Recap: Super gritty, punch-lit and competitive effort from both Mack Mel and Jerry Wess in this Banned Legacy 2 battle from URL. A bout that also included several well-aimed cameos from various peers, some piercing personals, plenty of stinging name flips (tho Jerry did go overboard at times), a boatload of flashy gun bars, multiple Goonie mentions and even a couple of shots at the URL staff, with a debatable 2nd and 3rd round, this one comes down to the 1st, which a slightly punchline-heavier and more consistently spicy Mack edged to get the win.
Verdict: Mack Mel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Mack Mel – “Whatever spot you on, I’ll clean up everything if the mop touch ya, won’t warn ya, just throw some old clips on ya corner, they Blockbusters!”
Recap: Take out Shotgun Suge struggling a bit with his flow at times and a 3rd round that didn’t quite meet the mighty high standards set by the previous rounds and you have a spitfire, dunkfest of a battle between Suge and Rum Nitty. 1st round was crazy and performance-heavy on both sides with Suge in his bag kicking hard bars mixed with super grit, (“I’ll kill your whole family, you already know, one word and I’ll drop your niece off at a R. Kelly show!”) wit and surly aggression. On the other hand, Nitty came just as nice with a plethora of rigid (“So let’s get one thing straight…your vital signs!”) punchlines, potent gun lines and some fire wordplay/name flips. However, for being slightly more condensed, the edge in the 1st goes to Suge. Round two was an imitation of the 1st with both battlers staying on their A-game via the aforementioned bellicosity as well as visceral schemes and more fiery punches with Run edging the round with an equal amount of haymakers in addition to a couple of nice rebuttals. The deciding 3rd round was still solid, but a little flat for both battlers however, but with Suge having to cut his round short due to a memory gaffe, a more flow crispy and punch-centric Rum takes the round and the battle.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Just got a little mo’ Hawks [mohawks] in, Indian in the cupboard, don’t even start him, Nina sparker [BAOW!], get a giant bald head…Tiki Barber!”
Recap: Good one between Pass and Ill Will on the KOTD stage with the former kicking a variety of fierce punchlines, nice name flips and nifty braggadocio lines that his Oakland hometown crowd more than appreciated. But Pass’ bent for filler and oft-pedestrian bars throughout his rounds combined with Ill Will’s gritty, performance-adept, rambunctious, satirical, gun bar savvy and personal/name flip heavy rotation of bars, no matter the round gives the Pontiac, Michigan rapper a well-earned 30.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “I learned at a young age when you pushing that rock, nigger’s will run and shoot and post up against you, that’s why it’s easy to put two arms to ya chest Pass, I know fundamentals!”
Recap: App Gang exclusive from URL features a strong, wordplay-lit and gun bar-heavy come back from Nu Jerzey Twork after he choked in the opening round. But consistently thrifty with the play on words throughout the battle, well lit with his personals/name flips/sound effects and spicy with the gun bars and personals as well, after getting edged by a punch-heavier Twork in round 2, it’s a resilient Big T who hangs in there and beats another pretty solid turn by his opponent to edge round 3 and get the win.
Verdict: Big T (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Big T – “Strap popping like when Urkel flirt!”
Recap: If you thought that a battle rapper who happened to be named Lu Cipher (as in ‘Lucifer’, get it?) was getting a battle versus a popular Christian battle rapper (in this case Loso) based on his unique moniker alone, you would be wrong. Because with a nice combo of nifty punchlines, nimble lyricism and a supreme confidence that let’s him decide if his own bars were ‘trash’ (even if you dared have the gumption to cheer them on), Lu Cipher is a pretty solid and versatile rapper. Thus, a competitive and fiery bout which thankfully for his sake, a slightly more consistent Loso didn’t take for granted, using fierce name flips, stunted schemes and jaunty personals/punches to edge what was a close rounds 1 and 2 and earn the win.
Verdict: Loso (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Loso -“Bro, I wasn’t even going to kill you, I was gonna let you make a truce with us, but since the devil wears Prada, I had a designer bag for Lu Cipher [Lucifer]!”
Recap: Stalking the stage, confident, performance-heavy and back on his grind with sizzling punchlines, fiery name flips/personals and heated gun bars, in this 1-rounder from Houston Bar Code, Glueazy makes quick work of a solid overall, but up-n-down Gutta.
Verdict: Glueazy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Glueazy – “100 proof and even tho URL don’t fuck with you, you could be anywhere in the world right now, but you’re stuck with Glu!”
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: An astute ability to dish a wide load of fire 4-bar set-ups/punchlines, ringing gun bars and sizzling name flips has always kept the performance-heavy Jerry Wess in every battle he’s been in so far, thus making him a proven commodity for bigger stages on talent alone. That said, Wess doesn’t lose this dope and competitive matchup against Chess as much as his opponent’s ability to showcase a more versatile display of hitting punchlines, flexing schemes, visceral mayhem/boasts, dicey personals, lofty heat and more intricate wordplay allowed the newest Cave Gang member to stay in the bout, even when out-punched and force a debatable 2nd and 3rd rounds after taking the 1st with more potency to his raps as well as some filler bars from Wess. And for Chess, after recent bouts with his flow that caused him to look very minuscule in a couple of battles, managing to get back on his grind with nary a slip-up here, much less any room for error against an opponent on his A-game, is something he should be very grateful for.
Verdict: Chess (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chess – “I’m just here, giving the fade…ambre!, drag this nigga, bounce his head…Stronjay!”
Recap: The first official appearance of ‘thot bars’ from a versatile, storytelling-rich, punchline/wordplay-crazy and consistently spicy Yoshi G and an altogether fire, gangsta-lit, punch-heavy and educational, but elongated and dry spot-prone OG Prana allows Yoshi to edge what was a pretty dope and entertaining 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden.
Verdict: Yoshi G (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Yoshi G – “Every good plan starts out as a thot [thought], bitch!”
Recap: Yet another solid showing by the performance-heavy, facial expression loving (“‘Cuz when you dead in the casket, you ain’t got one!”) and punch/mayhem-centric Bankhead against a top tier opponent should get him plenty of notice. But here in this Black Ice Cartel, 3-rounder versus JC, the Michigan battle vet’s more condensed, consistently potent, fiery wordplay-drenched rounds which contained a boatload of fire gun bars, dead bodies and stinging punchlines/set-ups would be too much for even his eccentric opponent to handle overall.
Verdict: JC (W) 3-0
Favorite line: JC – “I heard you turn into an animal on stage, well I think they sorta lying [lion], I’m test it, when I reach for the belt, just hope he morph in time!”
Recap: A KOTD battle drenched in witty/hard-hitting personals and wild, entertaining schemes gets the serious treatment from Real Deal in the deciding 3rd round, the Pittsburgh vet using a series of righteously hitting darts to edge the final round for the win.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “No friends are trying to hang at your pad, you loser, you drunk-ass abuser, you can catch him on the weekends like A Star Is Born, just some drunk hanging in his garage like Bradley Cooper!”
Recap: Gritty, competitive and punchline-savvy showings by both Chuck Book and Lu Castro in this 1-rounder from GOTG. But a slightly more versatile, witty at times and much less flow-challenged Mr. Book edges it despite an equal amount of haymakers between the two battlers and a fire Castro freestyle near the end of his turn.
Verdict: Chuck Book (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chuck Book – “I talk money, for instance, your talk is cheap, and what that mean is of all the nigger’s I paid to battle…nigger you cost the least!”
Recap: Even with a shortened performance that he seemingly didn’t his whole heart into, in this 1-rounder from Houston’s Bar Code, Nu Jerzey Twork reminds everyone that talent is a unique gift, dishing enough spitfire punches and fiery gun bars/name flips to easily beat back an elongated and mostly pedestrian showing from local spitter Buretta Blaze.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Pole bang, gun blaze then gun blaze, pump gauge, punch face, I don’t wanna give nobody else the beats…Just Blaze!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Manslaughter Battle League, T Top gets everything but his opponent’s birthplace right, dishing sizzling trap talk, veteran battle rapper chatter, gritty name flips/personals and fierce punchlines laced with urban street flair to beat back an earnest and versatile, but mostly pedestrian with the bars Solidfoeluchi.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “I got the key to the streets, I’m like the mayor with the bricks, I’ll take him with the grip and spray the nigga whip, if I put a hit out on Luchi then every day it’s getting lit!”
Recap: Solid 1-rounder between Brixx Belvy and Dre Dennis features some nifty punchlines and fierce braggadocio lines from the former. But a way more consistent Dre Dennis, hitting left and right with righteous gun lines, some lofty wordplay/punches and steely name flips, ends up taking this one easy.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Nigga’s surprised, ain’t expect me to lift up the hammer…Captain America!”
Recap: Weird to see Chef Trez only dish one rebuttal during a 3-round battle. But here against a pretty solid punching, Asylum The Crow, he wouldn’t need them as the Chef went haywire anyway with a gang of potent punchlines, flexing gun bars and some piercing name flips to take each round for the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You from Arkansas, you said right?, whoop-die doo nigga, the shit is great, Ar’s ya state’s initial’s?, [well] my AR could change ya initial state!”
Recap: Geechi Gotti versus Head I.C.E. might’ve looked promising on paper, but the battle itself tells a very different story. Simply put, Gotti’s rambunctious name flips, steely boasts, witty personals, spitfire gun bars and gritty, urban-laced punchlines combined to do unbearable harm on an at times elongated opponent who when he wasn’t struggling with his flow, oft-times immersed himself in nonsensical punches and pedestrian abstract barbs that went nowhere. And with a 3-0 over the former KOTD champ, it’s yet another impressive victory for Gotti.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “This ain’t the same I.C.E. that battled Goodz, he should be getting no bread, so unless your grandma came to suck all our dick’s…we not getting that old Head!”
Recap: Banned Legacy 3 battle between JC and Cortez sees the kid from Brooklyn rap his ass off for 3 rounds with a versatile mix of fiery punchlines, wily boasts, flippant personals and some nasty name flips/wordplay. But as he’s always capable of, JC just took matters to another level here, the much more condensed emcee, delivering even finer wordplay, fierce name flips, fire set-ups, witty personals, heated gun bars and crazy punches that produced haymaker after haymaker, especially during an almost flawless 2nd round. And with the Michigan battler also taking the 1st round, despite a debatable 3rd (‘Tez’s best round), it’s still an impressive win for JC nonetheless.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “You can’t keep blaming your lack of battle releases on your opponent’s, see that’s that usual Cort shit, I devour nigga’s and you can still click ‘view’ on them corpses!”
Recap: RBE ‘Closure’ battle fittingly serves up Bonnie Godiva versus QB, what with the two finally facing off after exchanging some fisticuffs following a QOTR card almost a decade back. As to be expected the battle was littered with personals, Bonnie boasting about winning the fight all through the battle when she wasn’t dissing her opponent’s looks and lifestyle in and outside of battle rap. While QB remarked on how Bonnie’s used the fight to boost her career, when she wasn’t flipping on Bonnie’s recent domestic abuse issues, sex life and the help she received in the earlier fight from her ‘tranny’ uncle. Then too, the match would also see a gang of punch-heavy theatrics and wordplay-lit maneuvers from both battlers. However, with the help of Bonnie having some dry spots here and there and at times miss timing her aggression, a more witty, condensed and haymaker-savvy in all 3 rounds QB would earn the win.
Verdict: QB (W) 3-0
Favorite line: QB – “Now you YTG?, fucking crew hopper, tell me which one’s you following, you rap like whoever dick you swallowing!”
Recap: It’s no secret that the usually venerable Glueazy has been slumping of late and in this 3-rounder from KLBL, the always performance-ready E. Ness takes advantage, sporting a host of jaunty punchlines, a boatload of witty barbs and steely shiners/personals to beat back his slip-up prone opponent in the deciding 3rd round and pull off a minor upset.
Verdict: E. Ness (W) 2-1
Favorite line: E. Ness – “You should quit the Goonies and become a new gangster, I’ll super glue your chin back together when your jaw break, these 3 rounds of unreleased hits, these the Lost Tapes!”
Recap: Delivering well-crafted name flips on a whim, lofty gun bars and jaunty punchlines/wordplay with steady aggression, Xcel does just enough to beat back a gritty and competitive, but not quite as consistent Real Sikh in this fierce 1-rounder from iBattle.
Verdict: Xcel (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Xcel – “If he sick [Sikh] I’m terminal, that’s what we on this stage for [Stage 4]!”
Recap: From IBattleTV, plenty of wide-ranging cultural references, rich similes, ringing mayhem and even Real Deal confessing to a love for booze in this matchup with a punchline-lit Dego Diavolo that stayed competitive to the end with a draw after Diavolo edged round 1, a 2nd round debatable and Deal taking the 3rd with a little help from his flow-challenged opponent.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Dego Diavolo – “I’ll finger-fuck ya bitch till every finger jam!”
Recap: 30’s can be so deceiving sometimes what with the implication that the winner bodied their opponent. But that’s not always the case such as in this battle against Danja Zone, Holmzie Da God really gave a great effort, punching his heart out, adding some wit and even spouting some real street shit/struggle bars that the ‘been there’ crowd could appreciate. However, a couple of mistakes by Holmzie didn’t help matters. Such as the usage of nonsensical similes in the early stages on the bout and comically going at Danja for repeating bars in past battles would turn into a huge no-no as Zone was able to turn the personals that into a couple of fly rebuttals. Still, when it came to a spicy punch game combined with a wide load of boastful barbs and some sublime wordplay throughout his 3 rounds, even with two elongated rounds against a fierce competitor who made him earn it, the lyrically sharp Danja Zone just had too much in the tank.
Verdict: Danja Zone (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Danja Zone – “Look here I cook squares in hot hot round like a waffle iron!”
Recap: A bit of an intense 1-rounder between newcomer J.O.T.S and Nu Jerzey Twork sees the Goonie honcho get consistently busy with raucous punchlines, blazing gun bars and some fire wordplay/set-ups/name flips to easily beat back an aggressive and sometimes nice, but mostly pedestrian turn from his opponent.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Tool clap, I’m gripping a gun if I see a tool need, bump into to you [shoulder checks J.OT.S] like it’s funny seeing you here!”
Recap: Sure, Franchise had a heavily armed and spitfire round 1 (which I had him edging in spite of a dope, punch-heavy turn by Ave). But when you’re equipped with 90 percent gun bars, maintaining such a raucous pace can be a challenge and it showed. As while Ave stayed on his opponent’s neck, during this URL Born Legacy 7 bout, with even more brazen punchlines, witty/flexing personals, fiery schemes and hard-hitting mayhem/name flips in the latter rounds (all the while challenging his opponent’s street cred), Franchise just couldn’t stay on key, delivering both a gun-centric, but topsy-turvy 2nd and 3rd round on his way to a loss.
Verdict: Ave (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ave – “So whoever try to help get extra, I tried to tell y’all from teh gate, Franchise ain’t safe, we health inspectors!”
Recap: From Krack Liberty Battle League, proving once again how fire he is once he shows all the way up, a more condensed Nu Jerzey Twork uses a versatile mix of syrupy punchlines/storytelling, hitting personals, some stellar wordplay, hard-hitting gun bars and piercing set-ups/name flips/personals to edge the first couple of rounds and gain the win over a rebuttal/freestyle-lit and mostly punch-heavy, but not as witty as usual and a little predictable with the punches Charron. A shortened 3rd by Twork combined with Charron’s best and most consistently hitting round of the battle, would give the Canadian vet the finale.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Smack killer?!, aw, bless y’all Charron, we gon’ chastise Charron, put him in check, get him in check, check his testosterone!”
Recap: In this Born Legacy 7 battle from URL, after a couple of topsy-turvy, aggressive, but pretty redundant opening rounds, Glueazy finally chokes (after ironically getting off to a hot start) away his 3rd round. But then looking back, did Glu really have a chance to begin with? That’s just speaking practically to how sublime JC was here. The Michigan battler confidently in his bag for 3 rounds while delivering nothing but straight heat via a gang of witty personals/storytelling, spitfire punchlines, persistent mayhem and piercing name flips/set-ups/wordplay to handily earn a shutout.
Verdict: JC (W) 3-0
Favorite line: JC – “I got him running in pain, covered in stains like a mattress flip!”
Recap: Take out a half-hearted and shortened 3rd round from Nu Jerzey Twork and you have a fire battle here against Charlie Clips. To start, there was a superlative 1st round from both rappers that saw a versatile, punch-heavy and witty Clips somehow edged by a raucous, (“You fucking fool, bust a move, dump a tool [Bwoh!]…guess what room he in? the other room!”) mayhem-induced and haymaker-drenched turn by NJT that even featured an early ‘Strapped In…’ bar. Undaunted by losing the 1st round, Clips showed his veteran steel with yet another fire turn in the 2nd round, breaking down Twork’s style with plenty of jocular (“Just because he screams and adds ‘Bwoh!’, it does not make him lyrical, nigga be like ‘I’m masked down, potato on a barrel, smell a hash brown…[sings] Call JG Wentworth, 877 cash [Bwoh!] I want my cash now!'”) call stylings, using some excellent crowd control and spitting some dope punchlines/personals. But Twork wouldn’t have reached his top tier status if he wasn’t equipped with a spitfire pen, as he shows again in the middle round with more visceral heat, a nice mid-round rebuttal, understated fiery wordplay and aggressive (“I’m like Charlie with longevity…extended Clips!”) punches/name flips/personals that made the round a tie. Partly due to the aforementioned indolence from Twork, the final round was a lay-up for Clips who for his part used a steady stream of fiery schemes and hitting punchlines to easily take the round and make this one a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “You’ll catch stray’s, ASPCA, I don’t play with bitches, Red you said something earlier?, well I’ll throw something in Oshun [ocean] when I spray the biscuit and he’ll get found in the Pacific, like a ghetto bitch that’s trying to say ‘specific’!”
Recap: Loso uses a gang of sterling name flips, hard Christian-laced punchlines and a slew of righteous personals/schemes to beat back a solid and sententious, but mostly one-dimensional Houndawg Buck50 in this 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Loso (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Loso – “I could charge big fees on any big leagues, I’m a wild card, like the 6th seed!”
Recap: A series of nifty punchlines laced with a gang of sexual innuenndo’s (amongst other things) make for a solid effort by Hefner Charming. But in this 1-rounder versus Viixen Teh Assassin, the Wisconsin battler’s hardbody punchlines, piercing name flips, flexing gun bars and hard-hitting personals prove to be too much for her oddly named opponent.
Verdict: Viixen The Assassin (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Viixen The Assassin – “They turned you in so I could eat, this dude a lunch ticket, I’ll beat him till the gun got a white girl body…the butt missing!”
Recap: Houston’s Scotty, who oft-times struggles with consistency, makes for a more steady, solid and at times gritty effort here in this 1-rounder against Charron. But for all of Scotty’s effort, the visiting Canadian opponent still proves to be too much, dishing a quartet of fire rebuttals alomg with witty self-deprecating punchlines, stinging hometown heaters, random shots at other battlers and a boatload of fiery barbs/schemes during his turn to warrant the vic in the end.
Verdict: Charron (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charron – “This ain’t the old Charron, do your research, I got the confidence of T-Rex buying smedium t-shirts!”
Recap: From URL’s Born Legacy 7 card, a super-competitive, hard fought and overall dope 3-rounder between Th3 Saga and Chef Trez. A consistently aggressive Trez edges round 1 over a brazen, religious-laced and set-up/punch-lit Saga with a slightly more versatile, punch/wordplay-crazy, gun line-bent, religiously-tinged and personal/scheme/freestyle spicy turn of his own before a surprisingly off-the-dome-lit, 4-bar set-up/punch-spazzing, personally/Cave Gang-angled and simile-lit Saga edged round 2. Helped by some rare displays of wit and a spicy rebuttal, a slightly more condensed Trez would take round 3, using a gang of graphic mayhem, ill set-ups and fiery punchlines to edge another dope, righteous/storytelling-rich at times and Christian-bent, but a little filler-prone Saga and gain the win.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I could body a Horseman like BoJack!”
Recap: Here versus Xcel on the KOTD stage, the comedic, name-flip potent, storytelling, hometown-friendly and rebuttal-lit stylings of Frak not only make for an insane 2nd round, but more importantly a tie going into the 3rd. But just like he did to take the opening round, Xcel’s on-point lyrical jousting, punch-savvy wordplay, Jewish barbs, wit and sizzling set-ups/personals prove to be enough to take the deciding 3rd round and earn the win.
Verdict: Xcel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Xcel – “Why come fuck with the hood when white privilege sided with you?, but y’all love adrenaline, so that help me find this clue, this put you close to danger, but not really in it, this is the VICE for you!”
Recap: Goddie Lumenati’s derisive punchlines and scathing name flips make for some delicious haymakers here and there in this 1-round battle from GOTG against G Lowe. But one too many pedestrian bars from Goddie, plus a more consistent, punch-heavy, witty, name flip spicy, gun line spazzing and off-the-dome-nice-with-his G Lowe gives Mr. Gun Barz n Glasses the win.
Verdict: G Lowe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: G Lowe – “Snitch nigga, what the fuck is dirt to a ditch digger!”
Recap: Spinning a barrage of nifty multi-syllable linguistics, fiery/witty rapid-fire punchlines and stinging personals throughout the battle with relative ease, Brooklyn emcee Sean O Sean would do enough to edge a versatile and punch-heavy, but not always consistent turns by Real Sikh in the 1st and 3rd rounds for the win.
Verdict: Sean O Sean (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Sean O Sean – “No even fight, he the weakest type, this shit easy…as being white!”
Recap: It doesn’t get much better than this one as Emerson Kennedy and Jey the Nitewing each deliver an exquisite 3 rounds of steady, potent and crowd-pleasing bars and schemes. EK, slightly more lit when it came to hard-hitting (“You supposed to be toe taggin’, keeping up the race, you know, even up the pace with the East to be the greats, Jey, every time you choke East, the West reap all [Reepah] the mistakes!”) personals, but also just as fire throughout in lieu of a boatload of stirring punchlines, loaded abstract stingers, aggressive and (“Niggas chains getting rung, I don’t chase fame from a gun, but for a band on the side, I might change on the run, hop out and wait till Nite [night] show, put his name on a drum!”) well-finessed wordplay, stayed on his A-game. And Nitewing, with perhaps a bit of a monkey on his back what with all the heat he’s gotten for choking (a theme that EK had no trouble reminding him of throughout this battle) during battles, stayed flexing with consistent ease during his turns, all the while keeping the pressure on his opponent with a wide bag of witty barbs, banging (“You probably thinking this angle is getting fucking old, but you keep acting like you wasn’t told, can’t survive off what your mother knows, she can’t save you when you touch the stove!”) punches, dizzying metaphorical shiners, rich set-ups and a couple of over-the-top rebuttals. An altogether spitfire battle with nary a dry spot that also displayed plenty of braggadocio zingers and lofty struggle bars from each side, the scoring here saw EK needing a gargantuan opening round to edge the 1st, the two battlers traded an equal amount of potency with their lines to make that one debatable and the deciding 3rd round going Nitewing’s way what with one or two more haymakers.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “You wanna know my theory of relativity?, get his relatives first!”
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: Exciting Banned Legacy 2 battle between Ryda and Stuey Newton is high on the action, mayhem, punchlines, pontifications and gun bars. And if that’s not enough, Stuey also displayed a nice rebuttal game, while Ryda supplied plenty of witty personals to add some levity to the scene. A competitive battle throughout, it’s Ryda, coming back from a subpar performance in his last URL battle against Th3 Saga, who gets the win with a sublime 1st and 3rd rounds in which he flexed his versatility with nary a dry spot. And while the always fiery Stuey came hard with the punches and ringing wordplay throughout the match (esp. during a spitfire 2nd round), the West-coast vet hurt himself a bit with elongated turns in the aforementioned rounds that couldn’t keep up with his opponent’s overall potency.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ryda – “So I don’t wanna hear all that Black power shit that you be blabbing out ya mouth, because you can’t be on this stage screaming ‘Black Lives Matter’ when it’s ‘All Lives Matter!’ in ya house!”
Recap: Mostly solid and fierce battle between Qleen Paper and T Top as a seemingly motivated QP kicks that real street drama along with witty personals, festive (“This bitch loud, some shit you ain’t trying to hear like an intervention, big chopper, I gotta put it on a stand like it’s a witness!”) gun lines and slick punchlines to stay competitive for two rounds, before running out of gas midway in the 3rd. However, even for all of QP’s real talk and more acidic lines, for each round Top would have an answer for everything his opponent dished via steely trap talk, stinging personals/name flips, rich storytelling schemes and his own barrage of heated (“It ain’t a game, the dessert so long I gotta pray for rain!”) punches to earn a 30.
Verdict: T Top (W) 3-0
Favorite line: T Top – “Speaking of coke, I remember when my uncle wouldn’t sell me nothing, now he the first one line for me to sell him something, cops used to ask us questions, but I ain’t tell ‘e, nothing, fat nigga, used to keep an 8-ball in my belly button!”
Recap: Nice effort by Heiron, the winner of Charlie Clips and DNA’s “Draft Night 3 Road To DNA” tournament, who solidifies his spot as a rising up-n-comer with a solid, aggressive and versatile showing (tho his pen did lose some steam towards the end of his turn) here in this 1-rounder versus DNA. That said, bringing his A-game to prove once again that he never takes anybody light, DNA’s consistent flexing of lofty punchlines, earnest gun bars, some wicked wordplay and steely name flips along with some nice rebuttals and a random freestyle mixed in to cap his turn, makes this one a no-brainer.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “From here on out, the plan is to take Heiron out, I studied you and found out your real name, so for the rest of the round we gonna hear Ron out, Ronald Dawson, see that name is clever, but I can make it better, ain’t it crazy, I’ll have Ronald running in the 80s…this the Reagan era!”
Recap: Pretty solid 1-rounder between the visiting Ryda and Houston’s Tubbs features a whole lot of nifty punches/personals and mostly competent name flips from the latter and a wide array of staunch punchlines and righteous heat from the Goonie vet. And while both battlers had their missteps, during his turn Tubbs especially struggled at times with his flow and that along a couple of more haymakers as well as a nice mid-round rebuttal by Ryda, gives Mr. ‘I Like To Name My Guns’ the vic.
Verdict: Ryda (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ryda – “Life support, nigga that’s what you all on now…and when you pull on Tubbs that’s when it all goes down!”
Recap: Yeah, after out-punching a topsy-turvy Brixx Belvy in both of the opening rounds, a consistently gritty Shotti P might’ve had the 30 if he hadn’t slipped up midway through the 3rd round of this KOTD battle. Either way, it’s still a searing performance by the Detroit vet that included a gang of spicy personals, boastful barbs and some flexing wordplay on his way to a win..
Verdict: Shotti P (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotti P – “I’ll pistol-whip him, his vision blurry, he think he trapped in a flashback, if he don’t act like he dead, the strap to his head like a dad hat!”
Recap: After such a poor showing in his recent comeback battle versus K-Shine, the reality is that Jae Millz had nowhere to go but up if he were to choose to battle again. And despite still struggling to be more intricate with his bars, here in this RBE ‘Closure’ battle versus E. Ness (an addendum to their classic Making Da Band battle that P. Diddy called a ‘draw’) Millz not only does well in getting back to basics with cocky punchlines, some stinging metaphors/wordplay and steely mayhem, but he also avoided what was a major flaw in the aforementioned Shine battle: dated bars. That combo along with a filler-prone, pedestrian drenched Ness easily gave Millz the first two rounds, before the Ness we know for spicy punches that match his raucous intensity/performance came back to take the 3rd round while beating back a very basic and 90’s-esq. turn by his opponent.
Verdict: Jae Millz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jae Millz – “Pussy, I’m a professional and this my profession, my AR like A.I., that’s how I Answer your question!”
Recap: A true ‘away game’ for Fonz when you consider that he takes on opponent Duce in the latter’s home state of Florida, the Cleveland, Ohio battler still manages to dominate this 3-rounder from URL’s Born Legacy 6 card. Indeed, in front of an electric crowd, Fonz uses a boatload of sizzling gun bars, disrespectful personals, fire set-ups, boastful barbs and hard-hitting punchlines to handily beat back a gritty and solid effort from Duce, who while sporting a versatile array of pointed darts, hometown pizzazz and some spicy off-the-dome zingers, too often took too long to get to his punches and overall just couldn’t keep up with Fonz’s rapid bangers.
Verdict: Fonz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Fonz – “Give Duce [deuce] a buck-fifty, I’ll lower his face value!”
Recap: Slightly more condensed with less filler, Shotgun Suge’s raucous punchlines, fiery name flips and righteous mayhem are enough to beat back a solid, but hit-n-miss turn by D Flamez in thsi 1-rounder from Bullpen Battle League.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “So let’s settle it, he irrelevant, you only tough behond your lines…Zeke Elliott!”
Recap: In this 3-rounder from Gates of the Garden, Buttah From Da Block puts on a solid effort with some nice, aggressive punches here and there. But too many reaches and predictable/pedestrian bars from BFDB along with a more condensed Chef Trez who consistently killed it with fire name flips, steely gun bars and fierce punchlines/rebuttals over the course of his 3 rounds, gives the Chef another $30 meal ticket.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “No bragging, but I’m the real plug, I do the dope rapping, how you want it, throat-slashing or straight-faced like no passion?, it’s just you and my gun…butter-n-toast, old-fashioned!”
Recap: Solid and competitive 1-rounder between Ish Mulah and Moon sees the former’s more condensed turn, littered with a variety of stinging name flips, some able wit and flippant mayhem/punches, edge out the O.G. Moon’s gritty, but slightly less consistent showing.
Verdict: Ish Mulah (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ish Mulah – “Respect the goon, think I’m a allow you to show your ass?, never Moon!”
Recap: Besides taking advantage of his opponent’s ring rust with some witty personals, Cortez uses a barrage of slick punchlines, feisty verbal mayhem and rich name flips to beat a confident, but mostly-subpar-till-the-3rd-round Metaphor.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Cortez – “The minute this nigga crack a smile, I’ll crack his smile, nerd nigga, square off top like cap-n-gown!”
Recap: Calm, cool and collected battle…yeah right. Loud, aggressive, intense and witty at times KOTD battle between West-coast vets Dizaster and Danny Myers contains a shitload of braggadocio lines from both rappers, heated gun bars, fierce punches/wordplay, nifty rebuttals (esp. from Danny) and a large quantity of steely personals which in the end would give Diz the victory after an elongated, but consistently fiery turn in the deciding 3rd round. That was after a more versatile, funny and (“He gonna say I ain’t a legend, try to play me like I ain’t Top 5, bitch I will stuff an Avocado up your mama pussy and make you watch live!”) punch/wordplay-heavy Myers took the first before Diz came back to tie things in the 2nd round with a (“All I got to do to win is clown on him like a twisted, metal car!”) visceral, more potent, performance-heavy and audacious turn that beat back a less haymaker-inducing round by Danny. And while he did rap twice as longer as his never-lacking-for-confidence, lit with the Arab jokes opponent in the final round, Diz’s continued riffs on Danny’s place in West-coast battle rap, well-researched storytelling bars, sharp-witted schemes and stinging metaphors/punchlines would prove to be too much for even the Bar God in the end.
Verdict: Dizaster (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Dizaster – “You’re 6 years older than me and call me an O.G.!”
Recap: A battle that the punchline feen and true lyricist can appreciate, poker face perps Mad Face and Jey The Nitewing go at it for 3 fiery and competitive rounds with a more condensed Mad Face hanging in there throughout the battle via a boatload of clever punches, flexing (“I was hoping you got you stupid, the dumber the better, Nitewing with a chip on his shoulder, let’s ruffle his feathers!”) wordplay and permeable name flips/gun bars. But for all of Mad Face’s colloquial stunting and fire innuendo’s, the Richmond, VA, battler occasional bouts with mediocrity and near slip-ups would work hurt him here and there. That said, with Nitewing’s longer turns and an equal ratio of haymakers from each battler, both the 1st and 3rd rounds were scored as debatable’s. Thus leaving the 2nd round as the deciding factor, which the overall aggressive and versatile Nitewing handily takes what with a couple of fire (and rare) mid-round rebuttals, gripping (“I’ve studied everything about you nigga, your battles, your movements, this is basic shit, I prepared these rounds for a better you that, that you can’t even face me wit’, you’d have more of a life if you put into it that effort that I put into taking it!”) personals and consistently banging punchlines.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “My nigga you basically fucked, niggas that told you about me wasn’t making shit up, even ya mama tried to warn you nigga, keep making that Face and get stuck!”
Recap: Crazy, dope, competitive and gun bar heavy Banned Legacy battle between Prez Mafia and Holmzie starts off going the former’s way as even after both battlers dished a killer 1st round, one too many dry spots by Holmzie allows Prez to get the edge there. The latter rounds not only kept the crowd entertained, but were lit with heavy-handed punches, fire name flips and quality wordplay as well. Indeed, after a solid, but a bit underwhelming-compared to his stellar-1st turn by Prez in the 2nd, Holmzie would deliver the best round of the battle with a sublime, witty at times, personal and brazen go-around that would even things up going into the final round. And while Prez and Holmzie both dished strong 3rd’s with an equal amount of haymakers, the way more condensed Prez gets the edge for the win here.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “You seen Surviving R. Kelly?, now this 16 got a minor feel!”
Recap: A 3rd round choke by Danny Myers still doesn’t take away from the too cold ‘Bar God’ hitting with enough consistently raucous, punchline-savvy and name flip-lit (esp. during a stellar 2nd round) bars in both of the opening rounds, while beating back a sublime at times, but gun-bar obsessed, a bit redundant with the set-ups and elongated Franchise in this fiery and competitive Banned battle from URL.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “Every line got a gun, he sho’ got over here though, look how loud we clappin’, these rounds, two .30’s [2:30’s], maybe two .45’s [2:45’s] with crowd reaction!”
Recap: Anyone who’s done their homework would know that even before the Dizaster incident, Math Hoffa had long wanted to ‘test his pen’ versus Charlie Clips. And why not? Clips has long solidified his status as a top tier battle rapper and if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. That said, it’s too bad that it took Clips (hka ‘flip-flops’) not helping Math during his post-battle fight versus Dizaster (and Co.) some years back for these two to finally meet in the ring. Not that a Clips vs. Math match wouldn’t have had a gang of funny personals anyway as amongst other attributes, they’re both known for their wit. But do we really need to hear endless schemes, jokes and references to a Diz fight (which, to be frank, Clips came much harder on) that took place years ago and that Math still can’t get over? In other words, the feeling here is that Clips vs. Math warranted a Summer Madness card without the Diz drama, not a less worthy showing on ARP’s ‘Closure’ event (no disrespect to a fly concept, but still). As for the battle itself, the verdict is a a clear one with Clips taking it easy, even with Math delivering a pretty (“You pussy behind them bars, you a conjugal visit!”) solid 3 rounds. Whether it was taking on fake (or real) personals, challenges to his street cred or redundant shots by Math towards his dad all the while serving up nice rebuttals, gritty (“Math, I could keep fucking you up with these bars, but I want you to start living your life, you know what hurt a gangsta nigga more than bullets? when you give them advice!”) personals/name flips, steely pontifications and spitfire punchlines throughout his 3 rounds, minor a debatable 2nd round, a more versatile, prepared and haymaker-dishing Clips just proved to be too much in the first and 3rd rounds, thus gaining the win.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “It’s funny, you decked Dose, then your career started glowing up, then Diz decked you, then everything started slowing up, it’s the first time I ever seen an Arab stop somebody from blowing up!”
Recap: Mostly lackluster battle, oddly filled a plethora of dated bars, between veteran spitters Real Deal and Marvwon doesn’t pick up any steam until the deciding 3rd round which sees the two get far more lyrical with the punchlines and struggle bars. However, it’s a slightly more consistent Real Deal, both with the flow and the punches, who edges round 3 to win this one.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “They thought I’d be dead or strung out, so now they see the inspiration in me, when I came out the hood, it blew their mind like Clayton Bigsby!”
Recap: Against a mostly unprepared, mostly stale with the jokes and all over the place Mo Mula, a hyped up Gwitty, via a fresh plate of rapidly fierce punchlines, piercing personals and some head-ringing wordplay, makes for easy work to score the win on this 3-round We Go Hard Love Day card.
Verdict: Gwitty (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Gwitty – “All you got is the Cakes, you a basic bitch!”
Recap: Fierce 1-round battle between JC and Chicago rapper King Krash sees the latter go hard on the God-complex angles/themes, sermonizing and gritty street lines with a flair of confident aggression throughout his turn. But JC being JC, even if not totally on his A-game, still brought a heavy load of stinging punchlines, flagrant gun bars and potent name flips from his palette to score enough haymakers and earn the vic in this one.
Verdict: JC (W) 1-0
Favorite line: JC – “The mere fact that I come from nothing means I will always reach for something, I even reach and bang the hammer without thinking, so don’t rush to judgment!”
Recap: Controversial battle between the returning-to-the-ring-after-a-4-year-hiatus Ms. Fit and Phara Funeral features 2 spirited and competitive rounds (I had a debatable 1st before Ms. Fit edged the 2nd) that were highlighted by a wide load of fiery personals and piercing punches from Fit, while the bar-heavier Funeral stayed lit with some dope wordplay, gritty punches and hitting name flips. In lieu of an unsportsmanlike conduct that should’ve been called on Fit for distracting her opponent and throwing money down on the floor while she rapped in round 1, round 3 is where things got hectic and tensions started to appear above the surface as a consistently aggressive Fit used the final turn to deliver one of the most well-crafted, personal, witty at times and scathing turns we’ve seen from a female in battle rap (making it a classic) history. But with the mention of Phara’s mother (although there really wasn’t any direct shots taken) in a handful of her bars, Phara would allege afterwards that her opponenet broke a stipulation in the battle contract, leading to Ms. Funeral choosing not to spit her 3rd round and therefore handing Fit the win.
Verdict: Ms. Fit (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ms. Fit – “All the nigga’s you done smashed [Aaawww!], can’t even keep track of your bodies…till we read the Smack card!”
Recap: Surviving some reaches here, a pretty solid Bay-area legends scheme as well as a bit of a flow-challenged 1st that got overwhelmed by a versatile and (“They banking on you to beat the angry farmer…I’m the goat-puncher!”) hard-punching turn by Bigg K, Rum Nitty dishes enough otherworldly punchlines, sizzling (“I’ll get a lane popped, raise Glock’s, light on a pole, that old Kendrick…give K dot’s!”) gun bars, mocking personals and fiery wordplay to easily take the 2nd round before edging a close 3rd with more consistently potent ammo and make for a victorious return to KOTD.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “I pop the clip and give you afterburner…Harvey Dent!”
Recap: While an otherwise leisurely Verbal War Zone Battle on the Beats bout between Der Dennis and Eazy The Block Capatin gets highlighted by Eazy tagging-in a female emcee to drop some crazy bars in round 3, the more condensed, gritty, punch/personal-lit and slight;y less flow-challenged Block Captain’s manages to edge the first couple of rounds for the win.
Verdict: Eazy The Block Captain )W) 2-1
Favorite line: Eazy The Block Captain – “You skinny now, you’ll fit up in my trunk boy!”
