Recap: From URL, not a great T-Top (including struggling with his flow at times, which led to a debatable round 2) here, but with a solid bunch of fiery boasts, piercing trap talk, gritty storytelling/punches and a boatload of well-oiled personals against an earnest, but mostly pedestrian Prep, Top’s cacophony of stirring rhymes are just enough to edge him the 1st and 3rd rounds for the win.
Verdict: T-Top (W) 2-1
Favorite line: T-Top – “Ypu my name in ya mouth again, I’m a send my guys to come and get you, I mean you better say it under your breath like you and mom’s is having issues!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, Danny Myers (who pretty much battles every day now) uses a steady barrage of piercing wordplay, bruising punchlines, boastful barbs, grimy gun bars and dope personals/name flips to get the win over a gritty and solid, but oft-reaching and mostly pedestrian Prep.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I’m from a darker side, even without a can you’ll get it, I’ll pull up with my homie’s baby…Andrew Wiggins!”
Recap: From The Battle Academy, a competitive 1-rounder between Prep and Shotgun Suge ends up with the more condensed, quicker-to-his-punches, just as gritty, personal-lit and brazen Suge edging it out on the end.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “Gun jam and then we improvise, man I’ll steall all your silver with this nickle .9!”
Recap: Considering them both repping the DMV as well as the brouhaha they had some years back when Prep battled Spanish Harlem, one would’ve thought that Prep and Drugz would’ve met up on a battle stage awhile ago. That said, the wait was worth it. An aggressive bout lit with a plethora of hard-hitting personals, for 3 rounds each battler would rain down haymaker after haymaker to compete for battle of the night. And while Prep lit up the scorecard throughout the match with a variety of revealing idiosyncrasies on his opponent to go along with mocking jokes and a gang of NJ Twork comparisons, outside of a minor round 2 slip-up, the more consistently hitting, angle-savvy, name flip-rich, original and witty Drugz edges the 1st (a superlative turn for sure) and 3rd rounds for the win.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Drugz – “And I don’t give a fuck if you in your feelings because salt is how you kill a leech!”
Recap: UM3 2nd-round matchup between Prep and Casey Jay comes down to the round 2 (too many slip-ups by Prep in round 1 cost him there, but he clearly out-punched CJ in round 3) which the mighty gun-bar waving and slightly more spicy with the punches/personals Casey Jay edges for the win.
Verdict: Casey Jay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Casey Jay – “Your whole class passed you and lapped you Brandon, you don’t know if you want to be Urkel or Steffon, you’ve had a hard time branding!”
Recap: From the 1st round of URL’s Ultimate Madness 3 tournament. After a slightly more punch-lit and ill battle career breakdown/personal-savvy Prep edges round 1, opponent Swave Sevah uses a raucous, bullish and witty at times 2nd round to split things going into the 3rd. And that’s when Prep decided to leave earth what with a consistently blazing, personally hard-hitting and set-up/haymaker-rich final round that handily beat back a solid, but nowhere-near-as-fiery round from Swave.
Verdict: Prep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prep – “You was here before the T-Rex’s…you Ice age!”
Recap: Strong, gritty and mayhem-lit performances by both Alias and Prep in this close one-rounder from GOTG. And while Alias was more personal-lit and might’ve scored one or two more haymakers haymakers, the slightly more condensed Prep’s stinging wordplay, freestyle’s and 4-bar set-ups edges it here.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “You ain’t ever made a gram move, been hugging on the block, holding on the rock like you running out the clock!”
Recap: Nothing to dislike about this extra dope URL 3-rounder between Prep and JC. ‘Dirty Prep’, already building his brand back up on the smaller leagues, starts things off with a superbly-executed and classic 1st round, delivering a gang of fiery personals with plenty of wit and bite to beat back a punch-heavy, name flip nice and extra crispy turn by JC. But the always confident JC wouldn’t allow his opponent’s fealty to deter him, immediately coming back with a personal-lit, witty, wordplay-savvy and righteous 4-bar set-ups to edge a fire, but elongated turn by Prep, before another haymaker-prolific turn in the 3rd by JC also edged another dope, but lengthy (and a little dated when it came to personals) run by the DMV star for the win in what was still an energetic and spitfire Born Legacy 9 battle..
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “And this not even a fighting game, I could still do damage when I’m holding back!”
Recap: Assisted by a heapful of research done on his opponent and withstanding a few recycled bars here and there, Prep makes a dope return to the URL stage, unloading a steady barrage of piercing punchlines, fine-tuned personals, some flexing wordplay/name flips and other residual heat/mayhem to overtake a solid and sometimes dogmatic, but overall not-as-potent effort from Emerson Kennedy in this 3-rounder from Smack.
Verdict: Prep (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Prep – “I’ll pick up EK with the AR like alphabet soup!”
Recap: Using a steady barrage of feisty gun bars, some sound wordplay and piercing punchlines/4-bar set-ups, a surprisingly, for most part, freestyle-lacking Prep still manages to beat the brakes off a mayhem-dishing, but topsy-turvy Deranged in this 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “You thought I would just come in here and sleep on you, huh?, it’s like a fire drill, I know you not a threat but I’m gonna treat you like one!”
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: Short, but fiery on both sides, battle between Prep and Funeral F.A.M.E. sees them go at it in a 1-rounder that’s highlighted by Prep’s ability to deftly mix in fierce written punchlines/name flips with nasty freestyles on everything from lines from previous battles to wall murals. And tho Funeral F.A.M.E. delivered a solid, name-flip lit effort in return, Prep’s more stable punches, versatile hijinks and verbal dexterity makes it a well-earned win for the DMV.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “Your bitch text me when you all alone, she hit me like ‘that short nigga at work’, I threw on cologne, I was beating that pussy up, knowing what I’m doing is wrong, just bodying the box…all in Funeral home!”
Recap: With a boatload of gritty punches, in this 1-rounder from Bulldog Battle League, despite a somewhat monotonous flow Tyshone TV impresses. But a way more condensed, performance-heavy. rebuttal-kicking, wordplay savvy, hitting with the personals/name flips and just as punch-centric as his opponent Prep, does more to edge this one.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “If ain’t what you saying, it’s how you saying the things you say, your delivery is what’s hurting you…like labor pains!”
Recap: As seen here, Prep’s ability to aptly freestyle can keep him close in any battle. But in this solid 3-rounder from Jack City Battle League, after a punch-for-punch, debatable 1st round, Xcel’s more versatile punchlines, fiery wordplay, wily personals and in-depth schemes were a bit too much for a less consistent with the punches ‘Dirty Prep’ to keep up with in the latter two rounds.
Verdict: Xcel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Xcel – “Word-wise and bar-for-bar, I’m one of the best family, ‘cuz my whole appeal is kill son, understand that’s what the Plan B [plan b]!”
Recap: In this time-stamped battle from Onsite Battle League, when Young Kannon wasn’t proving how much research matters in lieu of dishing spitfire personals, for 3 rounds he was delivering an aggressive and potent mix of fiery gun bars/name flips, flexing wordplay with his punches, colorful bangers that The Wire fans would appreciate and well-crafted, ultra-violent mayhem against an at-times nice with the personals and nifty punchline swinging, but way too inconsistent overall and admittedly unprepared in the 3rd round, Prep.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “Like I started writing yesterday, I’m doing Prep bad!”
Recap: When you’re equipped with the unique ability to freestyle and rebuttal like Prep can, you’re almost never out of a battle no matter how dope your opponent is or how unprepared you are with your written’s. Still, for all of Prep’s off-the-dome (the ‘Wayans’ rebut in particular was dope) aptness and at times potent wordplay/punches, if the other guy is dropping a wide mix of haymakers, from gritty name flips to searing personals to lofty punchlines and more, one can still risk the chance at losing. And with that, as much as Prep is able to compete despite some verbal misgivings, a slightly more consistently gritty with the punches, nice with the wordplay and confident Dre Fly gets the edge in what turned out to be a fiery 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Dre Fly (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Fly – “Fuck that, these the fags you came with?, none of them look dangerous, you been riding around with fruits…edible arrangements!”
Recap: In a tale of one guy (Franchise) for the most part sticking to what he does really well: performance rich while dishing potent gun bars and fiery trap talk and another (Prep) straying away from what he does well: freestyles, rebuttals and trendy punchlines/schemes, the former easily gets the win. Not that Franchise didn’t attempt to be more versatile here, mixing in a few spicy personals and punch-heavy darts/schemes along the way. But with Prep (outside a pretty solid 1st round) off-balance and filler-prone throughout, his Canadian opponent’s steady and aggressive heat could only add up to a 30.
Verdict: Franchise (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Franchise – “You watching Spongebob with your daughter?, I’ll ease my way in your crib then I turn it off, with a big clip, she can’t watch this, it’s Rated R!”
Recap: Battling pretty frequently of late (I’m guessing he’s been inspired by his prolific tag-team partner Dre Dennis), Prep uses some dogmatic name flips, sturdy punchline/wordplay and some nice rebuttals from earlier matches to edge a pretty hard-hitting overall, but too par-the-course having Da Prafessa.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “Someone horizontal, lay him vertically, plan it [planet] next to son [Sun] like Mercury!”
Recap: First, the piano shit was hilarious. Second, tho he lost some points for too much filler in an elongated round, overall Vic Wallace was pretty solid. 3rd, a more condensed with the punches, gun-riffing and freestyle-astute Prep, got this.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “I target threats, fuck the iron, cutting option, split him, like I want his opinion, I had to run it by him!”
Recap: Prep versus Gauge gets the ‘everything but the kitchen sink treatment’ what with frequent rebuttals, freestyles, your resident Drugz-getting-into-an-argument-with-somebody moment, tag-ins, crowd interruptions, some nice bars, etc…and to think, this was only a one-rounder. As for the battle, the edge here goes to Prep, as while Gauge had some heaters here and there, overall Prep flexed more with consistently nice punchlines and some cool name flips.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “They tried to give me dirt on you, but this ain’t adding up, why would I need ammo for Gauge, I been working with different calibers!”
Recap: A revamped Prep, not so long-winded with his rounds, better rebuttals/freestyles and spazzing with the fiery set-ups, whether they’re rapid one-off’s or multiple shots from a cannon that is his newfound ‘Baltimore’ chant, uses fiery personals, intense performance bars and some sizzling wordplay to beat back a solid at times, but way too elongated and filler-prone Mannor Boy.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “Drive-by, hand out, like I’m asking for help!”
Recap: Good to find out that J.R. Smith is a fan of battle rap. Besides that, in this one-rounder from I Got Bars Battle League, a mostly free-styling Prep gets busy with off-the dome shiners that mostly hit when he clowns his opponent’s (“This gun is Supreme, just that like ski-mask, you only gonna see half his face!”) wardrobe. However, a slip-up and too many pedestrian bars mid-round, allows the super emotive Rush Tyg, while not as intricate with the heat, still hang in there with able wit along with a load of fiery punches to earn himself a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Prep – “You front liek you with the shit’s and need Teflon, but you running around dressed like Zac Efron!”
Recap: Prep survives a solid, punch-heavy turn by C-Low with a nice rebuttal and a couple of alright freestyles, but mostly a spirited name-flip, personal, gun-friendly and lyrically adept frenzy that overtakes his opponent and wins this one-round battle from Gates In The Garden.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “Wet his shirt like I’m trying to expose an informant!”
Recap: Prep’s return to the We Go Hard stage is a pretty decent one as he uses a bunch of formidable (“12 drawn in his face, this a criminal sketch, then switch the B-side like I flipped the cassette!”) punches, spitfire gun bars and some potent wordplay to take the first two rounds and edge out a solid B-Trillz. Despite an at times funny and freestyle-buttressed 3rd from Prep, Trillz saves himself from getting 30’d with an earnest and personal (“You had that dumb ass outfit on, looking like somebody father died!”) punchfest that easily made for his best round.
Verdict: Prep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prep – “Cops asking one question when mad toys is shooting, did he [Diddy] put 1 .12 [112] next to the locks [Lox], this a Bad Boy reunion!”
Recap: A bit of a weird and a bit of an underwhelming battle here between Prep and Chef Trez. A few rebuttals here and there, but no ‘3 of them things’ from Chef. Prep, despite losing the battle, arguably dishing the best round in a (“…they don’t get why I call them that, man y’all be bugging, Th3 Saga will leave ’em holy, but Jaz just started busting!”) turned-up 3rd. Etc. Etc. Like Prep, once again, just doing too much in round 1 (and even a bit in round 3) and Trez, tho dispensing enough (“Talking about you ain’t trying to go back to where Rich Dollarz at…bitch, you never left!”) room-shakers and rapid punches to edge both round 1 and 2, overall, just seeming like he couldn’t wait to get this battle over with.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Gun to the back of his head, put the machine behind him…like a record deal!”
Recap: Even with the taste of gun residue still in the air from Prep’s delicious (“We shooting for captain like a pick-up game!”) gun bars, a more one-themed round along with a midway and able assist from Dre Dennis hurts his cause by turning a one-on-one match into a handicap bout. That said, would Prep have won anyway without the help? Probably not. As Eazy the Block Captain’s consistently fiery (“The DMV too far, ain’t appointments for beef, we take walk-ins!”) punchlines, along with valiant and versatile bars on real street semantics and the like, gets the Philly spitter an impressive win.
Verdict: Eazy the Block Captain (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Eazy the Block Captain – “….since my first bid, nigga I was hoping to quit, but as Juvenile I just knew that I could Slow Motion the wrist!”
Recap: Who knew that Prep had so many haters? In a battle drenched with personals from both his opponent Venom and fiends in the crowd, the DMV headliner, while shining when he spits ill freestyles and fiery (“On his way home get hit with another 30…Kevin Gates!”) set-ups but falters with a few too many dry spots/repeats, esp. when attempting to show off his off-the-dome acumen. For opponent Venom, even with somewhat of a tepid flow, consistently hitting with fleeting punches/personals throughout his round makes than makes for it and is also more than enough to offset Prep’s righteous unsteadiness and even getting tagged in 3 times during his turn.
Verdict: Venom (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Venom – “The last time we seen someone in a bowtie kill something B.I.G., it was a bad day in hip-hop!”
Recap: In a one-round battle to decide who’s the best, well-dressed (Prep: “Let’s be honest, they ain’t book this matchup to compare styles…they wanna see H&M versus Men’s Warehouse!”) battle rapper, Prep uses a gang of stinging punchlines and robust freestyles (at his opponent and even crowd members such as a seemingly tipsy Drugz) to beat back a (“See, I don’t think that you gay Prep, I think that you try to be!”) solid, but overall too prone to pedestrian bars, Spanish Harlem.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “Only time we lining up for Spanish rap [wrap]…Chipotle!”
Recap: In front of a raucous Smack/URL crowd, “The Kingpen” uses lofty name flips, spirited personals, some witty schemes, wicked wordplay and rapid punchlines to score a 30 on Prep. Indeed, while the well-dressed spitter from Maryland got better with his punches as the battle proceeded, Prep’s angles were too often ubiquitous and that’s when he wasn’t dishing standard heaters that just weren’t as nice as he might’ve thought when he first wrote them up. Add to that, a Chilla Jones with excellent stage presence and a more condensed package suited squarely for the big stage, even if he wasn’t dressed as nice for the fight, Jones’ return to Smack is still a memorable one.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “This a fucking mismatch, them even putting me against you, I’m nice with the grammar see [Gramercy], that’s why they booked me for the venue!”
Recap: Billy Bars actually spits a pretty (“I’ll let a Furious 7 hit you after 6, that’s Fast 5!”) decent 2nd round, but it’s still not enough to survive Prep’s more flexing wordplay, sparky rebuttals and witty freestyles.
Verdict: Prep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prep – “There’s only one thing you feel from seeing Bill…bored, why advertise him?!”
Recap: In this Rookies vs. Vets battle between John John da Don and Prep. even with the (“Hold on, NuNu Nells your manager?!, fuck you had to do for that?, how we supposed to know what she could do for you, when we don’t even know what she do for Smack?”) hottest line of the beginning round JJDD still gets edged by a slightly more wordplay-heavy and set-up (“Question: verse Hollow, how did it feel to finally throw your own punch?!”) rich Prep. After that, thanks in part to Prep making rookie mistakes like wasting bars on other rappers and tossing out rebuttals that didn’t land, it was pretty much all JJDD. Who even while dishing his own versions of a couple of bars you might’ve heard before, still offered up enough witty personals, hot punchlines and PG-centric tutorials to take the latter two rounds over much less strapping opponent.
Verdict: John John da Don (W) 2-1
Favorite line: John John da Don – “No wonder you from the DMV…with all them L’s you got!”
Recap: Hell hath no fury like a Christian scorned. Accusations of hypocrisy, or the real life anguish that comes with walking a thin line while serving God? Th3 Saga addresses all issues with a righteous display of speakeasy bars, Smack battle rap proficiency, outrageous name flips, dope schemes and hard-hitting (“Speaking of grammar, your last PG almost got you shot in the face, run-on sentence you had a hard time putting D.O.T. in his place!”) personals. There’s even a moment of revealing self-examination: “Before I wrote this round, I had to reexamine my own life, see after that Blac Muqua and T-Top battle, Man, I was feeding into my own hype, yunno counting the new followers, and reading into what blogs say, focusing in on the views instead of listening to what God say…”. Indeed, one could argue that this battle was kind of therapeutic for the Christian battle rapper. By the way, Prep did really good here: crazy wordplay, rich (“I’m sure you stole from a collection plate once or twice, now let’s see if you can [points hands in air like a gun at Th3 Saga’s head] take a BUCK!”) gun bars and bullish rebuttals. But a too short 2nd round and Th3 Saga’s workmanship, variety, aggression and preparation was just too much to overcome.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “Won’t be swindled by the limelight, covered in His blood, but came to kill every one in my class, I’m Carrie, on prom night”
Recap: Shocking slip-ups by Prep along with a wicked array of slick performance bars and schemes by Chess gives the confident young’un a quality win in this first round UFF matchup.
Verdict: Chess (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chess – “My niggas speak lead, they thought of a pistol,your niggas speak lead they thought of a pencil, you going up? Good! Well your jaw [points up] going with you [and] I keep bringing it up like I’m forcing the issue!”
Recap: If freestyling is your thing then you’ll love this matchup as Prep and Cakes, both clearly unprepared (or just not taking each other seriously), rely mostly on on-the-spot acumen to see who can win a rap battle. That said, the edge here goes to no one as while both had their moments, no one really stood, what with Prep first two rounds coming way too short and Cakes putting on one of the most unpolished performances you’ll ever witness. Indeed, in this day and age of prepared bars and polished writtens, if a couple of professional battle rappers really just wanna freestyle they should probably take it outside to a street corner near you and entertain you there.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Cakes – “Malcolm X wore bow tie’s too, but that nigga still died from the piece [peace]”
Recap: “Everything fire”!!! More of that dope PG shit from the class of 2014. Prep vs. Dot and it’s entertaining all throughout with performance bars, schemes (Dot’s Jordin Sparks scheme was fire), crazy wordplay, personals, name flips, jokes (Prop suggesting Dot be a mime was over-the-top theater) the whole nine. But it’s Prep who edges it here, not counting Dot’s reaches (I double-checked, “matics” is not a word and the “umbrella” to “baretta”?! Really???), his delivery and execution were just more consistent. And while Dot came with plenty too, I thought Prep just outnumberd him on the hot (“OK we both PG’s but this is my stage, so play your position.or it’ll be Deron Williams, a PG from Brooklyn that got 8 [ate]”) bars and haymakers.
Verdict: Prep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Dot – “I got coke in my ass crack, give me that drug walk”
Recap: Nice battle. D-Money represented, the “I’ll Quiet the room, I’ll get his queen flipped” line was ill (esp. with what I guess was Prep’s girl in the room) as was the “I got a young shooter that’s dying to put in work, he’ll spit that heat for just enough money to roll weed with” bar if you like that G talk. But a little too much filler (not including explaining what happened with his lackluster PG battle) and his homies gassing up his bars (esp. the “.357…long nose…pelican” line) was just a little too much to bear. That said, Prep proves once again that he’s a problem, not just out-dressing his opponent, but winning with some nice wordplay (“He got it back words [backwards], thinking he could spar with raps”), personals (“…..I know y’all hoped D Rose to the occasion but his PG was on some bullshit!”), quality freestyles in the middle of the written, fresh schemes and dope bars.
Verdict: Prep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prep – “This was the wrong one to bank on, Norbes should’ve put Money in a Vault”
Recap: In a scene that looks more like a party that got interrupted by a rap battle, the fun and good times rock on with the funniest part being Tyranny (a clear S.O.N.S. wannabee) changing clothes after round 2 with barely anyone noticing. Still, even with all the clowning on Prep’s fashion etiquette in round 3, Prep more than did enough in the first two rounds to take the win.
Verdict: Prep (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prep – “Let’s take it outside, as soon as I step in the lot I’m pulling those cigs out like a smoke break”
