No Bias. No Narratives.
Recap: From T.O.Y.S. Rap Battle League, also taking advantage of a mostly pedestrian and struggling with his flow at times Marv One, Coffee Brown utilizes a bunch of fiery gun bars, witty jokes/personals and wily punchlines to handily take rounds 1 and 3 (2nd was a debatable) for the win.
Verdict: Coffee Brown (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Coffee Brown – “Fat nigga asked me my favorite pie flavor, I told this nigga Apple pay!”
Recap: From TBL, Marv Won with a gang of braggadocious darts and nasty punchlines and Arsonal steady talking that gritty street/trap shit, split the opening round. However, after round 1 things between two longtime battlers begin to differentiate. A slightly more condensed Marv adding some spicy street lines to an already buttered mix of hitting punches and slick wordplay, while Ars (who to his credit rarely went with the personals one would expect against Marv) still competitive, aggressive and scoring here and there with high-powered heat, was a little too mired in pedestrian bars in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds to keep up with his opponent’s steadier itinerary.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “He step, I jab, nigga I create the spaces, plus I hate this fakeness that people mistake as greatness, when I was Bad News for everybody in front of me, I had to make a statement!”
Recap: In this often brash, punch-heavy at times and personal-lit 3-rounder from Takeova Battle League, a more steady hitting Marv Won adds some wit to the mix as well as a spicy rebuttal in round 3 to outpoint Loso in both the opening (score the 2nd a debatable) and final round for the win.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “Bro, you could find me where real nigga’s be, I’m where the gangsta’s, the hustlers, the playa’s, the killers be, literally, I’m tired of you hiding behind your ministry, ‘cuz I’m an animal, I got a hundred gorilla’s arguing about killing me!”
Recap: From Street Talk Ent, against an elongated Serius Jones mired in way too many subpar punches throughout and only really scoring here and there when he went for the witty personals and fat jokes, a much more condensed and hitting Marv Won uses a variety of solid name flips, brash punchlines, wily personals and piercing street darts to earn a 30 in a 3-rounder between two longtime battle vets.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Marv Won – “Nigga, I smoked Ars now you, nigga I’m hanging up Jersey everywhere, nigga this the farewell tour!”
Recap: From BMBL’s Winter Madness card, for the most part not relying on the usual shitload of fat jokes/personals we’re used to seeing against his opponent, instead an aggressive and hyped up Tay Roc sticks to a consistently gut-wrenching mix of heated gun bars, stifling name flips and gritty/mayhem-lit punchlines to handily take both of the opening rounds from a confident, but hit-n-miss punch-wise Marv Won. The win already in hand, Roc would still deliver yet another searing, violent-prone and pretty solid round in the 3rd. But making sure he held his own in front of a hometown Detroit crowd, Marv’s 180 degree switch-up to a steady gang of witty and hard-hitting personals would pay off, edge him the final round and avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “My height 5-10, but carry the deuce I’m 6-1!”
Recap: From KOTD, I’m guessing that after forgetting most of his bars in round two and freestyling the rest of his way through, in what turned out to be a killer final round, Marv Won might have combined lines from his second round into his 3rd. But hey, I could be wrong. Either way, after dazzling with a gang of hard street lines, potent battle vet darts and fiery braggart raps to handily take round 1 from a suprisingly long-winded and pretty basic Geechi Gotti, the Detroit vet gets obligerated in round 2 thanks in part to the aforementioned freestyling, but mostly due to a Gotti who came back and got on one with a boatload of stinging punches and hardbody personals that excellently challanged his opponent’s “legend” status. Tied going into the 3rd, the final round would be a mostly one-sided affair what with Gotti reverting back to mostly pedestrian bars when he wasn’t just getting by with soldi off-the-dome heat while witnessing Marv Won get back on track with a blistering round packed with a bunch of fire punches, witty barbs and righteous zingers that earned him the win.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “Marcus, in all your rounds you made nigga’s dissappear, that’s a parlor trick, plus there’s rumors going around that you ain’t Cripping right ‘cuz…and I started it!”
Recap: From Ruin The Day, perhaps it was the cold Alaskan weather as it’s hard to recall Marv Won ever being as bad as this. The Detroit vet (after a way too long intro from the host) repeatedly succumbing to a bunch of slip-ups and other miscues over the course of 3 rounds on his way to being shutout by the wide variety of witty personals, funny storytelling and hitting punchlines from Bigg K.
Verdict: Bigg K (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bigg K – “You ain’t got shit to say, potato chips is big and you still losing battles to M&M’s [Eminem] today!”
Recap: From Mic Masters Alliance, punching at a slightly higher premium in rounds 1 and 3, thematic and witty with his personals and also scoring with some boastful barbs and soldi wordplay throughout the bout, it’s Marv Won who edges both of the aforementioned rounds for the win in this 3-rounder against an Ave, who while going ballistic with his punch game in handily taking round 2, couldn’t keep up with the same efficiency in the other rounds.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “You a big bitch, that’s why your wig stay lifting!”
Recap: That Ace Amin ‘back in a box’ freestyle to open his 2nd round (which he edged) that was directed at Last Second Sea capo Emerson Kennedy was crazy! However, withstanding way too many instances that saw him struggle with his flow to go along with a bundle of pedestrian bars (tho he did dish some ill street rhymes here and there) throughout the battle and an opponent in Marv Won who kept it on-point for 3 rounds via a boatload of righteous darts, fierce punchlines, rich storytelling and solid name flips/jokes, inevitably it’s the longtime Detroit vet who takes rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “Let me be frank, I only did this to make a couple of Benjamins flip, I’ll put 10 in ya whip, for acting lowkey spicy…like a cinnamon stick!”
Recap: From Mic Masters Alliance, serving up a spicy of plate of rich metaphors, aggressive boasts and peircing punchlines to go along with some crafty rebuttals, after losing out to the graphic mayhem and hardbody punches/personals from Danny Myers (who was also a bit prone reaching), Marv Won is able to comeback and take both of the latter rounds for the win.
Verdict: Marv One (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv One – “Nigga, watch how you speak to me, flower-child I keep the piece [peace] wth me!”
Recap: Yes, there’s battle rap in Alaska. As the Juneau Rap Battle League hosts Marvwon and local spitter Ra for 3 rounds of thrifty punches that the Detroit vet, using a spicy combo of braggadocious raps, witty barbs and gritty punchlines, gets the upper hand on by taking each of the opening rounds for the win before a debatable 3rd.
Verdict: Narvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “My question is, how the fuck you from Alaska and you not cold!”
Recap: In this 3-rounder from IBattle, Marvwon dismisses opponent Sha’s aggressive/witty punches with a boatload of granular set-ups, piercing punchlines and steely personals that outside of a debatable 2nd round, edged the Detroit vet rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “If you have one Marvin Gaye [gay] bar, I’m gonna be the reason for my son’s death!”
Recap: That Iverson line by Saynt in round 3 was crazy as was Marvwon’s spicy rebuttal in the opening round. Other than that, despite some stiff competition from his veteran opponent, this KOTD Grand Prix 2020 championship final round handily went to Saynt as the young West-coast battler kept his foot on the neck of the Marvelous One with an energetic and steady stream of stinging punchlines/gun bars, some excellent wordplay/metaphors and hard-hitting/witty personals to take the latter two rounds (after a 1st round debatable) for the win.
Verdict: Saynt (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Saynt – “Now since Covid we’ve seen a slight change in the program, we got small crowds, but you be sweating liek it ain’t no fans!”
Recap: In this semi-final, KOTD Grand Prix tourney matchup, yet another strong, mayhem-lit and versatile (esp. with the personals) performance by Times gets beat back by his fellow Detroit homie Marvwon, who outside of a flow-challenged round 2, made his mark with a gang of consistently fierce punchlines, strident vet talk and boastful barbs in rounds 1 and 3 to earn the win.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “I’m up here playing games with Times like The Legend of Zelda!”
Recap: A couple of slip-ups cost him round 1, but here against a gritty, versatile and pretty solid effort from Xcel, the rest of the battle is all Marvwon as the Detroit vet’s consistent barrage of righteous zingers/gun bars, stinging name flips, piercing punchlines and hard-hitting personals gets him rounds 2 and 3 for the win in the 3rd round of this KOTD GP2020 tournament.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “I say dig, I’m a great shooter, I’m always [raises arm’s like holding a rifle] lifted [Lyft-ed]…I hate Uber!”
Recap: Agree with the decision here as a slightly more consistently hitting, witty/righteous when need be and personal-lit Marvwon takes both of the opening rounds for the win in this KOTD tourney battle over a flow-savvy and punch heavy at times, but not as steadily-biting till the 3rd Charron.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “You’ll never be the champ ‘cuz real goons take chains off’a nerds!”
Recap: After getting edged by the slick-talking Gauge in round 1 of this KOTD, GP2020 tourney opener, Marvwon builds a comeback via an earnest barrage of bruising punchlines, some stifling heat and boastful barbs to take both of the latter rounds for the win over an opponent who didn’t help himself when he cut his final round short.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “You rappers screaming ‘$50k can change my life!’ [makes hands like gun and points at Gauge] I’m telling you 1K can change it too!”
Recap: From The Riot Network, Real Name Brandon offers up a bunch of slick wordplay, fiery punchlines, stirring mayhem, heated gun bars and righteous zingers/personals to get by a Marvwon who while dialing up a competitive host of witty big man personals, hardbody punches and dicey heat, couldn’t quite keep up with his opponent’s more haymaker-lit servings in round’s 1 and 3 (call the 2nd debatable).
Verdict: Real Name Brandon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Name Brandon – “I’m tired of you old nigga’s, thinking you gonna last forever, nigga your time is done, if you was nice you would’ve been dead, they say the good die young!”
Recap: Preferences are for fans. That said, both (“You don’t just think big, you demonstrate!”) Bill Collector and Marvwon get witty and let the gritty punchlines/personals fly in this URL/Born Legacy 12 matchup. Add to that a nice rebuttal game by both battlers, some spicy wordplay here and there, a scheme-lit BC and righteous-preaching Marvwon and you’re with a dope, competitive and ultimately too close battle that neither side won or lost.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Marvwon – “There is no accident, I will let something Black fly through the sky like static shock!”
Recap: In his first return to battle rap after getting the Covid, Don Marino impresses all the way through his 3 rounds, spouting that Mexican pride but also dishing a boatload of spicy personals (at opponent Marvwon and the host Smack), intense struggle bars, some fiery wordplay and piercing punchlines/gun bars. For the veteran Marvwon, while rarely seen on the URL stage, the Detroit vet’s often-witty punch-game kept things competitive and was sublime at times, but an overall topsy-turvy showing along with Don’s comeuppance here would still give Marino the shutout.
Verdict: Don Marino (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Don Marino – “I had small leagues bidding for me and Nitty, they was calling soon, I use that plate to cover this plate, like I’m leaving the BBQ”
Recap: This 3-rounder from GOTC TV is highlighted by pretty solid effort’s from both battle vet Marvwon and blaring newbie So Severe as its filled with a litany of fierce braggadocio rants, gritty gun bars, witty darts, aggressive punchlines and from each battler, a handful of quality rebuttals and freestyles. Still, after a more condensed Marvwon takes the 1st round, before getting edged in the 2nd by a turned-up round from So Severe, thanks to one more haymaker as well as some hitting schemes and slightly less filler, the deciding 3rd round goes to the Detroit legend for the win.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, this Operation Trick Daddy, when I see his mug, I’m just gonna…take a little bit off the top!”
Recap: Adeptly utilizing a modus operandi consisting of rugged punchlines, flighty gun bars, gracious jokes and lofty schemes/personals, here against fellow battle rap vet The Saurus, a consistently nice Marv Won’s only misstep is a costly, flow-challenge 2nd round on his way to a win in a matchup that was literally 13 years in the making.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “The flames hit different when you looking in the mirror, nigga, the chair roll different when you pushing it yourself!”
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: Mostly lackluster battle, oddly filled a plethora of dated bars, between veteran spitters Real Deal and Marvwon doesn’t pick up any steam until the deciding 3rd round which sees the two get far more lyrical with the punchlines and struggle bars. However, it’s a slightly more consistent Real Deal, both with the flow and the punches, who edges round 3 to win this one.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “They thought I’d be dead or strung out, so now they see the inspiration in me, when I came out the hood, it blew their mind like Clayton Bigsby!”
Recap: Both Marvwon and E-Ness have been in the game for a long time, so it’s a bit of a wonder that they took so long to battle each other. Still, here the two vets are and besides a pretty cookie-cutter first round from Ness, the battle itself is pretty solid what with Marv’s sanguine wordplay and witty punchlines working to effect when he wasn’t delivering shots that didn’t always hit on his opponent’s career. Ness, on the hand got better with each round, especially a fire 3rd that resulted from a consistent run of potent punches that matched his bouyant performance. Altogether, a sound and mostly competitive bout that Marv edges with a more well-rounded 2nd.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Why everybody bring up Diddy when they battle you?, like you ain’t actually work for the dude, and as far as the cheesecake my nigga…well, I’ve actually walked further for food!”
Recap: Here in this 3-rounder from KOTD, the unorthodox, sardonic stylings of Copasetic are lit enough to take round 1, before a seemingly distracted and ‘begging’ to be beat Marvwon stays in vet mode with some stifling punchlines and witty barbs to pull off the comeback against a single-themed opponent who didn’t have the wherewithal to keep up with his convoluted prose.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Everybody thinks it’s Planet of the Apes until they see I play Caesar, and I’m like Steve Francis, I ain’t come to Vancouver to play either!”
Recap: It’s nothing but consistent mayhem, violence, heavy wordplay, trap talk and that gritty street shit from a prophetic GE, indeed enough savagery to beat back a solid and more versatile, but not quite as potent or rich on haymakers Marvwon, in this one round battle from Ruin Your Day.
Verdict: GE (W) 1-0
Favorite line: GE – “Little nigga, with a fire arm, I’m Mega Man!”
Recap: Marvwon survives a bout with the slip-ups in rounds 1 and 3, going vet mode to save himself with a couple of ill freestyles, after getting edged in round 1 to West-coast rapper Heretic’s ability to spout a more clean flow, before dominating the 2nd round with highly potent bars and nice punchlines.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “I’ll let the metal sing all through the house like ‘Teen Titans Go’!”
Recap: Solid, rugged and (“You too old to be telling people it’s baby fat!”) jokefest turn by Beez is turned back by a more potent, freestyle-laden and (“This pistol is like flattery, nigga this shit gonna get me everywhere!”) steely round from Marv Won, in this one-rounder from Barbarian Battle Grounds.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Marv Won – “That’s gonna have me kicking doors where you at, nigga let’s see if your hinges work, and I ain’t even looking for no dope, I’m trying to see how much your friends is worth!”
Recap: The comedic stylings of Lexx Luthor are strong at times, but too often run into dry spots, leaving MarvWon’s barrage of witty quips, benevolent punchlines and jaunty braggadocio bars with enough spark to overcome a couple of reaches and still get a 3-0.
Verdict: MarvWon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: MarvWon – “Insecure stripper, nigga you dying to get your ass shot!”
Recap: 3-rounder from LABattleGrounz features a boatload of nice, hometown bars and hitting punches from Cali Smoov. But spotty wordplay here and there and generic bars that often failed to match an eccentric performance ends up dooming the West-coast rapper to a witty, more pointed, potent and consistently punch-heavy overall Marvwon, who takes rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “My shit is so stone cold, that you should hand me a beer…I will literally shoot you up if I could make Cadi appear!”
Recap: Marvwon overcomes a 2nd round slip-up with (“I will beat shit down your leg and use your daughter’s face to wipe it, nigga!”; “Yours is in your click, mines don’t stop until it click, nigga the bangs [Bangz] different!”) hard, aggressive bars, disarming personals and a bunch of real talk (“I’m pissed because what take us years to build take you a second to demolish!”) ‘Big Brother’isms to take the 3rd round and edge the cagey, punchline (“Nigga I’m a notorious drug user and pimp, what’s that, a B.I.G. fucking feen!”) acute and resident (“It smells like ballparks in this bitch mouth, everything you say to me is baloney!”) fat jokes-prone QP.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga fuck a bag, everything I moved was weighed on a scale, I sold so much weed in high school, I got a different meaning of Saved by the Bell!”
Recap: 3-rounder between battle vets Dizaster and Marvwon goes Diz’s way as while Marv came through with a personal-bent (that ‘red carpet’ punchline in round 3 was crazy), gritty at times and funny 3 rounds of heat, Diz’s spicy personals and relentless fat jokes (even if a little predictable), almost all of which were both hilarious and set-up lit, would prove to be too much in the end.
Verdict: Dizaster (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Dizaster – “He wants to act like he’s on some gang shit, but look at his body language, you don’t wanna rob no bank, you wanna rob a banquet!”
Recap: Pretty much wasting his 3rd round, T-Rex still dishes just enough searing gun bars and hitting (“He trying to act all cocky and gimme some aggression, well I’ll map Quest [Qwest] like I’m looking for directions!”) personals to take the first couple of rounds and beat an often (“My nigga, you gotta learn to dress more appropriately for your weight gaining, that .8 bangin’, his whole middle disappear, that’s waist training!”) biting, but a little lush on the delivery and too misspent sermonizing Marv Won.
Verdict: T-Rex (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Rex – “The only reason Detroit respect you is because you flowed with Em, well I’ll have it so your next battle is with Soulja Slim!”
Recap: Against a mostly lackluster Uno Lavos, who even when it came to jokes wasn’t much on his A-game, Marvwon delivers his own brand of salacious wit along with a load of stinging personals to score a 30 on Don’t Flop.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Marvwon – “You created this alter image so the murderers wouldn’t kill you, but it hurts your heart when you found out they like the fake you more than the real you!”
Recap: Overall, Marvwon had the better (“It’s crazy how being Lost is going to put you on the map with a Legend!”) lines. But a handful of surprising stumbles from the Detroit emcee along with Super Black’s ability to hold his own with a cohesive and versatile flow as well as a nice performance that was capped by his girl jumping in for a spitfire ‘Gun So Big’ bar, adds up to, in this base, a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, you loyal to ya gang?, Nigga I’ll put you in a box reppin’ COTS forever!”
Recap: If Skelly paid more attention to the bars he writes that actually (“I bet you got a gun so big you couldn’t fit it inside your rental, well I got a gun so small I got it inside the venue”, “You couldn’t give a bitch the ‘D’ with a key to your city”) hit, he might actually study his lines and work on being more consistent in order to uplift what is too often a lukewarm pen game. That being said, easy win for Marvwon here, a more confident flow in addition to way more efficient wordplay and nice performance (“They say that one monkey can’t stop no show, well I guarantee [points gun fingers at Skelly] you that one llama can”) bars to take rounds 1 and 3 along with the dub.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marv Won – “I’m trying to see what that mouth do, so I slid in her DM’s, ‘cuz I heard she works on the head all night…like a Tylenol PM”
Recap: Marv One deserves props for making this match close, but as Charlie Clips made sure to point out that’s mostly because he rapped way longer (not that Clips should be upset with that considering how long he went against fellow Michigan spitter X-Factor not too long ago) than his opponent. Still withstanding a dope round of frequent personals, jokes and hot (“You trying to fight Jesus in Bethlehem and a couple of heathens got you down to win, but I bet that change when they see me walking on the same waters you drowning in”) bars from Marv with a more condensed mix of rebuttals, scoring (“We could throw the hands Marv, on some real shit I need a new challenge, uppercut, you’ll get zzz’s on your ftee now that’s a New Balance”) punchlines, a couple of haymakers, working schemes and winning personals, Clips is able to hold off a near upset.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “When you do the uncut version of ‘8 Mile 2’ tell Eminem I’m the celebrity”
Recap: Even a punch-heavy, fire 3rd round by (“My bars the best, if anybody think they could double these [D’s], they must be talking Marvin’s breast!”) Lotta Zay can’t save him from getting 30’d, as a spitfire throughout, witty, condensed, personal/gun line (“Nigga, this choppa got a kick like it’s electric sliding!”) slinging and punchline-heavy Marvwon makes more than enough to take each round and Detroit proud.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Nigga, I will fry you, my metal talk like Futurama!”
Recap: Coming off a less than inspiring match against Math Hoffa, MarvWon gets back on his grind, easily taking out the bar-heavy, but mostly average and monotonous Fatal with a roundhouse of witty performance bars, fierce punchlines, braggadocio {“How dare you say that Marv fell off or Marv trash?, when I’m the nigga that the nigger’s you call ‘them nigger’s’ run they bars past?!”) citation’s and fully loaded wordplay.
Verdict: MarvWon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: MarvWon – “Dig, I’m like a Mario Brother…I got big off the block!”
Recap: The inconsistent knapsack raps of Amazin prove to be little match for the fierce punchlines and wily personals of MarvWon in this one-rounder from Infamouz Battles.
Verdict: MarvWon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: MarvWon – “Say my name, I’m popping up everywhere, like somebody sung the State Farm jingle!”
Recap: “He weight-hating!” LOL!!! Seriously tho, a little surprised a vet like Marvwon would try to out bully the likes of Head Ice here. Sure, Marv had a couple of nice (“He ain’t gonna be the same when he leave Minnesota, nigga this gonna be like Marbury all over again”) bars, but with so many angles to choose from, you’d think he’d know better almost spending his entire round on “Who’s Harder?” semantics, esp. when at times it didn’t look like even he could take what he was spitting that seriously. Still, Ice being Ice, spends half his round spitting hilarious fat (“I don’t give a fuck how much water in your knees, your titties may kill you in your sleep, cuz we black folks”) jokes and the rest of it that street shit he’s renowned for, working both lanes to full effect with a performance to match then heading back to Harlem with another vic on his hands.
Verdict: Head Ice (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Head Ice -“I’m your boss today, and I feel like you taking up too much office space, so…’CLIP!’…’BOOF!’…you off today!”
Synopsis: Equipped with plenty of hilarious fat jokes, mocking personals, spicy storytelling, hardbody punchlines and some dope wordplay, Math Hoffa certainly brings the versatility (tho the shot at Calicoe was pretty lame and had all the dressings of a sore loser) to this Poison Pen/URL 3-rounder against Marvwon. And while the Detroit vet came through with a solid and nifty punch game of his own, an inconsistent showing from Narv to go along with a superb performance by Math warrants the 30.
Verdict: Math Hoffa (W) 3-0
Best line: Math Hoffa – “Look at this Man! He checks his email looking for Spam!”
Synopsis: Marvwon got the empathy votes from the judges but not me. Yes, Pat Stay’s personal bars were super mean, but being able to say the most disrespectful shit possible (Pat Stay: “I’m a fucking battle rapper, we’re the rudest fucking people on earth”) is part of the essence of battle rap. For that reason, along with the hilarious jokes and personals, it was Pat Stay who clearly got this.
Verdict: Pat Stay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Marvwon – “Look, he looking sad right now, he gonna front like he can’t get a cab right now”
Recap: No disrespect to Ness Lee (the “produced by Jazzie Phizzle” line was funny), but Marvwon has too much experience in the game to be fumbling around as much as he did (I had the battle split after two) in round 3, spouting so much filler and losing here.
Verdict: Ness Lee (W) 2-1
Favorite line: MarvWon – “You probably still call your pistol a jammie”
Synopsis: Marvwon is probably the least appreciated of the Midwest battle rappers, but with enough years in the game he’s still a solid opponent capable of beating anyone on a good day. Unfortunately, on this day he ran into an all-too confident, consistent and passionate Cortez, who came prepared with a shitload of that ill shit, aesthetically-inclined personals (“This Rick Rock wannabee, not cuz’ you carry shooters, but because you ate Big Meech…AND Larry Hoover”) and nice enough wordplay to easily take the win after Marv edged the 1st.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1
Best line: Cortez – “Eight Mile, deleted scenes, he thought he was gonna get it in, tried to sneak a written past Marshall and swore he was gonna get a win, but Marshall free-styled and killed you my nigga, so again that battle was like your weight, bitch we knew you was never getting Slim”
Synopsis: A longtime battle rapper incorporates storytelling, jokes, nice angles, subversive themes, personals and performance into his bars and not surprisingly, it works. If only the Marvwon we see today studied his first two rounds versus Aye Verb here on the seminal Grind Time, and showed us more often just how dope he can be.
Verdict: Marvwon (W) 2-1
Best line: “Marvwon – “When I make a St. Louis nigga’ body flip, it will not be Ozzie Smith”
