Recap: Chef Trez had to earn this one as Sway’s gritty trap talk and piercing punchlines not only made their mark, but kept him in the battle throughout. However, a couple of nice rebuttals in the opening rounds, along with some fierce wordplay, a boatload of stinging punches, ill similes/personals and a bunch of ever-reliable and visceral gun bars, allows the Chef to edge the opening rounds before a slightly punch-heavier 3rd by Swav kept Trez from pitching another shutout.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You supposed to be on URL with me representing the South, you heard that?, I should backhand you for leaving me hanging…give you your Smack!”
Recap: In this hard-hitting 3-rounder from Smack, doing his research pays off big for Shotgun Suge, who with a boatload of stinging personals and fierce punchlines during the first couple of rounds hit to the duplicity of his opponent Franchise’s love for gun bars and other notorious street semantics. Indeed, Suge’s consistently flagrant and versatile execution of his bars would astutely work to overcome the Canadian rapper’s systematic mayhem that while mostly potent here, seemed prototypical at times and at times also lacked his more multifaceted opponent’s flair for gritty urban narratives and flexing punches. Franchise would however deliver enough consistent heat, performance-ready punches and stifling struggle bars to edge the 3rd.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “Hey Smack, I still let the nina clap, you got me battling a soccer player?, I need a fee for that!”
Recap: Going forward Danny Myers might want to keep his private life to himself. Just saying, ‘cuz whether it’s his 10 kids, that $12K he gave T-Rex to battle awhile back or the illicit allegations in the air surrounding his marriage as well as his wife don’t seem to be ever going away when it comes to battle rap. And when you battle as often as Danny does, being on the other side of, frankly speaking, what was a scathing, explicit, punch-lit and undeniably classic 2nd round from Mike P, a flawless turn that went all-in on Danny’s other half and his personal priorities, one has to wonder how much a man can take. Tho to be fair, Danny always came to compete and once again delivered. The performance-stunting Bar God competing throughout this URL App 1 battle with a gang of fiery punchlines/name flips, hardcore/witty personals (had to chuckle when Danny started going in on Mike’s girlfriend in round 3, yet had to remind Mike about all the shit he just said about his wife in the previous round after Mike told him to ‘chill’) and brazen mayhem/boasts. But after the two split the first two rounds, a close 3rd round gets edged to Mike P as ‘Main Stage Mike’ used a versatile barrage of fierce gun bars, piercing punches and feelgood personals during a condensed to beat back a pretty solid turn by Danny for the win.
Verdict: Mike P (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Mike P – “Your slogan has become your life, and in the process, yo’ eyes been covered, you not stayin’ by the woman you love? Well, that don’t surprise me, brother, you on stage screamin’ ‘Parallel!’ on the same nights you and your wife should be beside each other!”
Recap: The very loud and raucous stylings of Sleepy Haze are able to score here and there with some witty barbs and astute punches. But in this 1-rounder BattleRap Society, too many pedestrian bars from Haze and G Lowe’s nifty, but still potent punch, personal and gun bar/name flip game are enough to silence any blowback.
Verdict: G Lowe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: G Lowe – “Bitch, I’m lead gripping and you gets no attention…Meg Griffin!”
Recap: As expected, Chilla Jones versus Rum Nitty turned out to be an incredible battle with all the booming haymakers, ringing gun bars, stinging (Chilla: “I’m a gun fanatic, follow the guidelines of Chill, if you Rum, then I’m vodka that’s five times the steel [distill]!”) punchlines, fiery schemes and stunted wordplay one could ask for during 3 highly competitive rounds. Ironically, while some might call it fitting that this bout ends up as a draw (we’re calling the 1st round debatable before Chilla took the 2nd and Rum took the 3rd), one can’t help but think that as electric as Rum was with his crafty bag of righteous heat, performance-heavy zingers and sublime punches, with the history of these two former Writer’s Bloque members, Rum choosing to pass up on almost any personals (as opposed to Chilla, who went there quite frequently with some hilarious effect) could’ve made a difference between winning. No knock really on Run as personals aren’t his forte, but still. Then too Chilla, a rapper’s rapper, but long known for elongated rounds, may’ve won this battle here if he was able to keep his final round a little more condensed. Nonetheless, when two top tiers go at it like this, you can be sure that you got your money’s worth.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “You don’t got it this nice, you can see the effect when I punch like a comic book fight!”
Recap: Take away the dude with no shirt on in Shotgun Suge’s entourage and you have a spitfire, near classic battle here between Suge and Pat Stay. Kidding aside, it’s been quite an impression that the battle vet Pat Stay has been making since he recently entered the URL and in squaring off here against a Shotgun Suge that stayed on point throughout the battle with his aggression, grittiness and a fire (“I’ll let the Wave hit you, he a castaway, to beat me, you’ll need the luck of the Irish, and this ain’t (Saint) Patrick’s Day!”) punch game, the white guy dressed in the flower jacket would need to pull out all his tricks to win. And that he did, edging the highly potent Suge in both the 1st and 2nd rounds for the win with a consistent mix of flexing personals/narratives, banging (“I don’t care if you 6’9” [6ix9ine], I’ll do Shotti dirty!”) punchlines, stinging name flips, witty banter/impressions, a couple of fiery rebuttals, a rich performance game and an epic Shaq dunk for those who still think white boys can’t. A more condensed and still punch-heavy Suge would take the 3rd round over an opponent, who while still funny and fierce with his bars, came with a little too much filler.
Verdict: Pat Stay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pay Stay – “I’m up here fuckin’ flexin’, I’m gettin’ drunk in Texas [drunken texts] like messages from my ex’s!”
Recap: Dope 1-rounder between Ish Mulah and Ru Bando sees them both deliver on their rhyme patterns. Ish, ever aggressive and bullish with the content, scored with a gang of hardbody shiners, while Bando flexed with a plethora of righteous gun chatter, stinging punchlines and scheming wordplay. No doubt, a close one. But with Bando overall coming more direct with the bars than his opponent, while also dropping more haymakers in less amount of time, the edge here goes to the kid from BK.
Verdict: Ru Bando (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Run Bando – “You think you the face of this league ‘cuz you did great with Chess?, this .9 on my waist, body the face…Mr. Potato Head!”
Recap: He should have stopped after that spitfire ‘Fe Fi Fo Fum’ line. In yet another case of a battle rapper doing too much, Dre Dennis (already slighted by a Jakkboy Maine imitation that while entertaining, didn’t score any points in the original category) is still ahead in this 1-rounder 75% of the way thanks to a gang of salacious gun bars, fierce punchlines and a fire, mid-round rebuttal. But just as he has the battle practically won, Dre’s penchant for elongation comes back to bite him as the last quarter of his turn sees him dish mostly solid, but redundant heat that essentially cost him the battle. Oh yeah, that and a consistent, punch-efficient, sound-effects-a-blazing, scheme-potent, performance-stunting and back in his bag Jakkboy Maine.
Verdict: Jakkboy Maine (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Jakkboy Maine – “My mind got a little shady ‘cuz I drew the .80 and forgot about Dre!”
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: Well-earned, 1-round win for Big Kannon as opponent Lucky Desperado really came nice with a wide load of spicy punchlines and wordplay during his turn. But with BK spitting a gang of impressive rebuttals and freestyles to go along with a fire name flip and punchline/personal game, an upset win just wouldn’t be in the cards for Lucky on this day.
Verdict: Big Kannon (W) 1-0′
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “Every time I Googled you, You Tube’d you, yunno trying to find some prep for this nigga, it was same results…a wrestling nigga and a Mexican stripper!”
Recap: Civil rights battler Ooops versus conscious rapper B. Dot had all the makings of a goodie and this 3-rounder from KOTD didn’t disappoint. B. Dot, with turned-up screeds on his opponent’s real life bouts with politics and activism, gave it all he had, dishing a plethora righteous schemes, a fire 2nd round rebuttal, pointed personals, plenty of nifty (“If I hear one gun bar, I’m a slap the pistol out your hand before you speak up on it, look you dead in your eyes, as soon as you blink I’m on it, grab your gun, don’t even know if it’s empty, but shit…don’t I always think I’m Loaded?!”) punchlines and fiery “woke” speak for all 3 of his rounds. Still, one particular note here and yeah we get it, it’s a battle. But considering all the work Ooops has done in the social justice field, does B. Dot go overboard with the personals (esp. politically) when these two share the same cloth when it comes to battle rap? That being said and perhaps motivated by battling a fellow ‘conscious rapper’ who happened to call him out, this is one of the best Ooops you’ll ever see. The St. Louis battler consistently spitting a wide load of blistering heat, fire-set-ups, crazy personals at B. Dot, scorching barbs on police brutality and a boatload of spitfire (“They say the revolution will not be televised, well thanks to us it’s getting You Tube’d!”) punchlines that lit the room. A competitive and fire battle throughout often makes for a tough call. But with B. Dot almost rapping twice as long as Ooops in both rounds 1 and 2, both dishing an equal amount of haymakers during the rounds and Ooops displaying more versatility and intricacy with his bars in each round, the edge here goes to Ooops. And while B. Dot again had an elongated turn in the 3rd, his straightforward, conscious, direct and potent series of polemics would be enough to beat a round by Ooops that while dope and determined in its own right, was mostly directed at Charron.
Verdict: Ooops (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ooops – “Anybody that think I didn’t stand a chance, here’s the retaliation, they said onscreen I can’t touch Dot…well, I recalibrated!”
Recap: While her 3rd round contained the more grandiose bars, it’s Yoshi G’s 2nd that stands out in this QOTR battle. The sexually brash emcee spouting a host of perfectly-executed punches/set-ups and scorching personals before deftly angling her way into a series of spitfire braggadocio thot bars which altogether summed up her battle rap psyche (a classic round that even earned her a couple of Jaz faces). And while opponent Toni Blanco came through with 3 pretty solid and at times gritty/punch/personal/heavy rounds of her own, one too many dry spots and a more haymaker-lit Yoshi G would give the latter the 30.
Verdict: Yoshi G (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Yoshi G – “You always speak on the negative aspect of thot…you pessimistic!”
Recap: Slightly more consistently potent with the bars while snapping with a gang of spicy personals, piercing wordplay, rigid gun bars and righteous punchlines/4-bar setups, J2 edges a dope and punch-heavy but a little less versatile and not quite as hitting turn by Yoshi G in what was still a highly entertaining and competitive 1-rounder from RBE.
Verdict: J2 (W) 1-0
Favorite line: J2 – “Silencer, I’m about to make a hit I’ll never hear…I’m Beethoven!”
Recap: Slinging a whole lot of mayhem with the bars in addition to a gang of gritty punchlines, Primetime makes for a solid effort here in this Renegade Rap Battles 1-round matchup versus Ill Will. But with the ability to score more consistently with the punches, extra diverse with the heat, condensed, witty and much nicer than his opponent when it comes to name flips, Ill Will easily wins what was altogether still a competitive showing.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “You was just a waterboy, Bobby Boucher, I’m showing you, I’m your father today, big machete, get Time in a half…that’s holiday pay!”
Recap: The Trap NY presents a dope punch-fest between Kush Cloud (can we get him some more plates, please?) and B Magic with the former unleashing a boatload of nifty punches, piercing name flips/personals and slick (“Built your name on Street Status, just to die on Ave when it counted the nost!”) wordplay that added up to Cloud taking the 2nd round after a debatable 1st and leading things going into the 3rd. The final round, however, would serve as yet another exercise in quality vs. quantity as Cloud would deliver an overall solid, but incredibly longwinded turn that got more and more tedious as it went on. And that elongated run by Kush would easily get overrun by a much shorter, but highly efficient and punch/name flip turn by Magic, allowing the St. Louis vet to take the round and score a debatable.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: B Magic – “I’ll push you in the air, past the sky Cloud, Anthony Davis, I’m connected wherever eyebrow [I brow]!”
Recap: Mixing fiery mayhem with a nice pound of (“I ain’t come to play not a game with you, gay fight, the flame hit you!”) wit and a boatload of searing punchlines/schemes, after a debatable 1st round and a punch/wordplay-heavy/God-barking Xcel easily taking the 2nd, Sha G is able to make a comeback, win the 3rd and make this competitive 3-rounder from iBattle a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Xcel – “Head shot, I’ll put your cabbage on your dog…no sauerkraut!”
Recap: A little too reliant on name flips overall, but more succinct with his stealthy punches to edge round 1 before faltering to a way more punch-heavy and wittier Spade in round 2, Real Sikh takes advantage of his opponent’s wanton nerd persona with a personal-spazzing and mockingly clever 3rd round to gain the win in this Proving Grounds matchup from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Real Sikh (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Sikh – “The .44 my lady friend, sparking all day with it, don’t toss it, I’ll stay with it, I feel like I dump this bitch every week…we gotta on and off relationship!”
Recap: After infamously missing the recent Loaded Hollows vs. Gun Titles 2-on-2 match, it’s no doubt that a lot of battle rap fans were yearning to see who’d the ever popular Tsu Surf would face upon his return to battle rap after his latest bout with street drama. That the pick would be Reed Dollaz was probably a surprise to everyone, including his peers. And after a 1st round that saw a rapidly punching and verbally intoxicating Surf overwhelm the Philly vet with ease, it would seem that all the Reed doubters who predicted an easy Surf 3-0, would be correct. But in the latter two rounds Reed would finally get in his bag and show up, pressing on the ‘Rambo’-mode button and spouting a boatload of gritty (“Black hoodie on over the braids, Surf will splash on Roc, water go in the cave!”) punchlines, hitting personals and gripping street narratives to make the bout competitive. And while a lucid on his own life dealings, punch-heavy, (“Snatch his tre [tray], every time you on SMACK bring your food to me, I hate I gotta try Reed (read) in front my class like the school bully!”) mayhem-loving and name-flip spazzing Surf would still dish more than enough haymakers to take an altogether fire round 2 for the win, thanks in part to his opponent once again struggling with his 3rd round more due to his own continued comeuppance, Reed would salvage the final round and avoid the 30.
Verdict: Tsu Surf (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tsu Surf – “They hit my arm, now when I shoot it don’t turn fully, boy, I’ll flip Dollaz like Smokey counting Worm money!”
Recap: Taking advantage of a Franchise who wasn’t quite on his A-game throughout this match, much less was perhaps a little too bent on attempting to display his versatility beyond his usual dispensary of flagrant gun bars, E. Ness’ 1st and 3rd round combo of nifty punchlines and salacious name flips/performance bars work with enough efficiency to take each round and win this highly entertaining battle.
Verdict: E. Ness (W) 2-1
Favorite line: E. Ness – “I’ll leave ya next to ya big homie and let him decide, ya casket it fit perfect…like a Tasty cake lemon pie!”
Recap: Long-awaited battle between battle vets Rone and Charron is a bit surprisingly more littered with aggressive personals than the comedic hijinks that both are known for. The matchup still makes for a close and competitive goodie tho with both rappers bringing their A-game and Rone’s 2-year break from the stage serving as a suspenseful backdrop. Still, for all of Rone’s nifty punchlines/schemes, (“But his karate-action arms, that’s his true talent, throw some melons while he’s rapping, he’ll make a fruit salad!”) witty-isms and extra confident boasts, for the first couple of rounds Charron had an answer. The Canadian spitter scoring at will during rounds 1 and 2 with a boatload of hitting (“Your whole family’s racist, I’ve killed so many Smack rappers I’m your grandpa’s favorite!”) personals, less filler, stronger wordplay, some jaunty rebuttals and a gang of potent punchlines that were enriched by their fiery set-ups. The 3rd was just as dope, aggressive and heavy on the haymakers as its two predecessors, but it’s a slightly more potent over and condensed Rone who edges the round to avoid the shutout.
Verdict: Charron (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charron – “The Philly Prince Will get sonned in Cali, I’m Uncle Phil, slashed throat, they put his face on a shirt, “RIP the Frat GOAT”, this time when you go viral on a tee [T] it ain’t for fat jokes!”
Recap: With an elongated King Kamonzi spitting a gang of mostly mediocre punchlines while strangely drenched in themes surrounding time, one would think this 1-rounder would be a lay-up for the likes of a vet like Swave Sevah. But clearly showing he had close to zero interest in battling his opponent, Swave resorts to using his turn to pontificate on the state of battle rap, tag in one of his Team Homi bro’s for a minute of fiery punches and just in case the viewer thought that Swave didn’t take this battle at all seriously, toss in a few throwaway bars at Kamonzi for good measure before completing his round. In other words, a pretty lackadaisical effort from Swave that allowed his opponent (who, to be fair, did mix in some crafty punches that hit here and there) to get a win he clearly didn’t deserve.
Verdict: King Kamonzi (W) 1-0
Favorite line: King Kamonzi – “I’m 50, you 50, that’s a century let’s keep it a buck!”
Recap: Confident and aggressive the entire time during this Smack Volume 5 battle, DNA uses a barrage of stinging punchlines, wily personals, flexing schemes, opponent style breakdowns and pointed name flips/wordplay to beat back fellow battle vet Aye Verb in this 3-rounder from Smack. And while Verb put forth a pretty solid, visceral, personal, set-up/ punch-heavy at times and scheme-drenched effort throughout the match, in each round the St. Loui capo just couldn’t keep up with DNA’s consistency and potency.
Verdict: DNA (W) 3-0
Favorite line: DNA – “I’m on a tear and T know (Tarantino), I shoot till the clip outta order, doctors shaking tables, trying to make him stable, ‘cuz how he gonna ‘Showtime’ if he hooked up to basic cable?!”
Recap: Now if only Ace Amin can apply the same focus and energy he has for marketing and promoting his battles to the ring…he could become one of greats. In the meantime, we’re left with gritty street narratives, rich schemes and a gang of lofty wordplay that too often get interrupted by Ace’s lack of preparation or in this case a boatload of slip-ups in his biggest battle yet here against Swamp from the Smack Volume 5 card. Ace’s many miscues, pedestrian bars and near chokes aside, at least Swamp showed up. The South Carolina rising star flexing for 3 rounds with a variety of stinging punchlines, lucid urban street fare and a plethora of spicy personals and other well-meaning, but killer gun bars that gave him a 30 for this much hyped battle.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “My bitch she couldn;t make this trip, told her I love her, she told me go fuck myself, now she on Pay Per View watching me do me!”
Recap: In a 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, a barrage of fiery 1, 2 punches and stifling name flips gives Bill Collector (ably assisted here by a bunch of funny ad libs from Tay Roc) the win over a gritty and pretty solid, but not as condensed or filler-proof effort from Polo.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “The stock drop and knock Polo off his high horse!”
Recap: Open question: when Chef Trez does a 1-round battle, how much does his opponent’s chances of winning go up, knowing that if Trez loses the coin flip, they can take away his rebuttal game by picking him to go first? An opponent confident enough in his pen would probably disagree, but I’d say it does. That said, putting aside the crowd-pleasing moment of Brizz Rawsteen coming to the stage just as the ever brazen Snake Eyez just happened to mention his name, there really wasn’t much to see here as even without the ability to dish anyof them thangs, assisted by Snake starting his round off strong before it became too Tay Roc-centered (and lyrically subpar towards the end), a way more versatile, gun bar-slinging, punch/wordplay-heavy, personal-lit and consistent Trez takes this one easy.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “And you could miss me with the stories about how you was eating in jail, ‘cuz I was locked in like a SIM card, calling shit, the most important piece in a cell!”
Recap: Nice, fiery, gun-slinging effort by Dre Stubbs gets beat back by a way more versatile, witty at times, punchline/personal-heavy and name flip/heat savvy Young Kannon in this 1-rounder from Close Combat Battle League.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “This a body, like hair on a hoodrat…it’s no edges!”
Recap: O’fficial struggles a bit with her flow, but a couple of condensed, personal-lit, righteous talking and more consistently hitting turns in rounds 1 and 3 here against a gritty, but elongated and topsy-turvy Buretta Blaze still gets O the win in this 3-rounder from Houston Bar Code.
Verdict: O’fficial (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O’fficial – “She Call herself the Queen of the South, when she running around, well I hoep she don’t wear those Set It Off braids under the crown, ‘cuz don’t nobody want a confused bitch running the town!”
Recap: Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but yunno, maybe if Cassidy broke his 1st round down and split them into 3 instead, he might’ve had a chance here. As this battle versus Arsonal wasn’t necessarily a compete one-sided affair, especially after seeing Cass compete with some fire punchlines and witty personals during a round 1 that while he still lost to Arsonal’s more consistently raucous boasts and righteous mayhem, at the very least gave one hope that this would be a decent battle. But damn if Cassidy didn’t fall off a cliff in the latter rounds. The Philly emcee succumbing to a very wide and basic load of 1995-2005-ish type punchlines when he wasn’t spitting pedestrian shit and corny ‘Da feet’ and ‘Pinnochio’ bars that had his own hometown booing him at random. All the while an always confident Arsonal got into his bag of disrespectful darts, ill breakdown’s of Cassidy’s recording artist career, mocking personals and random gun bars to go along with other fierce punchlines and fiery trap talk. And while to Cassidy’s credit, for all the grief he was getting from the crowd, he never wavered on completing his rounds. But after a loss like this, if Cass plans on battling again on the big stage, he may wanna lock himself in a room for a week, throw on some of the better 2020 battles and to quote Young Gattas ‘Get your bars up!'”
Verdict: Arsonal (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Arsonal – “Long hair don’t care, and I’m feelin’ like Rapunzel wit’ it, you got a new born in ya arms? I hit stick, make you fumble wit’ it, torture you while the children there, I hurt your youngest children yeah, I put the recordin’ of you beggin’ for your life up in his Build A Bear!”
Recap: Incredibly long one here (like an hour-an-a-half, which has to be a record for a 3-round battle) between Dizaster and a returning-to-the-scene-after-9-years Soul Khan on the KOTD stage, despite it’s excessive, unlimited rounds, can still serve as tutorial to some of today’s top tier battle rappers who struggle at times with preparation, what with neither Diz or Khan even slipping up once with their bars during this lengthy battle. Still, an effigy in consumption you’d think for even the biggest battle rap fans, altogether the bout itself was pretty solid. Never the typical battle emcee, yet previously known as a witty and sometimes scathing puncher back in his heyday, the now politically-bent Socialist (and apparently a huge Bernie Sanders fan) Khan had no problem inserting his leftist ideologies into his pallette, when he wasn’t going at Diz with a bunch of witty barbs on his opponent’s poetry skills, calling out Diz’s often chaotic temperament and also getting bust at times with some nifty punchlines. But in an elongated battle that even had host Organik looking like he might fall asleep at times, Dizaster would be in his bag (esp. during a superlative round 1) for the entire night, the former King of the Dot champ scoring left and right with a plethora of sizzling bars on white guilt & liberal victimhood, a too-funny impression of Khan, ill breakdowns on Khan’s formerly blistering/and highly personal battle rap theatrics when compared to the PC showman he reps onstage today, politically-bent struggle bars/lesson plans, a wide array of steely/witty/mocking personals, righteous multi’s/mayhem and a boatload of piercing name flips/punches. And while Soul Khan did pretty well for two rounds (not including a so-so 3rd) making for a solid comeback, the more haymaker-lit, versatile and angle-rich Diz still gets the 30 here.
Verdict: Dizaster (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Dizaster – “Got so out of touch, he’s like Al Bundy to us now, which means your battles with Madness, Fox, Deacon and QP would be your 4 famous touchdowns…fuck outta here, you like Gjonaj of Polk High!”
Recap: A litany of gritty, potent punchlines on both sides highlight this We Go Hard Midnight Bars matchup between Dougy and Presidential Dubz. And while the two kept it close and competitive throughout this 3-rounder, some witty wordplay and a cleaner flow from Dubz would help him edge both of the opening rounds for the win before a 3rd round debatable.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Claim he got the vision, but his service suck…he Time Warner!”
Recap: Aside from the unsportsmanlike touching on her opponent, C. Bri The Lyricist’s PG debut on the URL stage couldn’t have went any better. The confident Flint, Michigan emcee putting a hurting on a solid, but flow-challenged Yoshi G with a rich combo of piercing punchlines, stirring bully bars, scathing personals that broke down all the issues with that so-called ‘thot life’ and just in case you forgot her name…a gang of stellar lyrical heat to earn a 30.
Verdict: C. Bri The Lyricist (W) 3-0
Favorite line: C. Bri The Lyricist – “And you can tell by the way that she try bitches, yo she [Yoshi] don’t hang with the right bitches, then nigga’s use you and gas you with fake love, bitch you about as useful an asshole with taste buds!”
Recap: Surprisingly, plenty of wit displayed during this battle between the normally gritty, gun-a-blazing and rambunctious Snake Eyez and Shotgun Suge. A stretch in versatility aside tho, also unexpected was a usually steady his bars Snake Eyez struggling with his flow, especially during an erratic 1st round that the Dot Mobb member would later apologize for. Still, with Shotgun Suge spouting an almost unbeatable and consistently spitfire with the punches 1st round and continuing his amped up flair for stifling personals/name flips, rich metaphors, jaunty bully bars and brazen punchlines in the 2nd round to beat back a pretty solid, but less condensed and not as potent turn by Snake, this battle was over before a 3rd round that while dope lyrically on both sides, still gets edged to Suge thanks to one more haymaker as well as Snake’s choppy flow.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “You know why you don’t get booked?, because it’s an automatic loss when you roll the dice on Snake!”
Recap: Surprised, as I write this, that no one has set up Barz Major versus Bankhead yet as the two battlers so similar in skin tone, aggression, flow, screw faces and what have you. That said, Barz gets an ‘A’ for effort here, rapping his heart out and staying competitive with a host unorthodox punchlines, steely name flips and fiery personals/gun lines. But as they say around the water cooler: they’re levels to this shit. And with a condensed Rum Nitty consistently boasting a load of exquisite heaters, jaunty name flips and lofty wordplay throughout this battle, no matter what Barz did here, he stood little chance of success.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Keep playing, get hit with something sharp that’ll lay you flat, what it’s gonna be, Major?!“
Recap: Who doesn’t love a grudge match? With a storyline that goes back to each battler participating in a noteworthy URL 2-on-2 some years back, Ryda and Swave Sevah meet up again on the solo tip for 3 rounds on URL’s Smack Volume 5 and it’s a goodie. Team Homi capo Swave, bullish and aggressive as usual, scored aplenty when it came to flexing punchlines, witty barbs, brutal mayhem and gritty street raps. While Goonie squad chief Ryda, clearly bent on protecting his rep what with the ‘P’ word having been tossed around it in the past, kept things close with a gang of brash personals, rigid punches and fiery gun bars. A competitive battle throughout, it’s a slightly more condensed, original, funny and a little less filler-prone Swave who edges rounds 1 and 3 for the win.
Verdict: Swave Sevah (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Swave Sevah – “Real nigga’s don’t name my guns, we too busy trying to get rid of them!”
Recap: The video of this GOTG 1-rounder between Nu Jerzey Twork and Zay Smoove seems to cut Smoove’s round short, but since it says ‘Full Battle’ in the title we’ll count it as a win for Twork who despite misleading heads on Cee-Lo changing his name to ‘Gnarls Barkley’ (that was really just the name of the band Cee-Lo joined), still delivered more than enough utter mayhem and stinging personals/name flips to beat back a pretty pedestrian turn by his opponent.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “You came to the Gates and left the Trap cold turkey, fuck I look like, Dre?, I ain’t showing you No Mercy!”
Recap: In this DMV vs. Baltimore 1-rounder from Pit Fights Battle League, an aggressive Drugz showed off his pen with a versatile and fiery turn of roundhouse heat, witty personals and fierce punchlines. But assisted by his opponent struggling a bit with his flow, yet also equipped with a gang of bruising set-ups, steely wordplay, soul-reaching gun bars and some spicy personals/name flips, it’s Murda who ends up earning the vic here.
Verdict: Murda (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Murda – “I’m not playing, it’s way simple, put blood in they mouth, turn that glass jaw into a stain window!”
Recap: One-round Shotz Fired battle between Glueazy and relative newbie Stich Em Up is a close one thanks in part to a pretty nice punch and name flip game by Stich. However, aided by his usual surly aggression as well as a host of entertainment name flips, rugged gun bars and steely punchlines, with a couple of more haymakers than his opponent, Glueazy gets the edge here.
Verdict: Glueazy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Glueazy – “The plot thickens, I got Stich’s, I will pop Stich then pop stiches, stop bitching, have him fighting over these lines like Popeye’s chicken!”
Recap: Overwhelming his opponent with grandiose/visceral schemes, steely punchlines, stifling gun bars and mocking personals, in this 1-rounder from State 2 State Hip Hop, Swamp makes quick and easy work of a subpar J Skillz.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “The glock dumping, don’t fuck around and get shot from it, I’m still that same nigger that’ll fuck ya bitch raw then make her get checked to see if we got something!”
Recap: Long-awaited battle between Dot Mob honcho T-Rex and former Dot Mob member Tay Roc unfortunately, while having its moments here and there, doesn’t quite live up to the hype overall. First, it’s a 1-round battle, a big mistake for two guys with this amount of personal history and animosity towards each other. Then too, when it comes to bars Rex really should utilize his wit more in battles. As seen here Rex’s better moments occurred moreso when he displayed his humorous side as opposed to the rah-rah shit he’s long been known for, which in this case mostly proved pedestrian. Lastly, even with Roc not quite being on his A-game, he easily took this one what with a way more consistent effort that spouted plenty of spent gun shells, stifling personals/bully bars and a stack of gritty punchlines that while at times weren’t as intricate as you’d like, still came off hitting more then missing.
Verdict: Tay Roc (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Tay Roc – “I will fix your grill, knock out all your teeth, it will be hard to speak, you will have an awkward speech, to fix your broken jaws expensive they lied if they told you talk is cheap!”
Recap: Spitfire, electric, aggressive and highly competitive battle between Tsu Surf and Geechi Gotti not only lives up to the hype, but judging from Gotti’s head nod approvals throughout the battle, might be the realest he ever felt another battler got at him in the ring. But then, Surf kicking gritty, real-life narratives has never been in issue for the Jersey rapper. Instead, it’s always been his ability to stay consistent during an entire battle and not choke (as Gotti, eloquently pointed in the 3rd round: “You see it seem like he really wrote wit’ heart, he told y’all everythang…but he left out the chokin’ part!”). And thankfully, in a battle coupled with stoppages and repeats of lines where you might’ve thought Surf was about to choke, he doesn’t here. And maybe that’s because he knew what he up against what with the ever steady Gotti bringing his usual assortment of stifling (“Seen niggas get shot by a .40 then become an R.I.P. tat in Old English!”) punchlines, wicked personals, authentic gang-bang talk and bodacious gun bars. Yet, for all of Gotti’s slamming street narratives and shitload of haymakers dropped in each round, the Compton rapper was hurt a bit by some mediocre punches here and there, a few reaches and even rebuttals that didn’t quite hit. Add to that a consistently game for the street talk, rapidly punching and (“You ever been shot by a Crip?, I have, nigga too scary, they had me in that county eatin’ muffins, tryin’ to get that last Blue buried (blueberry’d)!”) hard-hitting, scheme/wordplay-heavier, effectively personal when addressing his own shit and his (“This this nigga first NOME ever, nobody fuckin’ care, how you do on UFF? Oh you wasn’t there, what about the BET Awards? Smack this isn’t fuckin’ fair, Gladiator School?,Snoop, nigga you was where?, when you was selling hair I was sellin’ here!”) opponent’s shit, more performance-heavy and gripping throughout Surf rarely dishing any filler and the edge here goes to Surf in both the 1st and 2nd round’s before a slightly (“This shit is sad, I’m talking death after death, we really live that shit, closed caskets, we don’t even know if he in that bitch!”) punch-heavier Gotti edged the 3rd despite a dope and complete turn by Surf.
Verdict: Tsu Surf (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tsu Surf – “Every time a nigga say a sad bar, don’t mean that’s a wow, my cuz had PS2, he still died, he only playin’ Dreamcast now!”
Recap: 1-round battle from GOTG sees Ace Amin dishing continuous mayhem all the while sparing no one, including the kids with sizzling gun bars, stinging schemes, plenty of raucous punchlines and even a frenzied cameo from up-n-comer Sheed Happens. All done to beat a solid at times, but oft-redundant and pedestrian turn from Yung Deezy.
Verdict: Ace Amin (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ace Amin – “If a nigger trip I’ll let it sing like ’99 beers on the wall’!”
Recap: Back in his hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, Charron more than delivers for the fans with 3 elongated, but superb rounds of fiery punchlines, deep-rooted personals, gripping gun bars in the form of alter-ego Billy Pistols, witty barbs, fire rebuttals and some sizzling shots at his opponent Krome’s city of Montreal. And while Krome kept things competitive throughout the battle with his own darts of righteous personals and fierce/clever, aggressive punches, Charron’s more versatile and potent showing would give him the edge in all 3 rounds.
Verdict: Charron (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Charron – “Talking about the Tinder app, that’s pretty likely dude, this battle is like your Tinder profile…nothing’s going RIGHT for you!”
Recap: From the URL Update 2.0 card (an app only event), a more versatile than usual Rum Nitty adds a gang of witty personals and provocative zingers to his customary palette of spitfire punchlines and steadily ringing gun bars to edge a close round 1 over a dope, but a little filler prone turn from Th3 Saga. That’s before Rum would easily take the 2nd round with a more condensed and consistently punch-heavy go-around that beat back an opponent who while solid throughout, was hurt by one too many thematic name flips and some mediocre punchlines. In the 3rd round, an introspective and more intricate with the punches Saga gets past a still-scoring-with-the-heat Rum via more overall potency within his raps to avoid getting shutout.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Heat shot, his legs kept moving tho…the nerve of ’em!”
Recap: A punch-heavy and witty battle at times, but also a little bent on filler, reaches and a recycled bar or two, after splitting the first couple of rounds, Ty Law versus Don Marino comes down to the unorthodox stylings and ‘over the head’ punchlines of Mr. Law edging what was an overall pretty solid, but a bit flow-challenged turn by Mr. Marino in the deciding 3rd round.
Verdict: Ty Law (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ty Law – “They deep in every city you live, Mexicans the reason Lowe’s and Home Depot be lit as it is!”
Recap: At least this was one (the 3rd in their controversial trilogy) was a lot closer, so much so that we could call it a draw in lieu of Real Deal stepping it up from his last bout against Chilla Jones by displaying much more versatility, consistency and potency with his bars. Loaded too with plenty of mentions regarding their last battle and a boatload of wit as well as breakdowns of each other’s style from each side, for its competitiveness alone, Jones vs. Deal 3 is easily the best match of the series. A slightly more punch-heavy Jones edges the first round before a (“So when I beat you, fans that loved us both turned on me too, cause you’re such a nice guy, you’re awesome dude, but every face needs a good heel that’s why I’m curb stompin’ you!”) personal-heavy Deal returns the favor in the 3rd. The deciding 3rd round, for all its fiery 4-bar set-ups, stinging personals and flashy schemes/punchlines, can go either way what with a condensed turn by Deal matching an elongated turn by Chilla when it comes to bar efficiency.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “Go ‘head, make mockeries of my passion and purpose, but I will leave you in grave [engrave] and I’m just scratching the surface, how ’bout a bullet in ya eye Deal [ideal], that would be perfect!”
Recap: Proving his resiliency even against the likes of an O Solo, Dre Dennis uses a fleet of stifling punchlines, rigid name flips and potent gun lines to make mince meat of the witty, unpredictable Jersey stalwart (who outside a pretty solid 2nd round, didn’t have much in the tank) in this 3-rounder from The Trap NY.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Ain’t spraying the full clip when I snap at your set, long message from Android to iPhone, you’ll get half of the Tek [texts]!”
Recap:Ruin Your Day charity 3-rounder from URL sees a performance-heavy Big T spout a gang of sporty rhymes, mocking heaters, some blazing sound effects and thrifty (“I’m close to the .9 like Baccarat!”) punchlines that mostly scored, kept things competitive throughout and also allowed him to edge round 3 with a more condensed turn. However, the two previous rounds here were all Geechi Gotti, who was not only able to parlay his opponent’s rounds into some spicy rebuttals, but took each round with a flexing series of robust (“I’m about “5’8, every nigger that I ever had beef with was taller than me…they 6 feet!”) punches, fiery personals, real street talk and resounding schemes.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “Your mama, your bitch, your kid, they all know you was coming to Cali to die, so seeing you go on that plane had to be a sad moment…but see funeral’s is like iPhone’s now, they a whole lot cheaper when your Family Plan on it!”
Recap: Steeped in hardbody punchline after punchline, fiery with the schemes/wordplay/name flips, witty and off-putting (esp. when getting some revenge for Phara Funeral, who Ms. Fit 3-0’d in her last battle) with the personals and loaded a gang of festive gun bars, O’fficial ruins Ms. Fit’s 1st appearance on the URL stage with two over-the-top and haymaker-drenched turns in the opening rounds before Fit–who was pretty solid throughout minus some pedestrian bars here and there–easily took the 3rd round with a steadier, flexing, punchline-crazy and witty turn of her own.
Verdict: O’fficial (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O’fficial – “Let me find out Brooklyn the new Harlem, let me find out this heffa snitching, I’ll teach her gram a [grammar] lesson, since they like to correct they mistakes for a better sentence!”
Recap: Chayna Ashley versus QB on the RBE stage is a goodie that pretty much gets decided by one too many indirect shots by QB–whether it was QOTR, ARP or other members of Dot Mob–as well as a slightly more consistently more hitting, gun bar-savvy and metaphor-lit Chayna. Though QB dropped her usual assortment of disrespectful darts and boastful spins on her opponent and made for a witty barb here and there, after the two split the first couple of rounds, a name-flip/wordplay rich, mayhem spent and punch/scheme-friendly Chayna would take the deciding 3rd for the win.
Verdict: Chayna Ashley (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chayna Ashley – “Power moves, understand I be ghosting bitches, Keisha getting with Tommie, no more choking bitches!”
Recap: Th3 Saga concludes his sterling 2019 with yet another dope performance, beating a pretty solid overall, but slightly inconsistent Reepah Rell with a boatload of potent death-themed rants, fire name flips, flexing religious-lit darts, fierce personals and plenty of jaunty punchlines to score a 30 in what was still a competitive 3-rounder from Kill Switch Battle League.
Recap: Worth noting here some of Ave’s reactions to Bill Collector while he raps, like he had no idea what to expect from B.C., who throughout this battle delivered soundly on the antics, witty (“Chill, Carl Winslow!”) barbs, performance-rich histrionics, lofty personals/name flips and for his core fans, a cameo appearance from his noted Super Dupa Scope. Still equipped with one of the fiercest pens in the game, even against the likes of a battle rapper more known for his jocular stylings than anything else, Ave still came with the heat. The Norfolk, VA spitter shining for 3 rounds with a boatload of piercing punchlines, robust gun bars, flexing wordplay/name flips and even some fiending personals to take each round and score the 30.
Verdict: Ave (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ave – “Like you already know what running gonna lead you, soon as the machine spit Bill back out…the money too wrinkled!”
Recap: Choking can happen to the best of ’em…just ask Loaded Lux. But choking and then running down on an audience member for having the audacity to be a P.O’d after they paid their hard-earned bands only to witness you on stage stumbling through your one round thanks to your lack of preparation? Not feeling that at all. Nu Jerzey Twork should know better and small league owners (esp.) should be careful booking him. Most importantly, regardless of Cal’s mostly mediocre bars here or what he does after this battle, he will forever be able to tell his grandkids that he beat a Top Tier battle rapper.
Verdict: Cal (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cal – “I did think you wasn’t gonna prepare tho, but once I made you my prey, i put a little faith in Jerusalem bombing!”
Recap: After taking a shellacking to the aggressive, keenly pontificating, personal and punch-heavier stylings of MT$ in the first round, a well-dressed Jey The Nitewing gets back on his pulpit and reaches back to deliver a barrage of piercing punchlines, boastful shiners, intricate name flips and other grandiose bluster to come back and take the latter two rounds for the win.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “You’ve been decent as of recent, like the trash bags with the Fabreeze scent!”
Recap: A bit reach-prone at times, but still a hella dope performance by a (“One leave ya cheek, this bum be deceased, no Amish tradition, but y’all see Rum spring a [Rumspringa] leak!”) punch-heavy King Jables gets beat a superior showing by Rum Nitty who along with dishing fluorescent gun bars, scores a gang of more intricate {“Stupid haircut that you got, gonna make me chase you out the spot, or gun butt you with the Glock, the rebuttal gonna make your bangs [Bangz] go off the top!”) punches, some fiery name flips and a ridiculous amount of visceral darts to earn the 30 in what was still a competitive 3-rounder from iBattle.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “I hit heads [Bwoh!], whoever told you I misled [missed lead] gave you the wrong idea!”
Recap: Despite Carter Deems eliciting plenty of hilarity with plenty of self-deprecating lines, nifty punchlines/jokes/name flips, freestyles and braggadocio bicycle talk, the comedic element’s of Carter’s rhymes not only fall flat to too many pedestrian bars during an elongated turn, but more importantly, a more condensed, grittier and consistently punch-lit B. Magic in this 1-rounder from No Coast Raps.
Verdict: B. Magic (W) 1-0
Favorite line: B. Magic – “This how I Space jam, this how we kick it, I’ll run you right [write] into a wall like Hieroglyphics!”
Recap: The poetic, but O.G.-type stylings of Houndawg Buck50 can come off a little preachy at times, but more often than not, they’re not only rich with stifling wisdom, but some nifty wordplay, sizzling personals and fierce punchlines–more than enough to beat back a solid at times, but stumble-prone Ace Amin in this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden.
Verdict: Houndawg Buck50 (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Houndawg Buck50 – “You gonna compare your street life to mine?, well objects are closer than they appear so check your rear view, ‘cuz while you was in them streets, I was working at Walmart and guess what muthafucka they shooting over there too!”
Recap: Gonna take a wild guess and opine that it’s probably some behind-the-scene politics that’s kept NJ vet Spee Dolla off the URL stage, as the talent and immense amount of work he’s put in over the years certainly warrants him a shot. That said, while Spee’s boatload of flourescent gun bars, aggression and gritty punches makes this Kill Switch Battle League highly competitive, it’s a slightly more condensed, versatile and punch/name flip/personal and mayhem-lit Ryda who also scores a couple of more haymakers to edge the win here.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ryda – “You fucked today, I up and spray, as soon as he hit the ground [stomps foot] put my foot down on Dolla…this my lucky day!”
Recap: The prolific Danny Myers versus the seldom seen Hollow Da Don on a West-coast charity card goes down with neither battler, after a spitfire (Danny: “Listen Nigel, even your name got a soft ‘G’ in it!”; Hollow: “I’m like a nigger that’s like ‘I’m a pay you on Friday…I ain’t got it ALL!”) but even 1st round, quite able to bring their A-game. Danny with plenty of raucous punches, quality personals and righteous lyricism/mayhem throughout the battle, errs when he tries too hard to emulate his more unorthodox opponent, which partly costs him a close round 2 when put side-by-side with Hollow’s roasting session quips, on spot performance hijinks and dope wordplay/personals. But with never any give-up in him, Danny comes back with a pretty solid (and emotional) 3rd round, that’s not only drenched with feelgood punchlines, but also some pretty (“I was choking ‘cuz if I lose my kids to the system I’m a hang myself!”) emphatic struggle bars that hit–altogether enough to beat back a surprisingly up-n-down last round from da Don and make this one debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Hollow Da Don – “You coulda came here with Satan as your Plus-1…the hell with you!”
Recap: Taj Milli has a charismatic flow and in this GOTG 1-rounder versus Prez Mafia, he definitely spouted a few shiners here and there. But against a focused Prez who’s scoring left and right with eccentric punchlines, rugged name flips, witty old head jokes and plenty of stinging mayhem? Little to no chance.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “Nigga, ain’t you from White Plains?, that’s Bronx Jr., all souped for nuthin’, what this bitch nigga talking about?, we used to go to White Plains on Halloween for the good candy…and the rest of the year my crib was a haunted house!”
