Recap: Anyone who’s ever peeped the punch-lit Brixx Belvy before would know that he’s more than capable of bringing that competitive fire to Chef Trez. And that’s the case here as in this 3-rounder from Rap Grid, the SONS vet delivers a fiery dish of standout (“Push a plate back on Chef, I ordered fries wit it!”) punches and nifty wordplay that more than met the crowd and his opponent’s approval. However, Trez being Trez, was just too much here what with the Cave Gang general dropping haymakers with ready abandon via a stinging mix of jaunty name flips/personals, heated (“If plotting what you trying to do, you’ll get one .40 put to ya brain, you got a genius I.Q.!”) gun bars, potent trap talk and of course, a couple of fire rebuttals and other lofty punchlines. Mark it down as a debatable 1st followed by the Chef earnestly taking the latter two rounds.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Fuck it, I’ll stick a knife in Brixx [bricks] like I’m testing the quality!”
Recap: Honestly expected more from two battle rap legends, Math Hoffa and TheSaurus, then this KOTD bout, which had its share of moments, hot punches/schemes (Math: ‘…they gone see Math vs Thesaurus and never click on this battle!”) and piercing personals, but overall didn’t measure up to what you’d expect from the name recognition. Still, after the two split the first couple of rounds, a fire rebuttal by Thesaurus along with a handful of haymakers in round 3 were enough to edge a righteous and on-its-way-to-being-epic, but also a bit flow-challenged and eventually shortened turn by Math.
Verdict: TheSaurus (W) 2-1
Favorite line: TheSaurus – “Every time he’s got a problem Math’s still counting on his hands!”
Recap: Dizaster doesn’t hold back on breaking down Cali Smoov’s entire background in and outside the ring via a boatload of extra hard personals and soul-reaching punchlines. That along with a couple of nice rebuttals by Diz combine to beat back a solid, but nothing over-the-top showing by Smoov in this 1-rounder from AHAT Cali.
Verdict: Dizaster (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dizaster – “Andre 3000, you the biggest outcast [Outkast] out of anybody out the group, he wanted to ball up with us like Sonic the Hedgehog, but he never got any ring because we kept you out the loop!”
Recap: Heard 40 B.A.R.R.S. say at least a couple of times now during battles that she just wrote her rhymes last night. And while every battler is different when it comes to preparation, with all the hiccups we see quite often see with 40, one can wonder if not giving herself enough time to practice her rounds contribute to 40’s slip-ups. Still, here in this Universal Bars Battle League 1-round bout with the ever-raucous styling’s of LL Coogi, despite a couple slip-ups, 40’s pen still makes its mark with a bunch of fire punches and name flips. Yet, while he did end up rapping twice as longer as his opponent, Coogi’s lengthy turn of spicy gun bars, vivid set-ups, dope personals and hardbody punches are stretched out and hitting enough to edge things here.
Verdict: LL Coogi (W) 1-0
Favorite line: LL Coogi – “Your career can’t afford this, this L about to be large and enormous, they gonna ask me how I got my groove back with 40…a stellar [Stella] performance!”
Recap: Boisterous, energetic and punch-heavy battle between Bankhead and Danny Myers stays close throughout with Bankhead’s twisted, set-up friendly and mayhem-laced (“Brought an old ratchet for Myers…Jamie Lee Curtis!”) punches going toe-to-toe with Danny’s more lyrical, visceral and braggadocio raps. But the ever-confident Bar God, despite one too many name flips and rebuttals, still takes the first two rounds here, edging his enigmatic, but elongated (and a bit reach-heavy) opponent with more consistent punches and a couple of more (“I don’t gotta prove I got a better pen or I cook like you, I’m doing this for every nigger that got his bitch snatched by a nigger that look like you!”) haymakers. Give the 3rd round to a still spazzing and more direct Bankhead, a fiery turn that easily beat back a solid overall, but a bit porous and less head-on round by Mr. Myers.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I’ll catch ya at your family dinner bra, in front of ya mama I’ll give you bucks, long hair don’t care, no hair don’t give a fuck!”
Recap: Peppering his opponent with waves of spicy punchlines mixed in with some stellar wordplay and fiery schemes, while for the first two rounds, staying away from the usual assortment of personals (he’d get to them in the 3rd round) we see against Danny Myers, DNA beats back a hit or miss opponent who too often went for lackluster personals and easy name flips then his winning forte of consistently substantive boasts/mayhem/punches, rich storytelling and otherworldly karma. A fly rebuttal game and some fierce punches in the 3rd round helped Danny ring up enough heat to equal the potency from DNA’s more personal-driven turn, land a draw and avoid getting 30’d.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “There’s no way you can split my movement, I let the .8 spray, if not, it’s the fifth I’m using, I’ll have Danny see the tre way [Treyway] more than 69 stupid!”
Recap: With little to no history behind them, Math versus Ave comes off as one of those random battles that got booked after their names got pulled out of bag. Nonetheless, outside of Math slipping up here and there as well as stopping his 3rd round short, the battle itself is still a goodie, packed with plenty of fiery punchlines, some nifty wordplay, bully bars, head-ringing guns bars and gritty personals that made things competitive throughout. That said, with a flow that was way more consistent and displaying authenticity with his rich performance, this one was all Ave, who simply out-punched his opponent in each round and took this hands down.
Verdict: Ave (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ave – “You ain’t nobody Smack gonna pay to see most, if this nigga can raise a penny at the door, he Patrick Swayze in Ghost!”
Recap: Not quite your best Chilla Jones and a bit elongated for one round, but a more versatile with the pen Mr. Jones still manages to dish enough fiery punches, potent schemes/name flips and lofty personals to beat back an aggressive, but too often pedestrian and one-dimensional Kapitol.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “I’m trying hard not to backslide, bringing Capitol Punishment, but I’m still Not a Player…Track 5!
Recap: His best effort coming in the 1st round via a mix of fierce (“Okay, you let your let machete spray, I get it, ‘cuz some rifles gotta blade on it, but when a fan recite it, they look stupid and get blamed for it!”) punchlines, even-handed sermonizing and some to-be-expected personals, overall, a confident Mickey Factz makes for a pretty solid effort here against DNA. And that’s a good thing for performance artists looking to get into battle rap. But this version of DNA, aggressive throughout, heated with the punches, flexing on the mayhem, potent with the name flips, rich with the (“It’s too late to revoke, I got nothin’ but hate for this vulture and the beam on the side of Mause [Mouse] gonna change the state of the culture!”) storytelling bars, consistently nice with the heat and blessed with a pen game that was clearly motivated by a long-held dislike for his opponent, would’ve beat just about anybody on their best day, recording artist or not. Add to mix Factz’s bent for pedestrian bars displaying itself more and more as the battle proceeded and this long-anticipated grudge match ends with a 30 for DNA.
Verdict: DNA (W) 3-0
Favorite line: DNA – “You like do to do metaphors and tell Black people about their credit scores, like ‘You’ll be left in a slum, If you don’t got 720 or better you’ll be dead in a month, well that’s a lie ‘cuz with a .357 I can get whatever I want!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Don’t Flop, DNA uses a barrage of fiery name flips, spirited jokes, fierce set-ups, and piercing punchlines to beat back a solid and sometimes witty effort from Mr. Tongue Twister.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “If you wanna die, I’ll find the exorcist [ex assist], see me team will get it done, or find out what Deacon possess with one head tap, now I’m speaking in tongue!”
Recap: A battle rap staple in St. Louis, RemyD returns to the stage for a rare appearance and uses his poetic, rapid-punching style to give Chilla Jones all he can handle in this 1-rounder from Street Status. But despite struggling a bit to keep his flow together mid-round, against an opponent who was mostly pedestrian with his bars, the Kingpen’s fiery schemes/personals, formidable name flips and spicy punches prove to be too much in the end.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “I’ll light him up, give him plenty from the Glock, have one sent [cent] to his head…that’s a penny for his thoughts!”
Recap: Wouldn’t count this one as Ace Amin’s best piece of work, but damn if Nu Jerzey Twork wasn’t impressed. Still, with Ace doing a worthy job expounding on street semantics all the while dishing gritty and aggressive punchlines, some fire set-ups and a handful of dandy name flips, in this 1-rounder from GOTG, beating the sometimes solid, but mostly blase punches coming at him from opponent TD Berry didn’t really require Ace’s A-game.
Verdict: Ace Amin (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ace Amin – “You see me and think it’s gonna be an easy plate, well think, so either we leaving with TD bank or TD gonna be needing T.D. Jakes!”
Recap: I’ve said it before, when the battle itself can reach its immense hype, you know that you got a potential classic on your hands. That’s certainly the case in Geechi Gotti versus K-Shine, two battlers who had a stupendous 2018 meeting on the Smack/URL stage for the ‘Champion’ of the year. Gotti, with a hardbody, (“I don’t even think Shine real, he need a diamond tester, arm stretch ya, y’all gonna find K laid out with his fore head open, coroner showed up, I’m like ‘What y’all waiting on, y’all already know K slogan!'”) wordplay-heavy, personal and aggressive round 1 didn’t lose the opening round as much as a witty, gun-savvy, more performance heavy, rapid-punchline (“Give him rounds from the .80, Party Arty back!”; “Pound on the side of coffee mug like ‘No. 1 Dad!'”) kicking Shine won it with a little variety to edge what was easily one of the hardest-hitting 1st rounds we’ve ever seen in battle rap. Round 2 was also fire with Gotti lifting up his performance game to dish fire personals, talk that hard (“I don’t wanna hear no Blood call, keep it neutral, I’m ain’t saying but [Bwoh!]…rather let the coroner ‘Suwoop’ you!”) gang shit and continue to flex with sizzling gun bars as well bodacious punchlines. On the other hand Shine came through with another fire, (“Compressor, I let it whisper in ya ear, ‘Gotti can ya keep a secret!'”) iron-friendly, punchline-crazy turn, that while consistently solid throughout, didn’t reach the overall potency and precision of his opponent. Anyone who’s paid attention to Gotti’s battle rap career would know that he’s the rare rapper who can often have his 3rd round be his best and that can be argued here as the Compton, CA, rapper once again shows off the ability to kick that real, street shit that one can only speak on if they lived it. Spouting on the everyday, hard knock lives of himself as well as his homies, Geechi is well-equipped with those real (“I’m one of the realest nigger’s in this shit, I demand that stripe, my partner got a ‘L’, then they charged him with another body, yeah I said that right, ‘cuz ain’t never coming home, But somehow he got a second chance at life!”) polemics on surviving the streets, much less the mental and physical effects it has on those trapped in the hood. And while Shine once again came through with another witty, punch and wordplay-heavy, (“I palm the biscuit, heat-seeking till I find the victim, then take the sensors off…this non-explicit!”) gun-blasting turn that left you wanting more, altogether it just wasn’t enough to beat a more intricate and condensed turn by Gotti.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “All that clique shit in battle rap, I ain’t feeling it ‘cuz, you nigger’s was fighting over Twork like it was only one bitch in the club!”
Recap: Tough to call and as he mentioned in the battle, JC will definitely differ with this being a ‘debatable’, but with all categories considered and we’re done picking apart a superb punch-fest here with Ave, the verdict here is a draw. Which makes sense when you take in the long noted similar styles between the battlers, an elongated Ave getting turned up with the punches, (“If dance is rather what you’d be on, than young fella keep doing it, or fuck with the music…70’s porn!”) crazy set-ups/wordplay, aggressive urban street talk and braggadocio lines, but not-always-quite-so with the personals. While a more condensed JC, not always able to keep up with his opponent’s more finessed (esp. versus Ave’s fire 2nd round) repartee, still dished enough stifling heat, witty personals, fire name flips and potent schemes/punchlines to drop enough haymakers and edge round 3 after losing the 2nd and a debatable first. Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: JC – “I grab this, they wont remember his name, he’ll be past tense, he will literally go from Ave to Memory Lane”
Recap: Quick and gritty 1-rounder between DNA and Reed Dollaz has the latter kicking his renowned O.G. raps with plenty of braggadocios lines laced with a boatload of street scientifics–the type of adage Reed is known for, but not near enough on the potency side to beat a gun bar spazzing, punch-crazy, name flip fiending and more consistently nice DNA.
Verdict: DNA (W) 1-0
Favorite line: DNA – “If I see Reed snitching, I’m smacking him with the ‘matic, I’m shooting the rat out of Dollaz, I feel like Johnny Tapia in teh attic!”
Recap: Versatile, funny, humble and (“He ain’t put in work, he just followed the steps…Chereographic [Corey a graphic]!”) punch-heavy showing by Jimz (who also gets points here for dumping the lame props) gets beat by a personal-spazzing, consistently punchline-lit, (“I asked ‘Ganic for big opponent’s, [but] they asked for bigger checks, so he got that cheap gym [Jimz] pass for someone he could fit for less!”) name flip crazy and scheme-heavy Charron in this solid 3-rounder from KOTD. And while Charron (who also let his alter-ego ‘Billy Pistols’ get some shine in the battle) gets the 30 here, Jimz’s more bar-centric and competitive showing here is definitely he can build on.
Verdict: Charron (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Charron – “You’re a…I can’t say that, I’m mainstream now, but you’re a part of LBGTQ, that makes me proud, I truly respect how much you’ve Dragged Queens down!”
Recap: Spitfire, aggressive, performance-lit and bar-heavy 1-round battle between Viixen The Assassin and Coffee Brown from Black Ice is drenched with plenty of mayhem, hot punches, sizzling wordplay and stifling gun bars from both ladies. A close one with both battlers on their crowd-pleasing A-game, it’s one too many dry spots and predictable name flips from Viixen as well as a more consistently spicy and set-up fly Coffee that allows the latter to edge this one.
Verdict: Coffee Brown (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Coffee Brown – “I came in a problem bitch, you gonna have the same shit trying to leave this place, I get to gun-butting a bitch till pieces of the stick poking out her head like white Jesus face!”
Recap: Super fiery and competitive 1-rounder between Ace Amin and Jon Doe gets edged by the latter, who with his slightly more versatile array of jaunty punches, heat, wordplay, wit and gripping set-ups/mayhem was able beat back a strong, gun-flashing, gritty and bullish, but also a bit redundant turn from his bearded opponent.
Verdict: Jon Doe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Jon Doe – “The snub shoot and turn him into soup, I’m thinking Wonton, or I could bang on him with the long arm…I’m thinking Bron-bron!”
Recap: Anyone who has ever followed Cityy Towers battle rap career would know what a strong puncher he is. But Towers’ penchant for a high punch-acumen can sometimes get watered down when he leans it too heavily or in this case against J. Murda, segues back to punching even upon dishing fiery displays of wit and/or hitting personals. It’s a slight weakness that Murda takes advantage of here what with a hilarious round 1 that made no apologies for being all personal, before mixing it up a little bit and splitting the latter rounds with a variety of hard street semantics, rich schemes and aggressive, hardbody punchlines/performance bars.
Verdict: J. Murda (W) 2-1
Favorite line: J. Murda – “You go hula-hooping in a bagel…what you mad now, you gonna shoot at my ankles!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder versus Bill Collector, a slow start out the gate along some early stumbles ends up costing Nu Jersey Twork a win. After all, when Twork did get in his bag and pulled out a shitload of syrupy mayhem (tho some may wish he saved that fire ‘Kaboom!…little brother will never hold him up again!’ line for Hitman Holla if they were to ever battle), simply put, it was not only stellar across the board, but certainly condensed enough to beat a BC, who while spouting an elongated turn that was a bit costly when it came to pretty basic punchlines, produced enough hilarity with his (“The gun so big, to shoot it, I aim past you!”) fiery performance bars, sizzling name flips and witty personals to earn a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “[Bwoh!} see straight through Bill…ghost that!”
Recap: Aggressive and fiery with the set-ups, deft with the angles, hardbody on the schemes/name flips and slick with the wordplay/gun bars, O-Red sticks it to Iron Solomon twice in the first couple of rounds, both edging an opponent who while spouting a boatload of cold punchlines and steely personals throughout, overall couldn’t match Red’s consistency or bent for originality. That’s before a 3rd round that saw a heated ‘Jean Jacket’ Solomon up his wordplay game, consistency with the heat and punchline acumen to salvage the final turn.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “I done killed a lot of nigga’s, you bout to be dead with them, my flow is poison, create Carnage, Red Venom!”
Recap: Deftly taking on themes of a drug addict when he wasn’t scoring with a gang of blistering (“Growing up Luke Cage, every hoodie I had, had some holes in it!”) punchlines and witty barbs, in this dope 3-rounder from We Go Hard, Uncle Flip does enough overall to score a debatable (got Slade edging the opener, Flip round 2 and the 3rd debatable) with a righteous and even jocular at times, gun-bar blazing, plug-talking and punchline-lit Kyd Slade.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Kyd Slade – “You and that needle been separated for two days and now y’all back together, Curious George this Yellow nigga gonna have that monkey on his back forever!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from GOTG, both Erky Law and Lu Castro deliver a boatload of fiery mayhem and visceral street drama. But while Law flowed just as consistently, overall his more nifty raps weren’t able to match the potency, performance, punchline efficiency or sheer dalliance of Castro’s more rugged lines, thus giving Lu the win.
Verdict: Lu Castro (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Lu Castro – “If I walk in I’m shooting whoever Sun trust [SunTrust], you can bank on it!”
Recap: All the while proving himself to be unworthy of saving, Chef Trez cooks up a devilish plate of nasty punchlines/personals, salacious schemes and seedy gun lines to easily take the first two rounds and beat back a solid overall, but too hit-n-miss in the early rounds and none-too-Spiritually-connecting till the 3rd Loso in a long-awaited matchup between two ATL battlers with similar histories in the game.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Let’s talk, I battled DNA, Nitty, Chess, I faced real tiers, even Ryda, Mike P, Prep, some fire mid-tiers, so I’m not worried about facing you and your savior, I don’t feel fear, plus, I already stood in front of JC once…and I’m still here!”
Recap: Via some nice gun bars and spicy braggadocio lines, Father Focus Confucius puts forth a hearty effort in this 3-rounder from No Coast Raps. But a focused and well-prepared B. Magic is simply put one of the best in the game as proven again here where we see the St. Louis vet dish a boatload of stifling name flips, witty barbs and spitfire punchlines to easily garner a 30.
Verdict: B. Magic (W) 3-0
Favorite line: B. Magic – “Riding with mad cows, trying to check the beef, multiple head shots, look like he trying to catch a beat!”
Recap: With his at times witty and braggadocio barbs, credit Vodka for keeping the hometown Philly crowd entertained. But poetical stylings (and Tech-9isms) aside, with enough bullish raps, steely gun bars and stinging name flips/punches, Shotgun Suge does enough in this 1-rounder to make up for struggling with his flow towards the end of his turn and get the win.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “I’ll stretch him proper, you testing a monster, give him shots from a .50, effin’ Vodka!”
Recap: Super annoying co-host aside, veteran battle rapper Ness Lee and Rum Nitty (making a rare appearance outside of URL) put on a punch-heavy, wordplay banging, braggadocious and gun bar-lit show that much to the delight of the crowd at this Red Clay Entertainment & Rap Grid’s Atlanta vs Everybody battle, stayed close and competitive throughout. That said, it’s a more intricate-punching Rum who edges the 1st round, before a consistently nicer and gritty Lee takes the 2nd. However, in light of both battlers feasting on heavy punchlines in the deciding 3rd round, a it’s still more pointed and condensed Nitty who does just enough for the vic.
Verdict: Rum Nitty (W)
Favorite line: Rum Nitty – “Gun line king, I passed Roc, that’s a kidney stone!”
Recap: Pretty solid 1-rounder from Don’t Flop between Cortez and Gemin1 with both battlers bringing plenty of spicy punchlines and other hitting darts. Undoubtedly a close one with an almost equal amount of haymakers, with slightly less dry spots Cortex gets the edge here.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “Brooklyn, all day, we spray there and you know what?, life’s bittersweet but I was taught that I could taste fear!”
Recap: Mr. Wavy’s been requesting a battle with Brizz Rawsteen for a little while now and he finally gets it as part of a Smack Volume 3 card. Two battlers mostly known for their performance, it’s Wavy who edges round 1 with more consistently potent bars that were topped by a flexing execution of dope (“15 on his head, let the ratchet screen, eye squinted like the Japanese, fuck it, I could do two-for-20, Wecole to Applebee’s!”) punchlines and some nice wordplay. An elongated Wavy would come back in the 2nd with a solid, but less stellar turn that just had too many dry spots, in turn allowing a (“It’s Raw in front of you, this dope, not sushi Wave, naw it’s the moving blade on the side of ya head, giving you that Boosie fade!”) name-flipping, more eccentric with the performance bars, steely with the personals and bar (“Beasley called, said you got 30 days prep, I said cool, tell that nigger he got 30 days left!”) heavy Brizz to tie things up going into the 3rd. The 3rd would’ve been a close one with Wavy mixing in some fire punches with steady aggression, moxie, storytelling bars, nice set-ups and witty (“Yunno, the type of nigger, ou try to show them something in your phone and he just start going through ya shit?…Brizz look like he would do that shit!”) personals…until he surprisingly choked near the end of his turn, giving a pretty solid, braggadocios and still super nice with the personals/name flips Brizz the edge and get the win.
Verdict: Brizz Rawsteen (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brizz Rawsteen – “The difference between two high points is wavelength, bitch I’ll put you between two high points…Wave length!”
Recap: The Riot Rap Battles Initiation PG matchup between NXT and Ron Compton is a dope one with Compton’s well-finessed/gritty punches and slices of wit combining to score a shitload of haymakers (esp. during a spitfire round 3 that he edged) and keep things competitive throughout the bout. However, with his spicy ‘demon’ talk lighting up the room left and right, aggressive/fiery punchlines, piercing name flips, steely gun bars and blistering personals that not only rocked the crowd, but on stage clearly hit a nerve or two, it’s NXT who’s able to edge both of the opening rounds for the win.
Verdict: NXT (W) 2-1
Favorite line: NXT – “Oh, you wanna fight?, I gotta right that’ll split ya face in, you wanna be blood brothers?, my hands cut for it, let’s get to shaking!”
Recap: Gun bar drenched, name flip spazzing and punch-heavy battle between Holmzie Da God and Reepah sees the Loud Boyz capo use a more condensed turn to edge the first round before a turned up Reepah easily takes the 2nd. After two pretty exhilarating rounds, the deciding 3rd would be a bit of a let down from both battlers with some pontificating and filler meshed in their bars. Still, a more versatile and consistent Holmzie, who clearly seemed to want this battle more than his opponent, is able to dish enough heat for the win.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I grip the can and be the bigger man and let it go, pistol with me till the gun crack, get beat in the head by the handle, yeah your nigger’s gonna die after you bro, but you gonna be the first to get led [lead] by example!”
Recap: Dope battle between Bangz and Bedaffi Green comes down to the 2nd round as an elongated, but consistently spitfire and punchline/wordplay crazy Bangz takes the 1st, while a versatile, witty and more punch-heavy Bedaffi easily took the 3rd. And while the always aggressive and vigorous Beddafi puts forth a solid turn, round 2 and the win belongs to a freestyle/rebuttal dishing, personal spitting, set-up savvy and jocular Bangz.
Verdict: Bangz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bangz – “I came here literally to 30 this nigga, but watch [points hand like gun at Bedaffi’s head] how many rounds I give him!”
Recap: Yeah, Bad Newz went overkill with the name flips, but most of them were so fire that that argument is a wash. Factor in too a boatload of fiery punchlines, at times witty barbs and plenty of raucous gun bars/mayhem from Newz and in this very competitive 3-rounder from Bullpen Battle League and you’re left with Newz handily taking rounds 1 and 3 (round 2 was a debatable thanks to a dope rebuttal from Moneii) for the win over a pretty solid, aggressive throughout but not quite as consistent overall C Moneii.
Verdict: Bad Newz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bad Newz – “I wasn’t gonna bring up ya wife, how she be smashing all your bros, In Texas they call her the Grim Reaper ‘cuz in the hood she be snatching nigga’s souls, shit even let me bust [bus] from the back, word to Rosa Parks!”
Recap: Well, that was short. And judging from Chris Petty’s mostly so-so bars, he may want to double down on his Anglo-Saxon ‘privileged’ lifestyle and stick to the stock notes and portfolios. In other words, all Shotgun Suge here, who with his newfound gift for dunking and aggressive gun/bully bars to go hand-in-hand with one of the best vocal projections in battle rap, made this an easy and quick vic.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “The arm is deadly, kidnap his bitch…she got a better chance surviving R. Kelly!”
Recap: Consistently dishing his punches to an ill effect and coming nice with a load of Left-coast jargon and fiery name flips, Bedaffi Green’s first appearance on the West coast is a fire one. And tho the always highly strung (and confident) Cali Smoov keeps it close for two rounds with his own spicy punchlines and at times, clever wordplay, one too many so-so bars, gaffes on the personals and spotty sermonizing in the latter two rounds, leaves a far more steady Green with the win.
Verdict: Bedaffi Green (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bedaffi Green – “I seen that shit versus Emerson, even your man’s was losing hope, I ain’t seen somebody choke on Kennedy that hard since Marilyn Monroe!”
Recap: Displaying an adept ability to switch up from hardbody vibes to witty personals to tactical name flips, after a debatable 1st round here against a solid Funeral F.A.M.E., Real Sikh’s (who also had a couple of nice freestyles during the battle) wide array of rhymes and flexing haymakers allows him to easily take the latter two rounds for the win.
Verdict: Real Sikh (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Sikh – “Small muthafucka’s struggle the most, but that’s the experience that he’s after, where do you think he get his material as a rapper?, he had to climb to get the Fruit Loops off the fridge, that’s when he thought: ‘I got the serial on the ladder!'”
Recap: Cortez and Pass go back a long way’s so a little strange that it took them this long to battle. But with KOTD providing the platform, these two vets finally meet up on the stage and it’s a more consistent and versatile Cortez who takes this one in what was an entertaining and punch-heavy matchup with plenty of syrupy punchlines from both battlers, but also some quizzical moments like Pass wasting too many bars on not getting a chance at the KOTD chain and failing to be more crisp with his angles. The latter issue is something a confident Cort would take advantage of in the first couple of rounds with a deluge of fiery personals, flippant name flips, heated gun bars and other heated schemes/wordplay, all with an invigorating and tight flow that got him the aforementioned rounds, before an elongated turn in the 3rd (and Pass dishing his best round) cost him getting a shutout.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Cortez – “Boy, fuck your open nights at the Pit, cocky is how you come off, you from the era of Scribble Jam, but get treated like a jump-off!”
Recap: Taking advantage of a couple of recent unfortunate/notorious events that happened outside the battle rap ring towards Jimz was probably the easy part. But a focused Qleen Paper not only getting busy with spicy performance bars, but dishing lyrical heaters left and right…well, that was a bit unexpected and frankly speaking, dope to watch. Especially in a much-anticipated grudge match like this one. And while an at times self-deprecating, witty and punch-heavy Jimz was solid overall, one too many reaches along with some perplexing name-dropping and very so-so punches definitely hurt him in rounds 1 and 3, which to Qleen’s benefit, outside of a debatable 2nd, gave ‘Kitchen Qleen’ the win.
Verdict: Qleen Paper (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Qleen Paper – “Jimz, you only tough on the ‘Net, I know your type!”
Recap: Although it nearly led to fisticuffs, credit LP Dame for introducing ‘drunk rap’ to Gates of the Garden. And tho his bars may’ve come a little sloshed, Dame’s ability to dish his mostly hardbody lines with nary a slip-up does hint that something could be there if he were to rhyme yunno….sober. Still, for all of Dame’s loaded raps, a wary Bill Collector (with more than an able assist from the always eccentric LB Da Boss) does just enough, with a couple of nice freestyles and aggressive heaters mixed in, to ward off what would’ve been a mild upset.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “My niggas lined up for the kick, you the Concords!”
Recap: Setting aside a solid 3rd round that saw an otherwise pedestrian Thierry finally put it all together to deliver a pretty solid, punch-heavy turn that easily beat back a wayward round from his opponent, this one was all Jerry Wess. The Brooklyn battler killing it in a consistently spitfire, punch-heavy, witty and wordplay friendly 1st round, before dishing more of the same heat in a pretty solid 2nd to take the win.
Verdict: Jerry Wess (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jerry Wess – “You’ll see fresh prints [Fresh Prince] if I black on T…Aunt Vivian!”
Recap: When a couple of top tier battle rappers both bring their A-game, you have the potential for a epic matchup. And T Top versus Geechi Gotti meets almost all the criteria of being a memorable one: competitive throughout, haymakers raining down everywhere, heavy on the punches/name flips, a stickler for righteous personals and of course all the mayhem/gun talk/gang related spiels that one can stand for. A wittier, just-as-punch-heavy. schemes/storytelling-dishing and personal (“Speaking of last day, you said in January you was going to prison for a year, we was counting too, I guess he got a 5 minute sentence, then got out in 2!”) flexing Top edges a spitfire first round before Geechi unloads again with a just-as-fire-as-his-first, but slightly more versatile, personal (“Cuz the moment you joined NWX, Brizz joined Cave Gang and you was mad about that, so pretendin’ that you not is what we not gon’ do, you and cuz came in together, you was like damn Brizz, you was mad, why he could not go witchu, it instantly reminded you of the relationship witcha mother, ‘cuz now another person that you love chose Roc(k) over you!”) savvy and fire rebuttal spitting 2nd round that easily beats an overall solid and fiery, but not as potent turn by Top. The 3rd and deciding round is a close one with the once-again-rebuttal-kicking Gotti still slinging a diverse and (“I remember being outside shooting, goin’ in the house, my mama be like, ‘Son, be careful. Somebody was just shootin’ outside!'”) steely, but also at times funny barrage of wicked punchlines, while Top mostly went the sermonizing route with a gang of righteous (“If Crips wasn’t so fucking disloyal, Bloods wouldn’t even exist!”) pontifications and other braggadocios lines that brought down a whole lot of heat on his opponent’s well-documented gangster lifestyle. However, the feeling here is a more condensed and unwavering Gotti edging the round for the win.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “Only thing scarier than being chased by a shooter, is going to trial and the witness showing up!”
Recap: The guess here is that the ‘Sensei Saga’ version isn’t much for the Bible talk, as Th3 Saga uses mostly biting name flips, heated gun bars and stinging, non-religious punchlines/schemes to dish a palette of righteous haymakers and easily beat a seemingly wary RI 28 Grams in this 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “So go ahead with talking about my squad and how I left the X ‘cuz I’m a quitter, but the blessing under, was Precious mother, boy I had to drop the set for something bigger!”
Recap: Can it get any worse for Chess? Stumbling left and right and choking all three rounds during this Verbal War Zone battle over beats against Fire Da Misfit, who amazingly enough anticipated, over and over again, that his opponent would in fact choke. Still, for all of Chess’ miscues, FDM can still take pride in the fact that his dope cadence, fiery bully bars, stifling performance and rapid punchline pedigree were all so nice that no one could certainly blame him for ‘ruining’ any footage. But damn if Chess’ skill set hasn’t fallen so much that you start to wonder if he’ll ever get it back.
Verdict: Fire Da Misfit (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Fire Da Misfit – “That’s cool, let me show you how my hood do, the .50 give you the ‘L’ like Roman numerals!”
Recap: When he wasn’t often hilariously mocking his opponent’s catchphrase/moniker (“Bar God!”), for the first couple of rounds during this matchup versus set-up crazy, rapidly (“You usin’ an old system, them played out schemes, you gon’ be sorry nigga, now the fuck you birthed the S.O.N.S. [sons] and still end up on Maury nigga?!?”) punching and rebuttal-heavy Danny Myers, QP keeps up with his fellow West-coast vet’s fiery punches and gritty punchlines with his own series of crafty (“Thinking like a caveman, my first thought was fire!”) wordplay and distinctively witty barbs. But as is sometimes the case, QP’s penchant for a lack of effort during battles appears once again, even during a solid turn in the deciding 3rd round that while lit with some dope punches still seemed more performance bent than prepped to win. And with Myers work ethic never coming into question, a winning 3rd round drenched with a litany of hitting braggadocios lines, gripping name flips, stinging freestyles and gripping personals, handily gives Danny the 21.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I am human fentanyl, I obliterate rappers, scientists taught me that quantum physics manipulates matters!”
Recap: Not much comp here as Ace Amin’s gritty street chatter, charitable pontifications, stunted gun bars and frenzied name flips/punchlines combine to easily beat back a loud and boisterous, but mostly pedestrian turn from Villa in this 1-rounder from Capitol Battlegrounds.
Verdict: Ace Amin (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ace Amin – “This shit will peel your burns, twin Mac’s, 2 11’s, just for you…nigga the steel reserved!”
Recap: Even with a fire 3rd round himself, Lu Castro might’ve been a little lucky that Street Hymns couldn’t put it all together, that is as far as intricate haymers, till the end. That prognosis speaks to Hymns’ dubious struggles in the earlier rounds of this overall solid PG, whether it was low potency with the more abstract screeds, a little too much attention towards Nu Jerzey Twork, not enough faith-based lines or scoring a trifecta when it came to slip-ups in a haphazard 2nd round. Not to take too much away from Castro tho, whose consistent aggression was more often than not matched by gritty schemes, seismic gun play.bully bars and steely wordplay/punchlines that worked to carrol him the first two rounds and the win.
Verdict: Lu Castro (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lu Castro – “I need that bread tho, I’m out here robbing God’s people in the name of the dollar…Creflo!”
Recap: Nice, flexing and punchline-spazzing 2nd round by Street Hymns makes for a debatable. But other than that one too many supbar name flips as well as a couple of inconsistent turns by Hymns in both the 1st and 3rd rounds in lieu of an opponent in Lotta Zay who came well-prepared with a boatload of steady heat, prideful boasts and wide-angled punches, gives the Team Homie member the win.
Verdict: Lotta Zay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Lotta Zay – “You think you the only one good with God?, fam I swear, it’s like Martin and Bruh Man, it’s like our relationship funny at times, but I’m cool with the man upstairs!”
Recap: Whew! Not sure if it can get any more disrespectful than this as Shooney Da Rapper and QB trade the most scathing personals on sick relatives, kids, hygiene, friendship drama and vulgar sexual dalliances that all gave new meaning to insolence in battle rap. And while QB may be used to getting it back from a style she helped birth, seeing a just-as-brazen Shooney go after her gf’s dead grandma like that was still a sight to behold. A close battle that also contained some fiery punchlines and dope name flips from each battler, the more cleaner flowing, witty at times and more haymaker-lit QB wins the battle by taking each of the opening rounds, before a more condensed and bar efficient Shooney took the 3rd.
Verdict: QB (W) 2-1
Favorite line: QB – “You need God, but you won’t repent, you a slob, turn into a ho for rent, you fucked Rex, Fetti, Twork, Factor, with them kind of names she could’ve fucked around and thrown her own event!”
Recap: Dope, 1-rounder from Black Ice Cartel sees Cleveland emcee Meatrice deliver a variety of piercing punchlines that ranged from funny to hardbody to personal. Yet while stretching the limits on name flip overload, but still taking advantage of her opponent’s moniker with spicy bar after bar to go with some witty personals and plenty of bruising punches, a more haymaker-lit Viixen The Assassin gets the win here.
Verdict: Viixen The Assassin (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Viixen The Assassin – “The gang said give her a chance Vix, she might be hot, boy Rice better come with everything, food at a Chinese spot!”
Recap: Don’t know what, if anything, happened between these two before the battle, but whatever the case the raspy, struggle life stylings of Boss Status sure did light a fire under Chef Trez, who delivers a 1-round ‘ass-whipping’ to his opponent with, to start things off, ‘3 of them thangs’ before proceeding to dish a shitload of spitfire names flips, red-dotted gun bars and a plethora of righteous punchlines.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “Who the fuck told you could battle me?, dog just stop, I ain’t hearing nuthin’ Boss saying, I’m off the clock!”
Recap: With a boatload of fierce schemes/personals, hardbody punchlines and sterling name flips, Young Kannon makes quick and easy work of a confident and mayhem-dishing, but too par the course Polo.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “Every time we see Polo choking, like the short too small!”
Recap: From Verbal War Zone, 3 rounds with Wutang’s “Triumph”, Braveheart’s “Oochie Wally” and Mobb Deep “Shook Ones 2” serving as beats, you can’t go wrong with the instrumentals. Too bad, outside of a dope 3rd round from both battlers (which the harder-hitting Big Hann edged), the punches in the earlier rounds were mostly so-so. Still, it’s the more consistently-lit bar-wise and slightly more flow-astute DNA who takes rounds 1 and 2 for the win.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “Your legacy got a recipe with another style, don’t mention me, I’ll make pedigree out of Puppy Chow!”
Recap: As expected, when Daylyt comes to actually rap, his anecdotal, oft-abstract play with the words stylings can make things competitive in almost any battle. As is the case here in this heated 1-rounder versus T Top, where Daylyt’s punches are often (“They ain’t seasoned for this type of beef, let that marinate!”) effective and/or stinging. But at the end of the day, a few too many pedestrian bars from Day along with a versatile T Top scoring at will throughout his turn via a variety of seismic name flips, fierce schemes, ill trap talk, fire (“Scope on him, my career based on a long shot like the new Madden!”) gun lines and potent personals/punchlines would just prove to be too much to overcome.
Verdict: T Top (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T Top – “.30 clip, inf beam, they go with it, bald head, dum-dum, like a Tommy and Cole visit!
Recap: From WarTown Battles, up against a gritty, often punch/personal/name flip-heavy and hard-hitting Clone, after losing out on round one, Bill Collector pulls out all stops (including the Supa-Dupa-Scope all the way from Augusta) via a bunch of potent punchlines, jaunty name flips, witty barbs and stifling gun bars to edge both of the latter rounds for the win.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “I love to bring the block down, I’m a Tetris fan!”
Recap: Spirited and competitive grudge match between two WGH vets, Brooklyn Carter and Dougy, fittingly comes down to the 3rd round after the pair split the first rounds with an almost equal barrage of fiery gun lines, a few spicy personals here and there and potent punchlines that had Dougy edging the 1st, before B.C came back barking a little harder to edge the 2nd. However, after a solid and fiery (but redundant with the ‘tongue ring’ personals) turn by Dougy and a bit of a slow start to his turn, a confident and raucous Carter comes back punching heavy from a variety of angles dipped with more than enough visceral haymakers to take the round and earn the win.
Verdict: Brooklyn Carter (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brooklyn Carter – “Switch the tactic, I grip the ‘matic and get dramatic, Electric Slide, I do numbers on the floor with bodies, it’s systematic!”
Recap: Young Kannon may think differently, but there’s no doubt here that Moolah 3X is at least affiliated with K-Shine’s ‘Zip ‘Em Up’ crew, what with such a similar, demeanor and aggression plus K Shine-like hardbody (“Hawk in the air?!, Dominique with the J’s on!”) heaters and fierce bars. But while Shine has the ability to punch and perform heavier, stay condensed with his rounds and get more versatile with the bars, to Moolah’s detriment, way too many name flips and 3 elongated rounds hurts his chances here. Thus leading to YK, after dominating the 1st round with consistency nicer punches/personals, a better performance and fire (“The weapon wild, Cannon with a drum, that’s Devin Miles!”) gun bars to edge the latter two rounds with a steadier mix of artful/potent bangers.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “I’m gripping the nose, like Craig in the bathroom when his pop shittin’!”
Recap: When this battle was 1st announced, I thought Nu Jerzey Twork was getting a Top Tier vet like DNA too soon. But hey. Twork is not only hot, but along with Tay Roc, he’s like the face of URL right now, so in that vein it makes sense to match him up with almost anybody, regardless of tier. And then, to see Twork use a fire, rambunctious and (“Expose DNA with the black light…Room Raider!”) haymaker-drenched 1st round to edge things to start….well, feel free to slap me silly for doubting the timing of this matchup. But then, as the battle proceeded on, everything started falling apart. That is, a despite a couple elongated rounds from DNA that were both pretty solid with the usual assortment of stinging jabs, potent (“Saw the gun and made the nigger freeze on sight, that’s Smack with Pay-per-view!”) gun lines and saucy personals, Twork just lost it, literally struggling with his flow and having to pause a few times in a shortened 2nd round, before choking away the deciding 3rd round after like 2 minutes in front of a stunned crowd (including a pretty shocked Smack). Yeah, maybe they should’ve waited on putting these two together.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “Both of my parents did drugs, seeing mommy shoot up made me burst in tears, see, that’s the difference a nigger who steals purses and a nigger who perseveres!”
Recap: Featuring some mean personals, Vic Wallace puts forth another solid turn on the Gates of the Garden stage here against Holmzie Da God. But an elongated round with one too many missteps on the set-ups along with fire execution from Holmzie with the punches, personals and performance bars, gives the more condensed Loud Boy the win.
Verdict: Holmzie da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie da God – “You’re not getting a URL shot after this, is you stupid? don’t be dumb dog, and if you was to, I’ll wait till the event over, as soon as I see you leaving the PGs [bwoh!] I’m letting One Off!”
Recap: When you’re equipped with the unique ability to freestyle and rebuttal like Prep can, you’re almost never out of a battle no matter how dope your opponent is or how unprepared you are with your written’s. Still, for all of Prep’s off-the-dome (the ‘Wayans’ rebut in particular was dope) aptness and at times potent wordplay/punches, if the other guy is dropping a wide mix of haymakers, from gritty name flips to searing personals to lofty punchlines and more, one can still risk the chance at losing. And with that, as much as Prep is able to compete despite some verbal misgivings, a slightly more consistently gritty with the punches, nice with the wordplay and confident Dre Fly gets the edge in what turned out to be a fiery 1-rounder from GOTG.
Verdict: Dre Fly (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Fly – “Fuck that, these the fags you came with?, none of them look dangerous, you been riding around with fruits…edible arrangements!”
