin’ up Scribble Jam, Fam’, the nigga that created Scribble Jam don’t remember Scribble Jam!”
Recap: Part of JC’s greatness is the fact that he always shows up, something that shouldn’t be taken for granted in a battle world littered with choke artists. Add that factor to having one of the best pen’s in the game, when one talks about a ‘beatable JC’, surely they’re going no lower than ‘B’-level on the game mode. And that what’s a little disappointing here: witnessing a Shotgun Suge getting off to such a raucous, heavy-hitting, mayhem-dishing and gun’s-a-blazing start in round 1 and letting the attentive Philly crowd down with a mostly pedestrian 2nd round (which he could’ve beat considering what was for JC, just a solid turn) and then Suge cutting short his 3rd round (in the face of fans who had to be anticipating some electric ‘What His Life Like?’ bars) after apparently forgetting his lines. And while it should be said that JC’s 1st and 3rd rounds were both sublime, gun-bar lit, punchline/metaphor crazy and witty with the personals, Suge delivering a stronger 2nd round definitely could’ve made a difference here.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “I’m not the one to get gruesome with, double-jointed, put a big body in a small box…see if he really been thru some shit!”
Recap: Battling prolifically of late, this time around Bad Newz takes on Swave Sevah on the RBE stage for 3 pretty intense and competitive rounds. Round one was littered with haymakers and heavy-handed punches/personals from both battlers, but a slightly more prepared-for-his-opponent’s-angles and smoother with the flow Newz edges the opening round, before a more condensed, set-up/bully-heavy and street scholarly Swave comes back to even things in the 2nd. The deciding 3rd round was close, but with Sevah getting extra mean with it, intricate and witty with the personals along with mixing in some dope bully bars and punchlines, even with Newz dropping a solid and at times, punch-heavy turn, it’s the more consistently nice Team Homi captain who ends up taking this one.
Verdict: Swave Sevah (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swave Sevah – “You got shot by your Ace?!…damn, King!”
Recap: With the exception of perhaps a really popular battle rapper returning to the scene after a long hiatus or un-retiring after a long lay off, even if we’re being generous, I just don’t see the purpose in a battle rapper needing more than 5 minutes to spit his bars per round. I mean, what more do you need to say that can’t be said in 4 to 5 minutes? Seriously. Condense your shit. That rapping for 10 minutes straight may sound dope on paper and certainly becomes useful when arguing about top tier battlers who too often come unprepared. But forgive the fan who puts off watching a battle that’s near an hour long because he or she has more important stuff to do. All that said, JollyJay vs. Dizaster in Germany at 40-plus minutes long (with Diz turning in a minimum of 7 to 11 minutes per round when he wasn’t choking away his 2nd round and insisting on continuing what was an already longwinded final turn after the host tried to stop battle) and littered with hard-hitting/mocking personals on each side, comes down to the more punch-heavy, witty, scheme/storytelling-rich and angle-lit JollyJay taking both of the opening rounds for the win.
Verdict: JollyJay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JollyJay – “Worst battle ever, could hardly believe it, like leaving Neverland…don’t feel the same way about a legend after we’ve seen it!”
Recap: Chilla Jones ventures to the UK’s Manchester Academy to take on Academy 18 finalist Major Concerns and what transpires is a close, at times punch-heavy bout that’s probably more noted for its understated wordplay then consistent potency on either side. But Jones, slightly more versatile with the bars, while to the delight of the raucous crowd, fire with the set-ups, personals, schemes and name flips, overall delivers more heat then his solid, but less potent opponent to take this 1-rounder.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “It seems if you wanna fight any man’s that above you, well could scrap…think he’s a swinger ‘cuz he ran through a couple!”
Recap: Against a mostly persistent but inconsistent display of flashy gun bars from Kid Deph, in this 1-rounder from GOTG, Chef Trez not only goes ham with a roundhouse of stinging name flips, but spouts his versatility with a boatload of ringing punchlines/schemes, some feisty wordplay, pointed personals and his own host of searing heat to get the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Now I’m for the culture, besides, I’m too humble, I mean I’m here, giving Kid a shot…I’m the cool Uncle!”
Recap: Feasting off a gang of stupendous name flips, some seismic wordplay, fire punchlines and performance-rich 4 bar setups, Reepah Rell easily this Premiere Rap Battle League 1-rounder from a confident and nice at times, but overall clearly overmatched lyrically Optic Sightz.
Verdict: Reepah Rell (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Reepah Rell – “What is this, Revenge of the Nerds?, because you winning this is absurd, nigga you need to take a seat, i know they gave Pat [points at himself[ Riley, knowing they can’t handle Heat!”
Recap: A bit of slippage with the bars by B. Magic in round 2 and an equally lazy 3rd by both battlers, but overall the more punch-heavy Magic easily takes this rapping-on-beat Verbal War Zone battle over a mostly pedestrian Cash Blix.
Verdict: B. Magic (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Magic – “I am my brother’s keeper, what Nino mean, I’m still screaming ‘fuck you’ like Cee-Lo Green!”
Recap: Those gritty ‘Plug talk’ bars from Luck Dollaz in round 3 were fire and earned him the round. But before that JC’s more consistently piercing punchlines, pertinent mayhem, braggadocios darts and stinging wordplay edged him both of the opening rounds to gain the win in this fiery 3-rounder from SupaNova Battle League.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “When he thru, they gonna study me at HBCU’s, I black on the highest level”!
Recap: Two peas from the same pod when it comes to aggression, visceral mayhem, boasts and punch proclivity, even with a couple of reaches here and there Danny Myers is still able to supply more consistent heat and residual haymakers in order to win this rousing 1-rounder over Mega Da Savage.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I’ll give this nigga a hundred bucks early…it’s like the earning app!”
Recap: Fire PG battle between Sin Flee and Ty Main stayed competitive throughout with the two battlers both spouting a gang of fiery punchlines, aggressive bangers and gritty street antics/barbs. Split going into round 3, another dope lyrical turn by Main gets turned back by the cadence-switching, consistently sublime 1, 2 punching potency of Flee to earn the win.
Verdict: Sin Flee (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Sin Flee – “You look like a nigga that don’t get pussy…but very persistent!”
Recap: Now there’s a first: a battler calling his opponent ‘trash’ then proceeding to choke in the very next round. Nonetheless, even before the choke what with 2Four2’s brimming confidence and gritty stylings in the first two rounds, he wasn’t beating Piranha’s more gripping street narratives, steely punchlines, fire name flips and lofty gun/performance bars for 3 rounds anyway.
Verdict: Piranha (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Piranha – “I’m from Detroit home of the nigger known as Big Meech, you from Miami, home of the nigger that think he Big Meech!”
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: Overall, more direct than his opponent, dishing a boatload of fiery punchlines/name flips, a dunk, feelgood wit. stifling set-ups and some nifty personals, even with some elongated turns (and one too many mention’s of NJT), a more versatile Charron does enough in the first couple of rounds to beat a fierce and gun/punch-heavy, but also a bit watered down and not as consistent Rum Nitty in this electric 3-rounder from KOTD.
Verdict: Charron (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charron – “I’m the opposite of my mom’s food…I’m too seasoned!”
Recap: The beginning of Big Kannon’s 3rd round here still has me scratching my head. Indeed, an aggressive Kannon who was already tee’d up during this URL/Born Legacy 8 matchup against Chef Trez from some heckler in the crowd as well as Tay Roc, who he nearly got into an altercation with in round 1, just never seemed to get his focus together in this battle. The Chi-town vet, who was pretty solid in both of the opening rounds, overall dishing one too many punches at Trez and Roc’s Cave Gang crew when he wasn’t spouting the aforementioned drivel or brashly attempting to keep up with his opponent’s off-the-dome heat. And those bumbs in the road by BK would only benefit Trez, who with the addition of fiery personals, rigid freestyles, gritty punchlines/gun bars and some killer wordplay would edge round 1 before (call round 2 debatable) handily taking the 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I was screaming Writer’s Bloque in every battle, for y’all I would’ve clapped tools, I was down for the Bloque like Embid, that mean I was even willing to shoot if I had to!”
Recap: Some day Drugz is just going to have to accept the fact that he might have the easiest moniker in battle rap to name flip. That said, even with a spitfire and ridiculous 3rd round, Bad Newz, for all his gritty bars, storytelling lines and flexing (granted with Drugz talking throughout his turns, being overtly aggressive at times wasn’t his fault) just keeps hurting himself with elongated rounds, in turn, making for too many pedestrian bars and to his opponent’s dismay, a wide of load of subpar name flips. And with a more condensed and consistent Drugz dropping a variety of lyrical shiners, stealth gun bars and rigid personals throughout his first two rounds, add another win to the column for the Gooonies.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Drugz – “If I clap stubs, he bleeding, not one, I’m dual wielding with the chrome, two pounds on his hip like a Superhero pose!”
Recap: Unbothered by any stage rust, after a brief hiatus from battle rap Rosenberg Raw returns to RBE and gets back to basics with a shitload of jaunty bully bars, steely punchlines, hitting personals and a consistent display of utter mayhem/braggadocio lines to beat back a Craig Lamar, who’s slick wordplay made for a close 1st round if not for his inconsistencies, before one too many slip-ups cost him the 2nd and a surprising choke in the 3rd helped Raw to pitch a shutout.
Verdict: Rosenberg Raw (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Rosenberg Raw – “I rock shit, I’m good in any hood like them hot chips!”
Recap: Name flips serve as the difference here as in what was a scintillating, gun bar-heavy, (Skates: “Cave Gang look like the Lakers so you trying to tag along, but you got enough to get the King here, but now the Magic gone!”) punch-drunk, (G Lowe: “I had options, I told Norbes lock in whatever you think is smarter…and the best bitch from Tennessee Volunteered…Candace Parker!”) personal-lit and close battle between rising stars G Lowe and Skates. Indeed, with the two battlers spitting a equal gang of gritty street narratives (along with a few witty barbs mixed in here and there to add a little levity) during their rounds that kept the crowd tuned in throughout the battle, the big guy from Tennessee was able to stand out with his usage of more intricate wordplay when it came to his opponent’s moniker. All in all, one of the dopest PG’s on record, but the edge here goes to Skates for rounds 1 and 3.
Verdict: Skates (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Skates – “My homie a ho, talking about I ain’t going 3-0, won’t believe me till he see the body…well Lowe [low] and behold!”
Recap: From URL’s NOME 9, versus a pretty solid and as-to-be-expected brazen/personal-lit 3 rounds from Arsonal, Ave was on 10 here. The Norfolk, VA, battler exquisitiely mixing up his punches throughout this battle with hard-hitting darts challenging his opponent’s street cred, stellar wordplay, mocking personals, fiery 4-bar set-ups, consistent mayhem and piercing name flips that while on overkill with his lengthiness, still amounted to comfortable 30.
Verdict: Ave (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ave – “Listen homie, how is fake not an issue, when every time you in another nigga state, you getting chased out the venue?!”
Recap: In this solid 1-rounder from Kill Switch Battle League, Gwitty’s mostly anecdotal bars/residual mayhem/name flips are hit or miss. But a more versatile and consistent Ryda, confidently segueing from witty barbs to stifling gun bars to dope set-ups/schemes to rich personals to righteous pontifications on the state of battle rap takes this one.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ryda – “Bigger 9!…nah, I rather use some shit that’s mine, little blade…keep swiping like my shit’s declined!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Premier Rap Battle League, a pretty solid (tho he did have a couple of slip-ups), gritty at times and personally emotional turn by C4 Nito gets blown to pieces by an unbothered 40 B.A.R.R.S., who casually uses a plethora of piercing punchlines/name flips, head-swinging mayhem, rigid wordplay and hard-hitting personals to get the win.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 1-0
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “Trigger’s gonna reveal ya true friends, I could tell you what that means, nuthin’s gonna be OK C, this Thunder’s breaking up your team!”
Recap: Bullpen Battle League matchup between a making-it-rain Casey Jay and a pocket-tapping Cashflo Rizzy, for the opening rounds anyway, featured a gang of fire name flips from both ladies to go along with plenty of rigid mayhem/gun bars from Rizzy as well as fiery punchlines and gritty wordplay/personals from Casey. Tied (had Casey taking round 1, while an elongated, but steadily punching Rizzy took the 2nd) going into 3rd and final round, a still hardbody Cashflo would get off to a solid start until she ran into a case of the hiccups midway with her flow and then, while still struggling to remember her bars, eventually segued to a couple of tag-ins with her peers that were both hit-n-miss. Afterwards, a clean, versatile and punch-lit turn by Casey Jay would get the Texas vet the win.
Verdict: Casey Jay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Casey Jay – “You think that you better?, Cash you [Cashew] must be nuts!”
Recap: After getting edged by a more consistently potent and (“A buck-fifty, behind his ear…it’s a magic trick!”) punch-heavy Bigg K in the 1st round, Geechi Gotti steps it up in the latter two, using savvy (“I don’t pump fake, I’m with the shit, Big who? bitch I done shot K’s bigger than this!”) gun bars, solid rebuttals, righteous punchlines, stinging personals and rare couple of slip-up’s from a still solid, but-not-quite-as-potent K in the 3rd to complete the comeback and take this fierce 3-rounder from KOTD.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “All my guns, the serial [cereal] scratched off like the grocery check list!”
Recap: A pretty solid, at times punch-heavy and oft-righteous showing by Ooops gets beat back in the 1st and 3rd rounds by a boatload of nifty punchlines, head-on personals, fiery schemes and some spirited wordplay/name flips from Emerson Kennedy, thus giving the Utah lyricist a successful debut on the RBE stage.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Emerson Kennedy – “Where I’m from, only snitches go to therapy Ooops, even tho we close to a brink, jealous of Ant-man, when I’m in trouble I can’t go to a shrink!”
Recap: Scoring at times with some mayhem-rich punchlines, but overall too often entrenched by pedestrian bars, in this 1-rounder from GOTG, Yung Murk gets finessed a more punch-lit, performance-heavy, scheme-spazzing and intricate Lu Castro.
Verdict: Lu Castro (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Lu Castro – “I’m so amazed, and from what this dummy staring, the next thing you know…drop Young [young], clumsy parent!”
Recap: Fire PG bout between Sonny and Hollaluyah Jones gets edged by the former who’s rich combo of fiery punchlines, real street pontifications, flexing mayhem and cleaner flow does just enough to edge the deciding 3rd round (after two debatable’s) over a witty, performance-stunting and name flip/punch-savvy Hollaluyah Jones.
Verdict: Sonny (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Sonny – “It’s on sight, the crowd don’t even know which ratchet I’m walking in with…it’s prom night!”
Recap: One too many Shotgun Suge references in the 1st round cost him a 30, but a stellar, punchline/personal-crazy, name flip-spazzing, gun-centric and wordplay meaty 2nd and 3rd rounds gives Fonz the win over Jai 400 Block (who went ham in the opening round, but proved to be less consistent in the latter rounds) in this 3-round Born Legacy battle from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Fonz (W) 2-1 Â
Favorite line: Fonz – “This nigga Chinese mustard, I finna put him in the bag for nuthin’!”
Recap: Once he got past the lazy ‘ShowOut’ personals we’ve seen time and again with Bill Collector, Dev Leone’s ability to spout a consistently mean punch game mixed in with a gang of brazen similes and festive gun bars end up being just enough to beat back yet another entertaining, but not as substantive effort from BC, thus giving Leone the win in this 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Dev Leone (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dev Leone – “Hot girl summer, this ratchet got too many bodies!”
Recap: 1-rounder from Body Bag Battle League sees Swamp beating back Quban’s braggadocio punches, fiery (“A big chopper, get y’all chomped, eagles and hawks, Lord Farquaad, I’m the reason there’s animals on Swamp!”) schemes/punchlines and menacing name flips with a more versatile palette of stinging personals, rich performance bars and ill punchlines…until he had a huge slip-up mid-round. And while Swamp was able to get his groove back and continue on with a wide assault of verbal hijinks, despite spouting better bars overall, it’s the aforementioned stumble that makes this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Swamp – “Now we only got one round in this muthafucka and bitch you gotta go early…38, Kevin Gates, they both pearly!”
Recap: Consistently spicy throughout his 3 rounds with a gang of bruising punchlines, gritty gun bars, some flexing wordplay and plenty of residual mayhem, True Indeed (contradictory to him, actually thought his best round was the 1st) puts on a sublime performance during his first PG to beat back a slick-punching T Sawyer who got off to a hot start in round 1, but becoming a bit flow-challenged and inconsistent with his bar efficiency in the latter rounds.
Verdict: True Indeed (W) 3-0
Favorite line: True Indeed – “100 clip, he hear rounds all day, he memorizing!”
Recap: 90 seconds and only one round, but it still counts. That is, Geechi Gotto versus DNA on the BET Hip-Hop Awards ’19 stage for 25K, which ‘The Champ’ edges thanks to a slightly more consistent flow littered with some dope wordplay, spitfire name drops and rapid shiners on current events. Gotti’s turn, while solid in its own right with some fiery/braggadocio punches/gun bars and a couple of nice rebuttals, still slacked in lieu of piggybacking too much oo his opponent’s bars and also coming off a little sluggish with his raps, which altogether cost him the battle.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “Y’all watch Power?, he better get down, I name my gun Trey Songz, it’ll mess up a big rich town!”
Recap: Took a very long while, but thanks to RBE, we finally get to see 3 rounds of Serius Jones versus Math Hoffa. And after much hype, the battle itself was…ok. Not that, with all the back-n-forth, alleged Miami incidents, video blogging and animosity still lingering over the years, this battle didn’t have its share of machismo moments and flexing gestures that made you think the possibility of yet another incident could occur. But thankfully, both battlers kept it professional and left it all up to the bars. That said, surprisingly bar efficiency was lacking and inconsistent on both sides as both Serius and Math weren’t at their sharpest when it came to their pen games. Still, with quite a few dry spots and way too much bravado/sermonizing, by landing a couple of more haymakers that his more subpar opponent Serius edges the 1st round, before a more a consistently nice with the punches, witty at times and better equipped with the personals Math evened things up by taking the 2nd round. The 3rd round turned out to be each one’s best as Serius stepped up his wordplay and thus was able to score heavily at times with a wide load of piercing punchlines. But after a slow start, Math, who was displaying better angle/scheme work throughout the match, came through in the latter half of his turn, with some exemplary (“…but since I put hands on you, you done seen me 4 or 5 times, I’m very tangible, but you know if you try some dumb shit, I’m gonna mangle you, you don’t want the hands my nigga because I will handle you, but since you do little [Dolittle], watch the way you talk to animals!”) punchlines/personals to back his narratives and more importantly make the round and battle a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Serius Jones – “See?, this nigger think he could just get away with telling stories, but you a good fraud, you should change your name to Algebra ”cuz before you figure him out, Math just look hard!”
Recap: Challenging the dichotomy of Christianity in relation to Eurocentric whitewashing during a sublime 3rd round, that while met with a righteous and punch-heavy turn by Th3 Saga (enough to force a debatable), still showed off the formidability of his pen, a consistently punchline-lit, witty, wordplay-spazzing and set-ups rich JC, edges both of the earlier rounds of this hour-plus long battle to score the win in this long but still competitive 3-round Born Legacy 8 bout from URL.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “Saga doing good in his battles lately, now that’s something different, you really have changed your life since becoming Christian, you really are unstoppable when you don;t beat ya self…pun intended!”
Recap: With all those hard-hitting personals Ill Will was throwing at Ave and his Cave Man clique throughout this dope URL/Born Legacy 8 matchup, one can’t help but wonder if it had any say in the Norfolk, VA, puncher leaving the Cave not too long afterwards. Either way, complete with the type of competitive energy that you’d expect from two of battle rap’s best, after the slightly more condensed, fire gun bar spitting, brazen and witty at ttimes edged the opening round and the consistently boastful and punch-lit Ave took the 2nd, Will’s high battle rap IQ would come to play in the deciding 3rd. The versatile Pontiac, MI, rapper comically exposing Ave’s tendency to be an albeit great, but sometimes repetitive puncher while spouting a versatile round littered with piercing 4-bar set-ups, stinging name flips/personals, some head-ringing wordplay and his own unique brand of aggressive/raucous punchlines to take the 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ill Will – “This is cool, but the hood my reality, if I’m ridin’ down on Ave wavin’ the 5th, that’s just good hospitality!”
Recap: When B Magic’s struggling with name flips, you know that he’s probably in for a long night. The St. Louis vet making an appearance here on Cleveland’s Bar4Bar Battle League, failing to keep a steady flow, giving what looked like a half-hearted effort and eventually losing this 1-rounder to a mayhem rich and gritty-punching Way.
Verdict: Way (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Way – “He ain’t even worth a match, some nigga’s think Magic real, shit, some nigga’s think the Earth is flat!”
Recap: Spouting a consistent and aggressive array of gritty punchlines, self-deprecating barbs, fiery mayhem/wordplay and some solid name flips, Southern battle rapper Casey Jay edges a rebuttal-lit and punch-heavy at times, but less consistent with the heat C3 in this 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code.
Verdict: Casey Jay (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Casey Jay – “Try to play tough, this chopper will raise C like I’m trying to get my grades up!”
Recap: Dishing a plethora of fiery schemes, lucid gun bars, stinging name flips and fiending punchlines–outside of a close round 2 that saw his opponent spout a couple of fly rebuttals–over the course of 3 robust rounds Chef Trez makes easy work of a mayhem-slinging, but a bit elongated, wit-challenged and inconsistent KO.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You don’t wanna see me enraged, what make him think he could beat the greats, like this a piece of cake?, a bullet will leak his face, they booked us to see K shine [K-shine] [Bowh!], but instead see DNA!”
