Recap: From URL’s Redemption 3 card, after getting edged in round 1 to a set-up/punchline and wordplay-lit Kid Chaos, the tables get completely turned in both of the latter rounds as O-Red’s continuous barrage of fly personals, piercing schemes, boastful barbs, gritty gun lines and hard-hitting punches all effective, scoring and most importantly winning on their own, are even more damaging when compared to Chaos surprisingly switching it up in rounds 2 and 3 for elongated build-ups and a bunch of personals that sometimes hit when it came to wit, but for the most part were pedesrian and dated.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “You wanna talk about bitches?!, you damn near cried in one of your battles ‘cuz your BM killed a nigga, that’s odd to me, like what you sad ‘cuz shorty got more bodies than you?!”
Recap: From URL, despite each round being decided pretty handily, it’s still an entertaining 3-rounder here between O-Red and Stumbles. The latter scoring with a bunch of witty ‘Uber driver’ jokes/personals, gritty punches and delicious haymakers, while Red for the most part kept it steady with a gang of fiery gun bars, ripshod 4-bar set-up/punchlines and dope personals/name flips. That said, it’s O-Red’s performance in the first and third rounds that proved to be more than enough to secure the win, the Jersey vet’s better consistency, steadier flow and lyrical finesse proving to be the deciding factor.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Ayo, why you always saying you gonna beat somebody’s fucking ass?, like I hit harder than Cyclops with one punch, i’ll really crack ya shit, the fist will connect to the teeth like a Afro pick!”
Recap: From No Coast Raps, a pretty solid and gun-bar heavy on both sides 3-rounder between Ultimate Beast Primus and O-Red goes the Jersey Bet’s way as despite a trio of competitive, punch-heavy and gritty rounds from Mr. Primus, a condensed Red’s more consistent/efficient punch game, crazy set-ups, wily personals and hitting schemes/wordplay/off-the-dome zingers are enough to take each round for the shutout.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “Shoulder shot, his arm break off like a Voltron piece!”
Recap: With Tsu Surf locked up and very little top tiers facing each other these days, the majority of talk around battle rap nowadays seem to center around whatever drama is going on instead of a potential goodie like Fonz versus O-Red for 3 rounds on URL. Nonetheless, with plenty of mayhem dished from both sides, the two vets still put on a quality show, round one serving as the best one what with Red and Fonz offering up a gang of gritty and bombastic punches that the slightly more haymaker-lit Landlord ends up edging thanks in part to a couple of dry spots from the Jersey capo. From there, while Red stayed solid and boastful with a few dalliances of the wordplay-lit/old Red from back in the day coming back here and there, it’s the more consistently punch-bent, witty and personal-lit Fonz who would take round 2 too for the win before a slightly flow-challenged Fonz would get edged by the cleaner an dmore bar efficient Red in the 3rd.
Verdict: Fonz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Fonz – “I’ll grab a gun with a beam and start clappin’ his hit, and it’s still transformeing ‘cuz when I’m done with the machine then it’s back to the whip!’
Recap: Efficient enough with the gory punches, borrowed tropes and sizzling gun bars that he probably had this 1-round GOTG matchup vs. O-Red in the bag around the 10 or 11 minute mark, an elongated (he did rap twice as long as his opponent) Dre Dennis, with the help of some spicy name flips and hitting personals, keeps it steady enough throughout to gain the win over an O-Red who while gruff and sometimes blazing with the wordplay and punchlines, just ended up getting beat by a fellow Jerseyian who wanted it a little more than he did.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “You gonna die laying, in a hospital, ya mom praying, when thay say the nigga in the ER, it sound racist!”
Recap: From URL’s Lite Work series, after fumbling his bars a bit and getting out-punched by a more potent O-Red in round 1, Nu Jerzey Twork steps it up and gets busier with a barrage of righteous mayhem, stinging name flips, spiteful punches/wordplay and with the help of an opponent who choked away his 2nd round and was prone to a few miscues in the deciding 3rd, earns the win.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “You fire, just no electricty…Amish place!”
Recap: Refuse to believe that ARP had no idea what Aktive was getting riled about after he finished his opening round. Either way, outside of a debatable round 2 (that saw a mostly bar-heavy, bullish and gritty Aktive spout a condensed/punch-lit turn that was efficient enough to tie his opponent, even in light of a dope rebuttal there by Red) in this sometimes tense matchup from RBE, it’s O-Red for the vic. The Jersey vet using some killer word association imprints, head-ringing mayhem, fly sports bars, a gang of hitting personals and stinging punchlines/name flips to take rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “For the record I said Flex, I drop a bomb in here, it’ll be projects everywhere, shit look like a science fair!”
Recap: No translation bars and he had to survive a gritty, punch-heavy and overall pretty solid effort from Kapo Bravado. But in this 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code, a versatile, name flip-lit, gun bar heavy and wordplay/punchline spicy O-Red lights up the scoreboard with just enough haymakers to earn the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “I got the whole stage looking Macho, look at all of that Bravado, the facial features went from a Di Vinci to a Picasso!”
Recap: In this fiery and competitive one-rounder from Our Society Battle League O-Red simply wilds out, using an omnipresent barrage of fire schemes, stifling name flips, killer set-ups/punhclines, grandiose gun bars, flexing wordplay/similes and mocking personals along with a spitfire rebuttal in the latter half of his round to beat back a gritty and punch-lit at times, but too often haphazard with the bars Villa.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “His energy lyrically ain’t enough to get rid of me, Eren Yeager, I ain’t the typical Titan your ten will see [Tennessee]!”
Recap: From Gates of the Garden, Wise who made a nice impression against Tay Roc sometime back, does the same here versus O-Red, using a bunch of fiery schemes, boastful barbs and gritty punchlines to make things competitive in this 1-rounder. But equipped with a barrage of stifling wordplay, rigid sports bars, potent set-ups, sizzling trap talk/gun bars and hard-hitting punches/name flips, it’s a more versatile and steadier with the handle Red who ends up getting the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “Fuck humble Red, you’ll get the cocky side, in them Philly streets with the Tommy gun…it get Rocky 5!”
Recap: Seen thousands of battles over time and can’t recall a battler sitting down while he spits his raps as Scotty does for half the bout here. He’s different! Ok, but let’s not get carried away. As while the Houston vet did kick some gritty and brash punches here and there, it’s a multifaceted O-Red, armed with a bag of nimble translations, acute wordplay, sturdy punchlines, off-the-dome heat and flexing mayhem, who handily gets the win in this 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “This fraud rambling, I done caught more bodies than Charles Manson, with a large cannon, headed to Texas like Arch Manning!”
Recap: A bunch of fire punches, hard-hitting/witty personals and dope rebuttals (esp. in round 2, which he edged) by Nunn Nunn in this URL/UM5 ‘Extra Battle’. But one too many indirect darts by the North Carolina battler as well as a slightly more consistent/versatile O-Red, who pulled off a well-finessed class in wordplay, triple and quadruple entendres, name flips, off-the-dome heat, robust mayhem and gritty punches/personals, gives the Jersey capo just enough mileage to edge the opening round and the deciding 3rd for the win in what was a highly competitive and aggressive matchup.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Got Nunn [none] in the back, that nigga dead stock!”
Recap: Considering the fact that they’ve battled twice already in the past, it’s a little weird seeing O-Red and JC meet up for a 3rd time in the first round of URL’s Summer Madness 5 tourney no less. But whatever. As with the earlier meetings, the two battle vets kept it competitive here while banging out a slew of braggadocious punches, slick wordplay/name flips, aggressive schemes and a few hitting personals. Still however, with a 2-minute time limit per round that most likely hurt the usually interminable Red moreso than his opponent, it’s the more concise and punch-lit JC who takes each of the first two rounds for the win before a clearly more potent O-Red avoided the shutout by taking the 3rd.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – ” I could shoot all y’all at once like a family portrait, you nigga’s literally gotta get it together!”
Recap: From RBE, outside of a couple of slip-ups in round 1 (and a witty impression of his opponent in the latter rounds) that against an ever brazen, at times wordplay-lit and heavy with the gun bars/personal hitting, but elongated (for all 3 rounds) and not as steady afterwards O-Red, B. Magic sticks with his m.o. of consistently spicy punchlines and score score with enough haymakers to edge both of the latter rounds and get the win.
Verdict: B. Magic (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Magic – “Magic been good in the hood like Penzoil!”
Recap: Who said top tier battle rappers don’t battle in the street anymore? Ok, scratch that as the only reason this 1-round, Trap NY matchup between O-Red and Young BMore takes place outside was due to Red showing up to the venue too late. Still, with a good ‘ole reliable bag of fierce translation bars, flexing wordplay and some gritty punchlines/set-ups, against a solid, but mostly pedestrian turn from BMore, it’s the NJ vet who gets the win here.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “I’ll do you like the last Verzuz nigga, yunno, D-Block and the Dips, head shot, you Jadakiss, that mean you carrying your Lox [locks] in this bitch!”
Recap: Way too many mediocre name flips from Montro plus an O-Red on point throughout his turn with some blazing wordplay (some so spicy, that he was kind enough to break them down), fiery gun bars and boastful punches, equals up to the Jersey vet getting an easy win in this 1-rounder from Organyzed Cryme Battle League.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “Random…why your face look like that V for Vendetta mask?!”
Recap: Long bouts of lethargic screeds aside (esp. with Jag, who needs to learn how to connect his bars and condense his rounds better), O-Red vs. Jag on RBE is a bout that while solid overall, certainly didn’t live up to the hype (which was pretty considerate). Jag, way nicer when he utilizes his humor and gets spicy with the personals, had some dope bars here and there, but for the most part was pretty mediocre with his punches. Then too the West-coast battler went overkill when it came to not only his use of name flips, but when talking that real talk shit too. On the other hand, after a fire, punch-heavy and gritty round 1 that easily got him the opener, a completely different, pedestrian and long-winded at times O-Red shows up to round 2 and loses what was a beatable turn by his opponent. No doubt feeling some momentum after edging the previous round, Jag gets a bit spicier with his punches/personals and combined with some hard-hitting street missives, unleashes a round 3 that if not for one too many redundant themes on who’s realer, might’ve won him a round that Red, after starting a bit slowly, gets the edge what with a gang of gritty wordplay and a more consistent punch game.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Yeah bitch, this that old-school Jersey…Mitchell and Ness”!
Recap: Consistency counts for something as a pretty solid throughout and never off his game Danja Zone, via a plethora of spicy 4-bar set-ups, some fiery wordplay, plenty of boastful darts and the occasional piercing name flip/personal survives a sublime and punch-heavy 1st round from O-Red to edge the latter two rounds what with the help of his opponent delivering two topsy-turvy turns that too often bordered on choking.
Verdict: Danja Zone (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danja Zone – “You cook, I cook, so what you saying nigga like Paula Deen!”
Recap: Pretty solid matchup between O-Red and A. Ward on RBE ends up a draw as a more direct and punch-heavy Ward takes the 1st round before Red comes back with a more condensed and wordplay-lit 2nd to tie things up going into the final round. A competitive battle already featuring a bunch of gritty sports references, fierce double-entendre’s, religious (O-Red : “You fishy with that Bible, I said it Peter…now pop off!”) derision, witty personals and festive name flips, would spout more of the same in a 3rd round that was equally potent with enough haymakers on each side to force a debatable.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: A. Ward – “You picked the worst time, y’all had me meet [meat] Red on a rare plate?, this ain’t fair wait, I’m locked in, he Ricky Bobby, I’m Sidney Crosby, he think he fire, I’m a top Pen!”
Recap: Dope 3-rounder from RBE finds Chef Trez and O-Red doing what they do with mostly fiery results. The Chef, after getting edged by a more potent Red in the 1st round, steps up his recipe game in the latter rounds, using a spicy mix of flexing rebuttals, hitting gun lines and stirring/braggadocio (“I took your spot, it’s mine’s now, give me your honors, you removed the ‘locks, I grew the ‘locks, I was more fit for the roster [Rasta]!”) punchlines to make for a debatable 2nd round, before edging the 3rd over his ever-confident opponent, who while consistently spicy/personal and wordplay-lit throughout the battle, fell a little too hard on cuisine-related punches and rebuts that fell a little flat, which in turn helped to cost Red his edge as the battle proceeded.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: O-Red – “I’ll throw a left hook that’ll floor a pup, then the four will bust, head shot, ringing a Chef bell like ‘Order up!'”
Recap: In a rematch from their infamously one-sided URL battle almost a decade ago, Swave Sevah uses 2 minutes of scintillating wordplay, hardbody punchlines and well-themed name flips to beat an O-Red, who while coming a lot better prepared here against Swave than he did all those years back, still couldn’t contrive up enough heavy punches to match his opponent’s overall versatility and potency in this 1-rounder from RBE.
Verdict: Swave Sevah (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swave Sevah – “Yo O, to obtain optimum omniscience is the overall goal of an Overlord, follow the manuscripts, man your ships, obliterate the opposition, offer the other one rowing oar’s or throw then overboard!”
Recap: Sometimes it’s not about the opponent not showing up, but rather showing up without a plan. That description pretty much describes O-Red to a tee here in this rematch against JC on a URL Genesis card. Whether it was attempting to get off on a slower, pronounced flow in round 1 that went nowhere what with mostly pedestrian bars or trying to mano-a-mano with JC in regard to who could dish better sport bars or resident name flips that were mostly ho-hum or even a Translation utterance that fell flat, when it came to angles and executions, Red just seemed to be going in circles. And that’s not a good look especially in light of an top tier adversary who was clearly more motivated to win this battle. Indeed for 3 rounds, JC nuanced with the set-ups and coming down hard on the punches, flexing with the gun bars/name flips, spouting some piercing personals and ever bullish with the wordplay, had an easy time of it here against an opponent who at times looked like he couldn’t wait to leave the stage.
Verdict: JC (W) 3-0
Favorite line: JC – “Six years ago I would of left this bitch as the best to write, I punched with Tyson Fury and I don’t expect you to be any Wilder in the 2nd fight!”
Recap: Fire battle on URL between a couple of lyrical swordsman, Chess and O-Red, goes down to the wire as a draw even tho it included a perfectly-executed, name flip expansive and punch-heavy 2nd-round by Chess as throughout the bout the slightly more consistently spicy, wordplay-bent and slick-punching O-Red refused to give an inch. Indeed, if not for the usually gritty, gun bar-heavy and intuitive Chess showing off a side of himself, we don’t often get to see in battles, his wit, versus a steadily cooking and haymaker-dropping Red in round 1, the opener would not have been a debatable. And with Red dropping more of the same consistent heat in the middle round, an aforementioned classic turn by Chess is the only reason he was able to edge round 2. Finally, in round 3, with Red dropping even more (“Think vending machines when the .38 pop, I load a few rounds, push my buttons, I’ll let it spin till a Cake drop!”) gems back-to-back, while getting even more deft with the vocabulary, boasts and personals, Chess, while still delivering a pretty solid and raucous turn, just couldn’t keep up with the efficiency coming from his opponent’s pen, thus giving O the round and making this one a debatable.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Chess – “The clip funny, it got a mind of its own, it’s schizo, like elephants, the long nose cling out the trunk, but the wide nose coming out the hip, O [hippo]!”
Recap: Damn, talk about turning it up. After a pretty solid 1st round that still got beat back a more punch-heavy and versatile Geechi Gotti, O-Red goes into ‘savage’ mode and dishes two of the hardest rounds of his battle career. The Newark, NJ, vet getting downright nasty with it via a gang of strong-arm wordplay, steely verbal darts, brazen personals (esp. during a flawless and perfectly executed 2nd round = classic) and piercing punchlines. And while Geechi continued to compete hard with a variety of stinging personals of his own, some solid rebuttals/freestyles, dicey name flips, vivid storytelling bars and gritty punches to keep it close, this Champion of the Year vs. Champion of the Year SMACK Volume 5 battle would come down to a more consistently spicy and elevated O-Red edging both of the latter rounds for the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – ” I drive-by in a G37, you gonna remember me, holding the .8, sideways, out the Infiniti!”
Recap: Even if (thanks to a consistently fiery, [“I wouldn’t fuck you by mistake, you not my Type O!”] punch/gun bar-heavy and personal/name-flip-spazzing Shooney Da Rapper dishing 3 dope rounds) it wasn’t walk in the park like his last intergender match was against Ms. Hustle, O-Red’s nifty (“.38 with the rubber grip, serial on the front of it, scratch it off before I go out, it’s on my bucket list!”) wordplay, intricate schemes, fire set-ups/name flips, righteous translations and most of all, killer personals (at his opponent and equally her husband Fettuccine20, esp. during a spitfire 3rd round) are enough to edge the 2nd, before easily taking the 3rd for a hard-earned win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “We cool, you feel me?, but you the one I do target for shit that your boo talking, true marksman, I bust in your crib with a tool barking, Shoo [shoe] will be taken off at the door, I got new carpet!”
Recap: In this Banned Legacy 3 battle from URL, it’s an epic showing by the Bar God as a rampage-inducing, name flip-spazzing, aggressive, personal-lit, lyrically sharp and altogether punch-heavy Danny Myers rains down haymaker after haymaker (esp. during a flawless/classic 3rd round that contained a couple of mind-numbling freestyles) to beat back a clearly frustrated and mostly unprepared O-Red, whose 3rd round choke also heightened his opponent’s memorable evening.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “The system been corrupt, so sellin’ dope, it was a need to do it, cops used to plant base on us before the Vegan movement!”
Recap: As much as John John da Don deserves credit for really getting innovative via the wardrobe-change-for-bars in the 1st round, overall O-Red’s surreptitious lyricism and consistency would prove to be too much here. The Jersey vet (who was surprisingly pretty condensed throughout here) scoring mightily with fiery wordplay, potent sports bars, seismic gun play, hard braggadocio lines, fire personals and fierce schemes/set-ups to beat back a pretty solid and versatile, but not always steady with the potency showing by JJDD.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “I be doing what I want, they wouldn’t boo this [Buddhist] with a monk, naked nigga, sky-diving, you knew this [nudist] from the jump!”
Recap: O-Red at his finest here with some incredible wordplay, sterling punchlines, gritty gun bars, fly set-up’s/schemes and…wait for it, a boatload of salacious (“What y’all didn’t see was what happened when we went outside, he re-arranged his whole vibe, ‘cuz he knew he shouldn’t have touched me, he just tried some cute shit on cam, and it got ugly, thought I was your average good guy till he saw Chucky!”) personals in the 3rd round, indeed overall with a nary any filler. That’s more than enough heat from the Jersey vet in rounds 1 and 3 (with Murda’s 2nd round being his strongest, we’ll call that one a debatable) to beat back a pretty solid, mayhem-inducing and also stinging with the (“I’m a boss, don’t stare wrong, I’ll hit Red solo or a couple will get a round like beer pong!”) punches J. Murda in this ‘Closer’ battle from RBE.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “You’re a peasant B, it’s shit like this that bring out the Alex Trebek in me, ‘cuz now [turns to ARP] you gotta pay a second fee for disrespecting me, get charged twice for the same murder…it’s Double Jeopardy!”
Recap: With a boatload of vigor, fire name flips, sterling (IW: “They wondering how much that belt cost, I’m wondering of it’s bulletproof!”) punchlines, dope (Red: “I got options, I could turn this to an O.J. scene or just hang Will [wheel] from a tree, like a homemade swing!”) wordplay, stinging personals and visceral heaters, through 1-and-a-half rounds Ill Will versus O-Red displays the potential to be a classic. But then the inexplicable happens and Red literally loses his voice mid-battle and eventually has to forfeit the middle round (a round he probably would’ve lost anyway when considering Will’s haymaker-drenched turn) after multiple attempts to get his vocals back. That would cost Red the battle after one or two more haymakers by Will in the 1st gave the Michigan battle that round. And while to his credit Red would get enough of his voice box back to dish a versatile, sizzling (and winning) 3rd round (with verses from his 2nd), by then it was too late.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ill Will – “Give his head a shot, you ain’t gotta ask if he dead or not, mama viewing the body as if she colorblind, don’t know if it’s Red or not!”
Recap: Aggressive and fiery with the set-ups, deft with the angles, hardbody on the schemes/name flips and slick with the wordplay/gun bars, O-Red sticks it to Iron Solomon twice in the first couple of rounds, both edging an opponent who while spouting a boatload of cold punchlines and steely personals throughout, overall couldn’t match Red’s consistency or bent for originality. That’s before a 3rd round that saw a heated ‘Jean Jacket’ Solomon up his wordplay game, consistency with the heat and punchline acumen to salvage the final turn.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “I done killed a lot of nigga’s, you bout to be dead with them, my flow is poison, create Carnage, Red Venom!”
Recap: Dishing way better material than his opponent, damn if this recap wasn’t prescribed for a clear vic for O-Red. But then the unthinkable happens…Red chokes and never gets his lines back. And for a longstanding battler like O-Red to not even be able to freestyle, use a mix-tape verse or even recycle bars he’s used before is…well sad. Especially in this case as a uber-confident (“The silencer on O-Red, he’s like ‘tsk-tsk-tsk‘..like the stove ain’t working!”) , but mostly subpar and reach-heavy Gutta takes away a win he clearly had no business receiving. But hey, hopefully Red’s BBQ plate was satisfying even if this battle wasn’t.
Verdict: Gutta (W) 1-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “That’s Gutta Gutta, I’m gutter, Gutta, I used to hustle butter, Block nigger, known for the grams before your mother mother!”
Recap: Much hyped battle of two ‘Champions’ doesn’t necessarily live up to the billing (unless you want to count O-Red and T-Top almost getting into it and a tag-in to Nu Jerzey Twork by Red in the 3rd) as while lyricism, personals, mayhem and punches were at the forefront, anyone who has followed both DNA and O-Red’s career has certainly seen better from each. Still, the battle was close and competitive (I got a more versatile DNA edging the 1st and a surprisingly more-condensed-than-usual Red doing the same in the 2nd even if a couple of those gun bars were influenced by Twork) throughout with DNA getting the edge here in the deciding 3rd with a more consistent and solid turn that with a couple of freestyles and a very nice tooth scheme on top, beat back O-Red’s mostly so-so attempts at humor and less potent bars in the same round. Not to mention, the Twork tag-in was a little puzzling when you consider the strength of DNA’s rebuttal game.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “You was always in the back row and the last to grow, you like wisdom teeth!”
Recap: A classic, consistently punch-heavy, personal/name flip (nice enough to turn around Cor’s ‘Nasty!’ jargon on him) spazzing and aggressive 1st round from O-Red sets the tone. And even while getting edged by the rebuttal-spouting, mayhem-friendly and equal (“So either check in or get checked out, I’ll hit him with X amount, he’ll be X’d out, Malcolm X style, meaning he gon’ burn then die [dye] when I let it fry on Red scalp!”) haymaker-dishing Cortez in the 2nd, in this fire matchup between two battle vets, O-Red proves in the end to have enough (“Now I’m confused, are y’all tellin’ me, you went from Total Slaughter couch to Charlie couch? well goddamn Mr. Top Tier Money, you need some bread bro? Sub Zero after the finisher, hold ya head up [BAOW!] now it’s like I got evicted when the lead bust!”) heat and more consistent punches to edge to pretty solid turn from his opponent and take the deciding round.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Smack, what you be on, this a lose-lose tell this faggot move along, a lose-lose for you I mean, you see, I could snap and do you wrong or choke every round and send you back where you belong!”
Recap: Here in this Smack Volume One battle, it’s a punch-heavy battery along with a lyrical assault for a consistently fire O-Red, who once again proves his mettle against an overall (“You washed up, bitch I’m black on bars like African soap!”) solid and performance bar steady, but too often average Brizz Rawsteen. Indeed, a clearly-did-his-research-on-his-opponent O-Red, finessing with hard (“You let more bull come out your mouth than a Philly nigger!”) punches, steady wordplay, rich metaphors and hitting personals throughout all 3 rounds, conducts enough of a bar session to edge all 3 rounds, while at the same time giving Brizz a friendly reminder on why even without the dreads, he’s still one of Jersey’s finest.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “Brizz know better, this old heckler a hoe stretcher, leave a nigga from Raleigh [rally] in the street like a protestor!”
Recap: Punch-heavy throughout, bodacious with the name flips/gun bars/braggadocio lines, extra funny (Bigg K’s CVS security line, “You control the parking lot, all mad and upset, trying to tackle a skateboarder like ‘Get back from the steps!'” was hilarious) at times, competitive, peculiar (O-Red’s strange wardrobe choice and K’s choice to dedicate his entire 3rd round to a scheme on bathroom usage) and delicious with the wordplay, except for a few reaches and some pretty basic punches here and there, O-Red versus Bigg K delivers on all fronts. However, when it comes to picking a winner, after a debatable 1st (even with Red’s fire ‘translation’ rebuttal, K’s punchlines were pretty vicious throughout), a condensed and more consistent O-Red takes the 2nd and with some seismic set-ups, better sauce on the bars and his own display of pointed (“You dropped your arms quicker than dude who told Ace ‘I ain’t eating!'”) personals that flexed his versatility, it’s O-Red who takes the 3rd as well for the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “I’ll muzzle him, you won’t hear shit when the Uzi bang, that silnecer make it sound like a hit song….from Pootie Tang!”
Recap: In front of a UDubb crowd that seemed unusually enthused throughout the battle, a more versatile K-Shine utilizes just enough nifty punchlines, aggressive heat and gritty name flips to edge round 1, then survive a spitfire turn by Red in the 2nd before a more condensed turn in the final round (that featured an appearance by Therapist Red) gets Shine the win
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 2-1
Favorite line: K-Shine – “They say try not to sleep on Red…I’m in a coma!”
Recap: Like attempting a 3-pointer when your team’s already up 20 with a minute left in the 4th quarter, as shown here in a deciding 3rd round of what was for the most part a fire matchup versus an efficient and wordplay/punch-heavy, but not always potent Showoff, O-Red goes a little overboard on the extra bars in taking down his opponent. Still, besides a slip-up midway through the 2nd round and an elongated but consistently spicy 3rd, it was a pretty impressive and versatile showing from Red, who used gritty punchlines, aggressive heaters, some fly wordplay, a nifty translation, well-researched personals and some potent schemes to highlight a 1st and 3rd round that were both littered with haymakers for the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “And since you brought up my son, you know what?, all of your kids can get murked for what you talking bro, your oldest son [Bwoh!] to the neck, I mute his audio, your youngest son [Bwoh!] to the chest, reduce his cardio and then Bow’s [Bwoh’s!] will take your Princess from you, shoot for Omarion [more of you]!”
Recap: First, a couple of side notes on this highly anticipated battle between O-Red and Ave. For starters, Jai 400 Block, standing right there behind O’Red and refusing to hold Red’s water bottle in his hand time and time again was just passive aggressive and hilarious at the same time. Secondly, O-Red complaining about Smack supposedly cutting his round short, when Red goes at least 6 to 8 minutes in each round, was just ridiculous. That said, lyrically and punchline speaking, it doesn’t get much better than this one as personals and schemes were for the most part left out. And with the hype around Ave being pretty high before this battle happened as well as the envisage surrounding the veteran O-Red coming back to Smack/URL to take on the hot newbie being a must-see, to see both battles on their A-game (except for s slight slip-up by Red in round 3) made this battle close, exciting and a matchup that was literally drenched with haymakers. A close round 1 that saw a turned-up, (“Bro a goof, and we know O been food, shit everything about Red Cafe!”) punch-heavy and altogether fire Ave, gets edged by a slightly more condensed O-Red not only keeping up with his opponent on the more formidable (“You from Virginia right?, ok when that Baretta tweak, hole through the sternum, your bae, will give your chest a peek [Chesapeake]!”) heaters, but mixing in a couple of fire freestyles with overall, more intricate wordplay and witty personals. Round 2 also goes to Red, who was somehow able to up his showmanship after a superb round 1 with a variety of sizzling (“That foreign ratchet will serve him, welcome to Golden Krust!”) punchlines, stifling name flips/gun play and other noteworthy mayhem to beat back another dope, but not-quite-as-as-nice-as-his-1st turn by Ave. With a win already in hand, an ironically elongated and punch-heavy turn by Red (that contained the aforementioned near choke) makes for a clear loss when it comes to a more condensed, punch-focused and still in his bag Ave in the final round.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “You want this wreck?, you gonna sit with them on a losing shelf, but fuck it, cool, stitch up your own wounds, that means shoot yourself!”
Recap: When you’re not shaking your head at Daylyt, who spends most of his time here splitting time between nonsensical filler, unrepentant reaches, deft (“The last nigga I pulled the nina out on, I told him I bet it sting, I treat that bitch like getting a call from ya side bitch when you with your main bitch, I silence her [silencer] than let it ring!”; “I’ll get a man chin [mansion] bigger than Quagmire!”) punchlines and actually pontificating somewhat sensibly (“It’s funny how all of these niggas got beef baking, but none of ’em willing to slaughter the pig!”) on matters concerning police brutality…appreciate the rebirth of O-Red. Segueing confidently between righteous (“That shotty have bodies looking like cheetah print, ya team ain’t cut too solid so when they see your Caesar split, ya C’s will split!”) gun bars, metaphorical (“”Reverse Kemp, that .40 bang after it point at him”; “I’m past nice, this hwere my bars School Daze [School’s Day’s], this G on ya head, Halfpint!”) wordplay, braggadocio (“I said I’m sick, when I write my three, my bars hit like a shotty begging, every word crafted for the kill, I’m speaking body language!”), conniving name flips and all-out (“Nah, matter fact fuck that [pulls back up ski mask] I could spit flame without the mask nigga, I’m Scorpion!”) personals throughout all three rounds, O-Red not only outbars Daylyt into a near submission, but puts his opponents on notice for 2016.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “If you try angles in your rounds you’ll get boxed, Red rounds over the top, I’ll pepperoni a pizza!”
Recap: In their recaps of their battle, J-Money says he won and O-Red calls it a ‘classic’. Well, we say neither as Red, using a gang of fierce punchlines, gritty name flips, a couple of cold rebuttals and fire gun bars/schemes easily takes the first two rounds from an opponent who used a boatload of questionable angles to his raps, when he wasn’t spitting mostly pedestrian bars. With the battle already in hand, Red uses the 3rd round to run through his battle resume and kick some very basic lines, allowing J-Money to salvage the round with a solid, scheme/personal-heavy turn that was clearly his best….by the way, couldn’t help but notice, but is that Jaz-O, the Originator, in the crowd looking on?
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Black navy with the sidewinder wheels, I’ll roll up with that Lincoln, in front of Money like a 5-dollar bill!”
Recap: Not much to see here and a pretty dead crowd didn’t help things either as Uno Lavoz and O-Red are put together for a matchup that made little sense. First round stands out as the best round as a somewhat hyped O-Red gets off some nice (“Militant, ready for action, let this nigga trip, neck shot, he’ll walk off stage with the Reggie Miller clinch”) performance bars, while for the most part Uno struggles with his angles/bars freestyles and yo mama jokes. Latter rounds sees the crowd get more and more distracted as the combined performance by Red and Uno only gets lamer with a shitload of lackluster (Uno: “I heard you sleeping on me, yeah? Well I’ll put that silencer over your mattress, now that’s your deathbed”) bars and slip-ups. Still, with just enough potent bars and affable wordplay in round two to overcome a throwaway final round and Uno lacking hard in originality or consistency throughout, Red’s gets a dub that he probably won’t be bragging to kids grandkids about.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “It’s sad you losing your life God and your bae [Bay] watching me”
Recap: O-Red uses some some hard (“You’ll get X’d over the green, Jamaican flag”) bars, winning personals, nice rebuttals, a stunting Maya Angelou (“You like poetry? BOW!!!, say hello to Maya Angelou nigga, naw naw I ain’t trying to be that disrespectful, I was only calling her Mya, she with Ill and Huggins, say hello to Maya and ya Lou niggas”) flip, a funky translation scheme and aggressive wordplay to come from behind and edge a (“We seen y’all in Detroit that’s why I question your credibility, I mean y’all say he’s top tier but I don’t see Red’s ability [credibility]”) game, but stumble heavy Ooops in this entertaining battle from RBE.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Yo bitch love daddy style, pull them khakis down, she feel the peen O [Filipino] get the box, I’m Pacquiao”
Recap: Don’t let the oft-subdued crowd reactions or reaches by both battlers fool you as both O-Red and Rum Nutty still came with some nice punches and crazy (Nitty: “Nitty not accepting L’s, so if you came to see O win (Owen) in the ring, I bet he fell [fail]”} wordplay throughout this 3-rounder from King of the Dot. However, it’s O-Red who survives a bout with Earl in round 2 and manages to edge the 3rd round round with slightly more consistent heat in light of a solid turn too by his opponent.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “Pop, pop, pop, his shortie run out when she in that cannon fire, hugging Nitty after 3 roundns, that bitch…Danny Myers!”
Recap: Really disappointed with this battle, it’s like neither Clips or O-Red took it that seriously and altogether there just wasn’t a professional feel to it. Plus, as much as I don’t like to get into the extra shit, there shouldn’t be nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism, right? For starters, the crowd’s at U-Dubb have really gotten lame or just quiet. I don’t know if it’s the venue or the sound equipment or what, but compared to past U-Dubb events, the energy just isn’t there. Then too the camera angles were off and sometimes it felt like the only people witnessing this battle were the people on stage. Secondly, please stop letting Debo host battles (hell, even Clips said it). If a guy’s gonna host, he should just get a quick introduction, introduce the battlers, flip the coin and move on. Debo doesn’t do that and he reminds you too much of when Star hosted in the URL…too much extra shit. Lastly, if anyone’s arguing about oversaturation killing battle rap, battles like this would help prove their case–just lackluster all around with a couple of top tiers who clearly didn’t bring their A-game. That said, I got Clips taking the 1st and 3rd rounds.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “You know what you are? You a check my nigga, we only battle you when the landlord wanna get the rent, you beat X-factor, so what?, when I got fed X he ain’t deliver since”
Synopsis: Hitman all day. With arguably his greatest 1st round ever, Holla puts on another tremendous show with bars (“I told Ars send me my bread…and his half too!”, “I’m standing there giving him the Mayweather shoulder”), name schemes and of course, a dope remix to get off to a flying start. And while Red had a good round (that “40 in the club hitting young’uns, it’s a cougar strap” line was nice), pulling a JJDD and attempting copy’s Hitman’s remix was a lame move that came off horribly. After a so-so 2nd round by both rappers (I gave it to Red mostly because HH practically gave it up), Hitman, went back in beast mode for the 3rd, with polished sport schemes, personals (“It’s a known fact, all bitches hate when RED show up…period!”) and a hilarious version of Calicoe’s infamous story on Red’s problems with women that undoubtedly gave Hitman the W.
Verdict: Hitman Holla (W) 2-1
Best line: Hitman Holla – “I’ll punch you in the middle of my verse…rebuttal that!”
Recap: Sluggish battle between Big T and O-Red had the crowd and ring card girls flustered and rightfully so, what with O-Red spitting random bars at other battle rappers and using the same cookie props for jokes here that he used before against Big Kannon. While Big T lifted plenty of what was left of his sound schemes against K-Shine and relied on way too many name flips throughout the battle. Ironically, with most of the action taking place in the 1st (the edge there going to O-Red for dropping more hitting bars within his time frame than Big T) and 3rd (clearly a win for Big T) rounds, turns out that the most lethargic round, the 2nd, would be the difference-maker. And with Big T practically giving it up with some just ok bars within an abbreviated round, Red easily took it with his more potent punchlines.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “You the cheapest drink in McDonald’s, that means you Sweet T [tea]”
Synopsis: How lucky was O-Red to pull this one out? I mean, not only did he almost lose his voice, but he had to put up with arguably one of the best 3rd rounds ever, from a spirited (“And he tried to break down the Chicago teams, and this is where I’m gonna light his ass up, because I am Rip Hamilton, you know I’m the shooter as soon as I mask up!”) Big Kannon flexing hard in front of his home crowd. Too bad for BK, Red had just enough haymakers (“The left will hit him twice and I punch smooth with the stiffest right, I’ll stomp him for 30 seconds to end the fight, so when you see BK on the side of my sneakers, they ain’t British Knights!”), punchlines, personals and traditionalist bars to edge rounds 1 and 2, thus taking the belt (and the cookie) back home to Jersey.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Best line: O-Red – “You make Chicago look bad, you a Yung Berg nigga!”
Recap: First of all, I really hate this host, he’s mad unprofessional and annoying as hell. And secondly, two rounds?!? That never makes any sense as no battle should ever end in an even amount of rounds. But whatever, still a good battle nonetheless tho it’s funny watching JC use a bar like “class in session, but since this little nigga still growing, I’m a add a lesson” to a dude that’s taller than him. Still, Red spazzed in the 1st round to clearly win that round, while JC edged the second with more consistent and harder bars. Too bad they didn’t have the common sense to make ’em do a 3rd round.
Verdict: (TIE)
Best line:(TIE) JC – “Hard shit, we blaze arms in your state armed, say my name I’ll pop up, state farm” and O-Red – “Jay-Z, J. Cole, them the J’s that’s relevant, you the ‘J’ I do not rock with, Carmelo kicks”
Synopsis: Since he hasn’t spoken about it publicly, one can only guess what’s going on in Yung Ill’s personal life these days and one can only hope that its gotten a lot better since this battle dropped. Still, the belief here is that once you step on the stage and into the ring…all bets are off. That said this is just hard to watch as Ill pulls consecutive choke after choke that makes you not only cringe, but wish he had listened to the audience and just stopped mid verse (or freestyle) in each round. Of course, with the repeated hot bars O-Red spits throughout here, I’m guessing that even if Ill had brought his A-game, he probably wouldn’t have been able to stand up to Red anyway. But if you paid your hard-earned dollars to see these two at their best, it’s a shame only one of the them was able to give you your money’s worth.
Verdict: O-Red 3-0
Best line: O-Red – “But now you standing here like you poppin’ thangs, stop it lame, you nervous, I can hear you shaking nigga, you pocket change…”
Synopsis: Good to see Rex came to win as too many of the veteran battle rappers still don’t seem to take O-Red seriously (despite the great run’s he on). And yet while I had it tied going into the 3rd round, Red easily took round 3 with enough over-the-top personals and stellar bars to make Rex leave with his first loss in Jersey.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Best line: O-Red – “You just talk tough, I ain’t gotta show you my cocky side, my machine could do all the talking, Johnny 5”
Recap: Yeah, I gotta agree: taking care of your family is a much bigger priority than fixing your teeth. Still, for all his sometimes witty, but redundant tooth jokes, a mostly tepid X-Factor, while seemingly having the tools (personals, jokes, etc.), just didn’t know what to do with O-Red, who with a fiery barrage of mocking personals, fire schemes and fierce punchlines/wordplay, took out his opponent’s moxie early, left him talking to himself and left with an easy win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “I’m a muthafuckin’ boss, Rick Ross couldn’t see O [C.O.]!”
Recap: Not a big fan of intergender matchups (to me it’s a no-win for the dude), but battle rap fans seem to like them and enough battle rappers will participate in them so whatever. That said, both Ms. Hustle and O-Red went hard here, with Hustle going after Red’s URL standing (“Only reason he here, cuz Smack didn’t call you for Summer Madness”) all the while tossing in a load of nice gun bars, punchlines, funny interpretations and fleeting performance bars. And she put on a dope show, some of Hustle’s just alright bars got crazy gassed by the hometown crowd and simply put O-Red just one-upped her, using his one-round unlimited to preach on why female battle rappers can’t hang with their male counterparts (“I see a lot of you bitches is smoking angel dust”), spitting a dope magazine scheme, unloading crazy nice bars, delivering amiable personals and even getting biblical (“So fuck what you spitting, cuz’ a man is the reason you women even existing”) to remind everybody who the man is. So while I’ll never be a fan of intergender matchups, all told this was a pretty good battle.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ms. Hustle – “Faggots go in the casket too nigga and you should of known bitches ruled the world when Eve made Adam eat that apple too nigga”
Synopsis: This is a tough one, because bar for bar O-Red (“With that being said it’s one rule if you wanna pass this nigga, don’t spit it like the last bitch nigga, cuz the way I left that faggot in a casket laying on chin chilla, even Gaylord Focker couldn’t have Ben Stiller”) had the better material here. But rap battles shouldn’t be judged on just bars as creativity, rebuttals, performance, delivery, etc. have to be taken into consideration too. And that’s why Calicoe gets the win here, winning rounds 2 and 3 with amazing performance lines, freestyles, jokes (even O-Red later admitted how over-the-top and funny Cal was (‘…Cal, you’ve done enough!’) in that classic 3rd with the storytelling), shit-talking, personals and rebuttals in front of a hostile Jersey crowd. Then too, anyone who’s seen the run O-Red’s been on of late knows that this wasn’t one of his best performances overall. Cal edged it.
Verdict: Calicoe (W) 2-1
Best line: O-Red – “You stealing from a seed that you raised?, I should open-hand you, you got your power from your son, you a solar panel”
Recap: A bit of a slow start from McKims doesn’t stop him from dishing enough scheming wit and lofty wordplay to beat back a pretty pedestrian and perhaps uninspired O-Red in this one-rounder from BlockCityTV.
Verdict: McKims (W) 1-0
Favorite line: McKims – “Lines go over the top of they head like words that Common say, so if I spit something, they’ll get nuthin like Joe Jackson on Father;s Day!”
Recap: Aye Verb struggles a bit with his delivery, but still has plenty of juice (“Mixing all types of shit up, lyrical gumbo!”) in his tank to cook O-Red, who along with spitting mostly light bars during his turn here, makes the brutal mistake of trying to get off a gimmick (i.e. ‘Translation’) in front of an away crowd (in this case, Detroit) who clearly had no idea what the hell he was doing. Then Red makes it even worse by begging for a 2nd round after Smack announced a strict one-round, time limit at the start of the battle…smh.
Verdict: Aye Verb (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Aye Verb – “You ain’t got the heart and you ain’t gonna shoot, you Rondo in LeBron mode!”
Recap: Here we see Rosenberg Raw make for a solid effort with his usual firestorm of cocky punches and shit-stirring mayhem. But a more versatile and aggressive O-Red, flippant with the personals, hilarious with the pictorials, gritty with the punchlines/name flips and festive with the gun bars, delivers too much rampant heat for his opponent to have a chance in this 3-rounder from Block City.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 3-0
Favorite line: O-Red – “On second thought why waste ammo to shoot his ass?, you’ze a fag there’s no need to let that Ruger blast, counter left, up it, nice hook with a truthful jab, I will beat the shit out of Seth from Superbad!”
Recap: Moreso an O-Red tripping over himself and never getting up than getting beat by his opponent, after easily taking the 1st round here on this 3-rounder from Block City TV versus Scripts, an O-Red who was vigorously punch-heavy in the 1st round, flips the switch and surprisingly succumbs to a host of subpar freestyles and pedestrian bars in the latter rounds. And for Scripts, who stayed steady with the mayhem, bully talk and raucous personals throughout the match, even while not doing much in the way of bar efficiency to earn the win, still squeaks this one out thanks for the most to Red’s sudden downfall.
Verdict: Scripts (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Scripts – “It’s UFC when you step into this octagon, I spray wigs, this .8 kid is not Octomom’s!”
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!”
Recap: The one battle O-Red probably wishes he could wipe off his resume as he not only gets out-barred by opponent Swave Sevah throughout the match, but he rather embarassingly chokes in both the 1st and 3rd rounds. Swave, continually bullish and on top of his game from round 1, also does an excellent job here of playing to the crowd, all the while using a gang of stifling personals, fire breakdowns and hard-hitting punchlines to dig up what was ultimately a body.
Verdict: Swave Sevah (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Swave Sevah – “The bitch type, see, in beef I make nigga’s bleed and leave scars, in beef you wait till nigga’s leave and key cars!”
Instant classic: “There’s no crying in the URL” (from female fan in crowd)
