No Bias. No Narratives.
Recap: From The Battle Academy, a 1-round crazy punchfest that was highlighted by Bill Collector’s zany wit, Fis Da Beast’s relentless punch game and mocking personals on both sides was by edged Da Beast who even when it seemed like he was losing some steam towards the end of his round, turned it back up with enough gritty haymakers to earn the win.
Verdict: Fis Da Beast (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Fis Da Beast – “I know you hearing me, straight up, I’ll rock him [Rakim] fuck wherever Eric be!”
Recap: From Don’t Flop, a witty at times freestyle battle between DNA and Mosprob in which both battlers acknowledged their screw-ups, it’s the more consistently on-point DNA who takes both of the opening rounds for the win before getting edged in the 3rd.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “So why you act like you tough and ypu can murder it dog, when those sneakers you got on make you look like Kermit the Frog!”
Recap: Pitted against a boatload of blistering gun bars over the course of 3 rounds from Duce, a personal-spazzing (esp. during angle-lit 3rd round where he put on a judge’s robe to get extra judicious with the pen), mayhem craven and punchline/wordplay-crazy Riggz spouts enough lyrical shiners to take the 1st and 3rd (call the 2nd a draw) rounds and earn the win in this dope battle from Bullpen Battle League.
Verdict: Riggz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Riggz – “I’m a goon for real nigga, I just so happen to rap, see this finger and a thumb?, I will actually snap!”
Recap: Sticking it to his punchline-bent opponent, Born, with earnest derision throughout the battle, Chilla Jones also flexes his versatile pen with a host of admirable name flips, pointed personals (that even included using a chart to highlight Born’s up-n-down battle career), ill braggadocios (“OK, let me stop there, this was suicide, he can’t hang unless I show him the ropes!”) darts and fiery schemes/punches to take the first two rounds for the win. Born, who was for the most part pretty (“I put in work to get to Chill…paid vacation!”) solid, but still struggled a bit with his flow in the earlier rounds, did manage to put his punch-heavy, verbal/wordplay semantics altogether in a fire 3rd round that saved him from getting 3-0’d.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “He get to work around 5, then I’m showing up at 4:30, so if he show up prematurely, then I’m getting Born…early!”
Recap: From Spittaz League, he didn’t receive the Jordan’s from his opponent for his baby that he’s been looking for, but a sublime, punch-heavy, super well-crafted and versatile 2nd round after a condensed, gritty, bar-efficient and personal/punchline-lit 1st by Hollaluyah Jones gets the Queens battler the win here in this 3-rounder over a brazen, performance-stunting and gift-giving, but elongated and topsy-turvy (till round 3, which he edged) run by Dizzy Spadez.
Verdict: Hollaluyah Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Hollaluyah Jones – “I love the crack game so much [‘How much?’] I signed all my feens out of rehab!”
Recap: Bullpen Battle League 1-rounder between G Lowe and J Mase comes with some fiery darts from the Jersey-bred Mase. But an at times righteous G Lowe on top of his game with a gang of blistering personals, bruising punchlines and often witty bangers proves to be too much for his topsy-turvy opponent in the end.
Verdict: G Lowe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: G Lowe – “Homey your life is trash, you don’t even wear your glasses better than me!”
Recap: Often criticized for lack of bar potency, in this long-awaited 3-round match versus Tay Roc, Hitman Holla proves the naysayers wrong, utilizing a wide array of piercing punchlines along with flexing personals, scintillating name flips and some head-ringing gun lines to take the first two rounds and win this battle. Indeed, while his opponent suffered from way too many redundant gun lines, the usually performance-heavy Hitman seemed bent on taking out Roc with a consistently fiery punch-game. And he did so, which not only kept the crowd buzzing, but even included a fly 2nd round rebuttal. Ironically, it wouldn’t be till the 3rd round that Roc (who long requested this battle) would earn his keep, finally mixing it up more with the heat, but also scoring with some rugged punchlines/personals to edge a solid turn by Hitman and salvage the final round.
Verdict: Hitman Holla (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Hitman Holla – “I’ll knock Tay out, then pull a K out, and light the whole Cave up like I’m trying to find my way out!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, a boisterous So Severe, using a load of stinging braggadocio lines, gritty struggle bars and some loud mayhem easily beats back a Bill Collector, who with a struggle to find his grind throughout, was clearly not on his A-game.
Verdict: So Severe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: So Severe – “But what’s up Billy pop, this bitch nasty on the mic, he Jilly Scott!”
Recap: A generational battle between two Harlem vets, a returning-to-the-stage Jae Millz and gritty stalwart K-Shine, the most noteworthy part of what was otherwise a pretty one-sided match, was Millz readily admitting in round 3 to coming back to battle rap for the check: “Who said that I don’t do this shit for the culture?, Little nigger, I was battling for free for the longest, so let’s be honest, why would I not come back and get the bag that I’m owed, y’all actually paying homage!” That said, other than a tight first round that saw Millz’ cocky and punch-heavy bars almost display enough bite to keep up with a more versatile, personal-savvy, scheme-heavy and consistently (“This is Harlem, you know what’s up, double them up, crab sticks?, wasn’t enough, butter them up!”) fire Shine, this wasn’t close. Especially in the 2nd round where Millz literally time-traveled back to the late 90’s/ early 2000’s and brought back a shitload of dated (yes, that was a wrestling NWO scheme) bars that many predicted beforehand would be his downfall. And while Millz was able to pick things back up with a more solid 3rd, his frequent use of very basic bars not only had the crowd bothered, but along with a motivated Shine, who while not quite on his A-game punch-wise, still served up enough exquisite personals, stinging name flips, witty barbs and fiery performance bars in the latter rounds to dominate the battle and receive Harlem bragging rights.
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 3-0
Favorite line: K-Shine – “Lazy chef, I take out Millz when I don’t feel like cooking!”
Recap: 1-rounder from The Colosseum Battle League, Reggie Kush uses a roast session stew of witty fat jokes in addition to some hitting personals/punchlines and piercing name flips/set-ups/storytelling bars to outscore and beat back a pretty solid and gritty, but not as consistent effort from Hollaluyah Jones.
Verdict: Reggie Kush (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Reggie Kush – “You the fat nigga who break all the plastic chairs at the barbecue!”
Recap: If it wasn’t for that lame Hitman Holla impersonation in a very close Round 1, this one would’ve been a 30 as Emerson Kennedy proceeds to use a variety of slick punchlines, potent (“He don’t talk letting the lead spit, I respect a weapon that end’s shit, I’ll never trust 2nd Commandment over the 2nd Amendment!”) personals and nifty (“You just Iverson with the braids, stuck on the fucking shelf, spent too much time on the cross and didn’t practice nothing else!”) wordplay to overtake an overall solid-till-the-end-of-his-3rd, spiritual and punch-heavy, but too often sermonizing Th3 Saga in this mostly fire Initiation battle from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Emerson Kennedy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “I’m set apart, the oddball in my clique that won’t spray Ruger’s, the only who one who acts like my father…I’m O’Shea Jr.!”
Recap: A pair of gritty, hardbody battlers, Snake Eyez and a rarely seen Brooklyn Hanz, go at it for 3 rounds on the 7Cities Sharks stage and results are a bit mixed with Snake at his gulliest, (“You stopping cabs Brooklyn?, because that’s the only time we see Hanz [hands] waving!”) name-fliiping, scheme-savvy best dishing raunchy punches with consistent flair to beat back an aggressive, but less potent Hanz in the first. Things would flip a bit in the latter rounds, however, with a more condensed Hanz stepping up his game by adding a bit of wit to his bullish repertoire, thus forcing a debatable 2nd round with a sometimes fire, but less consistent Snake, before Hanz edges the 3rd over what was a pretty uneven turn from his opponent.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Brooklyn Hanz – “You certified when your OG’s reference me!”
Recap: In front of a UK Code Red crowd, Real Deal and Quill both put on an entertaining show littered with witty barbs, dope punchlines and solid off-the-dome theatrics. A tight battle that also featured Deal devoting an entire 3rd round to Charlie Clips’ affability and Quill spouting a fire mid-round freestyle, after a more condensed Quill edged the 1st and a 2nd round debatable, the more cohesive and congenial Mr. Deal takes the final round to force a draw.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Quill – “Out of all the places I’ve been, your city is the least frightening, you imagine your hood as something else…Grease Lightning!”
Recap: Besides a rim-rocking, personal and punch-heavy 1st round from JC, for two battlers well-known for their ferocious pens, JC vs. Iron Solomon, while solid throughout, certainly didn’t live up to the conventional hype. Still, with only 3 weeks prep, it’s probably not fair to have expected more to what turned out to be a tight and exciting match. And while Iron, after an up-n-down 1st, came back in the 2nd with a wittier, more potent turn that featured more braggadocio lines with an upturn of polemic wizadry, it’s a back-to-flexing (and more versatile) JC who takes the deciding 3rd with one too many haymakers to beat back another solid, taciturn round from Iron that like his 1st, just came with a few too many dry spots.
Verdict: JC (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JC – “Ask K-Shine, Smack is the only thing separating you from Charron!”
Recap: As proven again here, giving yourself a generic moniker in battle rap can often mean roadkill for intricate punchers like Th3 Saga, who in this 1-round battle from GOTG, amongst other things goes ham with the name flips thrown at his opponent Wordz. Indeed, Saga’s tenacious bars on Wordz’ handle along with other fiery punchlines/personals and stinging set-ups would easily outpoint the mostly pedestrian lines from his competitor.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “With [makes fists] these, I move faster than Michael Myers when the camera’s off him!”
Recap: Tough one to call as it stayed close and competitive throughout. But after getting out-punched by a (“Put a nigger under those white sheets, he Clayton Bigsby!”) slicker, punchline/mayhem-savvy and more versatile Young Kannon in the first, Pass comes back with a more (“When my son was born, I had an AK under my bed nigger…he wasn’t scared of monsters!”) fiery, real talk spazzing and punch-heavy 2nd round to beat back a solid, but not-nearly-as-potent turn by YK. The 3rd and deciding round was a bit elongated on both sides, but still solid turn by each battler, that was tight enough to probably warrant a debatable if not for a couple of nice ‘Wakanda’ freestyles in the middle of his round by Pass. And while YK came back with a rare rebuttal, with an equal amount of haymakers and length in rounds, it’s the veteran Pass’ ability for off-the-dome shiners that gets him the edge and the win here.
Verdict: Pass (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pass – “You Chicago niggers not even known for shooting, y’all known for dying!”
Recap: Damn, if that Big Pun “You Ain’t A Killer” beat isn’t still fire in 2018. Besides that, anyone familiar with Cortez’s overall resume, mixtapes, singles, etc. over the years, knows full well how battling over a beat is second nature for him. So much so, as proven here against a resolute, but nowhere-near-as-nice Buttah From The Block, that with the Murder Ave vet’s ability to endlessly spit rapid bar after bar with gritty cadence, this battle really wasn’t a fair contest.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “Closed casket, now your features got smothered, looking down like ‘Yo, I can’t believe it’s not Butter!'”
Recap: In a battle of two former UFF champions, Ill Will uses ear-ringing name flips, hitting personals/schemes, a barrage of aggressive mayhem, spicy hometown references and witty/fiery punchlines to easily beat back a solid overall, but seemingly none-too-motivated-with-the-pen T Top. Indeed, energetic throughout, backed by a sterling performance and galvanized at showing a festive Houston crowd who the real champ is, it’s a virtuoso showing from Will that could’ve equated to a classic if Top hadn’t come with raps that were seemingly originally left on the cutting room floor.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “I riddle nigger’s, every time I hit these stages, my buzz get a little bigger, spread all the rumors you want, I been sick of nigger’s, Benjamin Button, I been 100 since a little nigger!”
Recap: A well-lit punch-fest between Mackk Myron and Reepah Rell stays close and competitive throughout with both battlers dishing hard shiners and other lyrical heaters that varied from sterling name flips to fierce personals to salacious wordplay to feelgood bravado to ample bouts of mayhem. Add to that a handful of rebuttals from Reepah along with a couple of freestyles from Mackk and the verdict here is a more intricate, (“Ill pull up with something in the coat like Hustle Man!”) punch-heavy and slightly more consistent Rell taking the first round, before Mackk edges the 2nd with a couple of dizzying (“Let Gwitty move while I’m fucking you up, he getting all the noise, I’ll put your face on his head like the Waterboy!”) haymakers that were clearly the best bars of the entire round. The deciding 3rd round saw a still witty and fiery Mackk get extra personal and blistering with extra might, but Reepah ends up taking the round and the win in the end with jocular/braggadocio stylings along with some dope wordplay/’Old Head Bars’ to pull off the vic.
Verdict: Reepah Rell (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Reepah Rell – “The biggest thing about you is being known for Will like a caveman!”
Recap: AHAT vet Nov’s gritty punches keeps him in the battle, but with a bag of stinging punchlines, searing wordplay, witty barbs, rugged name flips and spitfire personals that kept the crowd lit, in thsi fiery 3-rounder Yung Griz’s consistent and more versatile mix of fire, brimstone and mayhem earns him the 30.
Verdict: Yung Griz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Yung Griz – “You’re my friend on Instagram and it’s gross…it’s not even BBW, y’all have the same body, ya both shaped like B’s that looks like double U’s!”
Recap: How do you half-ass your way through a battle and still win? Well, first the battle should only be a round. Then your opponent (in this case JR) spits a bunch of gritty and aggressive, but mostly pedestrian shit before cutting his round short after 3 minutes. Then if you’re a crafty battle vet like Bill Collector, despite having very little motivation to rap other than earning your paycheck, you rely on a gang of nifty freestyles, an always reliable ‘Gun so big…’ bar and some witty barbs/personals to get through a matchup that you seemingly didn’t even write for and somehow still take home the W.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “Yo J, the four-pound knock ya grandmom down, she hit the ground and make grandmom sounds!”
Recap: Notwithstanding both B. Dot and Mike P.not quite bringing their A-game’s, this West-coast Initiation battle between the two still makes for a solid and competitive effort. Mike P., however disjointed with his angles and punches in losing a close 1st round, still manages to not only stay away from the typical ‘conscious rapper/gang member’ conundrums associated with his opponent, but bring enough haymakers and more consistent verbal spitfire to edge the 2nd to split things going into the 3rd. But B. Dot, who for all his political awareness, rapid punchlines and racial austere, can still suffer from one too many dry spots when it comes to bars, would come through with a thunderous 3rd, spitting rich narratives on inequality, well-researched (and fiery) personals on his opponent’s past struggle bars (esp. Mike’s battle vs. Shotgun Suge) and potent barbs on white privilege to beat back a versatile and solid at times, but also inconsistent and angle-perplexing turn by Mike.
Verdict: B. Dot (W) 2-1
Favorite line: B. Dot – “I can take you on a crash course on how they dump drugs in L.A. and came back around with the armor trucks, put us on smack to kill us, now you on Smack gettin’ killed…nigga, karma sucks!”
Recap: Yeah, in this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden, Drugz recycles (check him vs. Oozie) a lot and as lazy as that might be, they’re still his bars and damn if some of his (including the original one’s) set-ups and punches weren’t fire as well as more than enough to beat a gritty, but not nearly as potent (or consistent) Truth.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Drugz – “I never loss, I’m a whole different nigger inside the gates…Luca Brasi!”
Recap: Confidently dishing a cocky load of personals, residual mayhem (“Nigga just a sacrificial lamb, he gonna die being the goat!”) and fiery punchlines, for two rounds anyway Kush impresses enough to put up a serious fight with Chef Trez. But elongated turns from Kush that lessened the impact of his haymakers and a mediocre 3rd round, plus a more condensed Trez who stayed on point with a series of salacious (“He try to run through and zip-zag, my nigga that’s good, till I hide him in a forest, but we all know Kush can’t last in them backwoods!”) name flips, a couple of nice rebuttals, stinging gun bars and some fire schemes throughout the battle, gives the Chef yet another vic.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I raise the pound well, and it’s my color…that’s Black excellence!”
Recap: A 1-round grudge match from CGBL Battle league features a solid showing from Remedy Loko who in-between some filler here and there, spouts a host of fierce name flips and hot punchlines against the ever ready Chef Trez. But even with an able effort from his oppoenet, in the long run Trez takes this one, proving to be overall more consistent with the bars as well as nicer with the spicy gun lines, virtuous punchlines and potent schemes.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I’ll put the gun to your own head while you stand over your friends, damn the nigger bled on me, I thought he wasn’t going to do it, but he put it all on his dead homies!”
Recap: Not that the gritty semantics of Ash-Lee didn’t deliver a solid and punch-heavy at times turn. But Fiirst Ladii Flamez’ more intricate bars/wordplay and stinging name flips/multi’s clearly had her beat…if not for the flow-challenged Flamez’s giving up and choking away her round in this 1-rounder from The Zoo Battle League.
Verdict: Ash-Lee (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Fiirst Ladi Flamez – “You think I care about you coming out here and giving it your best?, Bitch, I’m your fight of the year, you only here so I could work on my left!”
Recap: In a highly entertaining, fiery and competitive 3-rounder from Krack Liberty Battle League that also featured Bill Collector with a bunch of his dopest 1-2 punching, raucous and witty best (close enough to score round 2 debatable) a couple (including a classic round 1) of stellar-name flipping, punch-heavy, personal-lit and brazen when needed rounds by A. Ward gets the Christian battle rapper the win.
Verdict: A. Ward (W) 2-1
Favorite line: A. Ward – “So this where the game end, blame Zim, the man tried me, said he had an idea he needed ran by me, then I got that Bill Collector call, y’all know…scam likely!”
Recap: Flexing gun bars, your resident name flips and habitual mayhem on both sides of this 1-rounder from Close Combat Battle League, sees a little more gun-savvy and consistently potent Drugz get the 1-up on a solid till his slip-up towards the end Oozie.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Drugz – “Infrared, I kept the light on for you like Motel 6!”
Recap: In this 1-rounder versus the prolific Dre Dennis, a versatile D Mars makes a solid effort with steady aggression, wit and gritty punchlines. But one too many pedestrian freestyles/bars, an unnecessary tag-in and an opponent showcasing an ability to flex with his punches with or without the added heat, a haymaker-spazzing Dre just proves to be too much in the end.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “I want your jewelry too bitch, or the Ruger will be ruthless, make this Chi bitch give it up like ‘I don’t usually do this!'”
Recap: In yet another smaller league battle for Nu Jerzey Twork, his opponent Mr. Hyde puts forth a solid showing featuring resident mayhem along with some nice personals that should prepare Twork for what he’ll no doubt receive on the big stage in lieu of his recent blink-and-you-missed-it membership in NWX, Still, as he displays again here, a well-prepared Twork is an unstoppable Twork and unfortunately for Mr. Hype, that means a resounding barrage of seismic punchlines, raucous heaters and boisterous performance bars that easily gets the now-just-a-Goonie this spicy 1-rounder.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “I’m raising up, run in ya crib, let the blazers dump, cremate you, make your mother smoke her son ashes…and I just told her it’s angle dust!”
Recap: After a brief hiatus from battle rap, Th3 Saga returns to the scene for this Gates of the Garden 1-rounder versus up-n-comer Rush TYG. A solid battle overall that sees Rush’s loud, boisterous punches periodically go over the fence, it’s still a more confident, versatile, witty, personal/punchline-spazzing and oft-reverent with the wordplay Saga who easily gets the win here.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “You all a fraud, all this bravado will send your coffin off, the iron clicking, Brian Griffin…you just talking dog!”
Recap: The talk here of course, will be Loso finally doing a PG. But here we also find yet another lesson in how getting away from what works for you can put you on the losing end of the stick. As Scotty, loose, witty, entertaining and creative in the 1st round to force a debatable, switches up for a plethora of pedestrian bars and otherwise redundant themes against an opponent, who while hitting consistently with a variety of solid punches and hometown shiners, wasn’t quite on his A-game throughout. For the latter two rounds anyway, it was still Loso by a wide margin for what ended up being a solid win in what was a long-awaited URL debut.
Verdict: Loso (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Loso – “See, the first part of my movie, left an impression on you, adn although it took you a long time to see it, now you know I’m Incredible 2!”
Recap: Despite struggling with his flow at times and nearly choking, the always gun-centric Dougy manages to dish a fire rebuttal as well as enough epic mayhem to edge this 1-rounder against a mostly pedestrian Problems.
Verdict: Dougy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dougy – “Team full of rock-climbers, they all strapped, I’m a cameraman with the beam, code word for shoot: ‘Record that!'”
Recap: From Body Bag Battle League, scoring with some ill wordplay throughout his 3 rounds that was especially nice when it came to potent set-ups, name flips, gritty punches and boastful barbs, a slightly more condensed and efficient Klutz does enough to edge each round for the win over a versatile and often punch-lit, but not as efficient overall S.P.A.D.E.
Verdict: Klutz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Klutz – “I ain’t playing Spade, but it’s like you playing Spades it’s the perfect time to play a spade, you ain’t notice? everybody around got heart except you!”
Recap: A witty at times, mayhem-enhanced and blistering Proving Grounds punchfest between J Slash and G Lowe sees the latter take it in the end as after getting edged by his punch-heavy and more condensed opponent in round 1, G Lowe sticks with his arsenal of consistently raucous bangers and ringing set-ups that with the help of Slash struggling a bit with his flow in the deciding 3rd round, gives Lowe the latter two rounds and the win.
Verdict: G Lowe (W) 2-1
Favorite line: G Lowe – “You a 80s baby so you should know the .40 ain’t far!”
Recap: Sometimes one side just does a little more. Pretty solid overall with the bars, extra (“I handle llama’s and send the drama, to end the karma, have the Chef surrounded…reservations at Benihana’s!”) fierce with an aggressive performance, mocking his opponent with witty schemes/personals and willing to take a few risks here and there with the pen (tho I’d x-nay rebutting yourself), Mr. Wavy edges rounds 2 and 3 and pulls off a minor upset over the favored Chef Trez, who while finessing with spicy rebuttals, some fine freestyles and fiery (“But it’s Mr. “Debatable”, till I squeeze a K, it’s gonna hit you, or your people’s face, now it’s really debatable, ‘cuz I’ma put it two one (2-1) either way!”) schemes/personals/wordplay throughout, would fall victim to not only a fight that occurred in the crowd midway thru his 2nd round (that admittedly threw him off, tho he had a fire [“I had this crafted perfectly, but nigger’s sabotaging the fucking picture…all that fighting in the crowd, whatever dog, y’all some sucker niggers and Smack, I’m sorry that shit had to happen, you know I’m fucking with you, but when you punch like this, it usually got influence on other nigger’s!”] rebut for it), but a few too many predictable punches/gun lines, personals themes that became a bit redundant and a sometimes flat (and distracting) pen game.
Verdict: Mr. Wavy (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Mr. Wavy – “I’m strapped in…nah nigger I already clapped him!”
Recap: Here in this 1-rounder from GOTG, Raccs goes twice as long as his opponent Prez Mafia does. And while he keeps a gruff and consistent flow, Raccs knack for pedestrian bars and elongated set-ups lead to more dead ends than jewels, leaving a way more condensed Prez with more than enough room for self-reflective personals that land along with some spitfire punchlines to put him over the top for an easy 3-count.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “Big clip, shit longer than a run-on sentence, I call it the ‘I say that to say this!”
Recap: The braggadocios zingers towards the end his round amounted to piling on as before that turn Th3 Saga had this 1-rounder versus Swift Millie in the bag, using a gang of piercing punchlines, sizzling name flips, fiery 4-bar setups and stinging wordplay/schemes to beat back a gritty opponent who seemed hell-bent on going personal what with the X-rated magazines and bottle of lotion tossed at Saga’s feet at the start of his round, but ended up delivering a solid turn with half punches/personals.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “It’s the last chance for you, leave now or die with the options I have planned for you, even my dog will let it fly with the mask…Crash Bandicoot!”
Recap: The last time we saw Fettuccine20 battle on the West-coast, it was an impressive win over Dre Vishiss. This time however, a just-as-potent-with-the-punches Yung Griz forces Fetty into a different outcome. Still a fire battle nonetheless as after a debatable first round that saw both battlers bring an equal amount of spitfire heat, a more (“Big ass gun, Billy Boondocks, if this 1.1 [one point one], even the crowd dies!”) sublime and expansive Griz edges the 2nd, before Fetty comes back to edge the 3rd with a nice rebuttal, a gang of dope punchlines and one or two more haymakers to make up for a slightly less cleaner round than his opponent and a draw at the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Fettuccine20 – “Everybody want be a featured artist, till the magazine put you on the front page!”
Recap: Never at a lack of confidence, the self-proclaimed ‘Bar God’ Danny Myers uses colloquial heaters, some feelgood rebuttals, fiery punchlines and salacious personals to impressively take out the overall solid, sometimes abstract and oft-gruff stylings of King Corleone in this 3-rounder from Live From The Block.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I’ll approach him, get animated and I’ll let the colt spin, turn ya kids into a pool of blood and see if he Adult Swim!”
Recap: Even if he was a little offended by all the subpar bars his opponent was kicking, one would think Dre Dennis would be flattered by JR’s clear appreciation for getting the opportunity to battle him. That said, a 1-rounder with almost all pedestrian bars and a choke on one end along with a Dre Dennis on top of his game via a series of salacious punchlines and potent gun bars? Bodybag.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Spray his nigga’s till his clip will disperse, everybody got texts [Tek’s] at the same time…Presidential Alert!”
Recap: Credit to Bonnie Godiva for holding her own here, mixing it up with one of the most witty and disrespectful battlers in the game, Caustic, and outside of some flat rebuttals, delivering a bunch of fire punches, piercing personals and disrespectful (“If you really Italian bro, I’m a need you to bring ya momma to prove it, ‘cuz with that nose, you gotta be Jewish!”) shiners of her own to wholeheartedly compete and score a draw (got Caustic taking the 1st round, Bonnie took the 2nd and with the help of some dope rebuttals by Caustic, score round 3 a tie) in this 3-rounder from Rotation TV.
Verdict: Debatable
Favorite line: Caustic – “Bitch, no matter what the fuck we do, you don’t seem to go away, bitch, you’re an abortion clinic, your whole career is a bunch of Nuborn throwaways!”
Recap: Never a dull moment in this one as the state of New Jersey receives the spotlight in of all places, the UK, for a highly raucous and entertaining Summer Madness matchup between Nu Jerzey Twork and Arsonal. No newbie when it comes to being on the big stage, the rising star that is Twork would live up to the hype with a fierce load of head-ringing 4-bar set-ups, aggressive gun bars, stifling/mocking personals and some excellent wordplay/storytelling bars throughout the battle. All the while, the veteran Arsonal, ever the showman with Jersey forever stamped on his back (no matter where he might actually be living at the time), would bring nothing but constant heat, using wily vet talk, stunting Twork-isms, plenty of boastful darts, witty barbs and fiery name flips/heat/mayhem to get his point across. A close battle for all 3 rounds, the edge here goes to Twork, who with an almost flawless 1st round and a more condensed and superbly executed 3rd, edged both those rounds for the win.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “I’m so for real, Errrrt! grip and I load the steel, ‘cuz before a nigga beat me with Squidward’s clarinet, I’m a do a drive-by in the Invisible Boatmobile!”
Recap: Ever gritty, aggressive and nice with the 4-bar set-ups, Ish Mulah’s penchant for redundant themes and filler always seem to get in the way when it comes to his win/loss column. But here, in what had to be a pretty motivating battle versus Chess, we see Mulah for the most part dump the pedestrian kill shots, get more consistent with the pen, up his bar efficiency and deliver a superb, punch-lit, gritty and gun-spazzing/name-flip unloading 1st round, before with the help of a slip-up from his opponent, also taking the deciding 3rd round with another raucous turn that was also more expansive when it came to haymakers. Chess, who was never quite on his A-game throughout this battle, still managed to dish 3 pretty solid, condensed, more personal-heavy, throughout and intricate turns to keep things competitive and almost get the win.
Verdict: Ish Mulah (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ish Mulah – “He Crip-affiliated?, I’ll get him milked for nuthin’…WIC checks!”
Recap: Solid, but elongated effort from Grind Time vet ZM features some nice punches and sermonizing here and there. But a more condensed, fiery and versatile Big Kannon uses a gang of fierce braggadocio raps, some sizzling wordplay/personals and righteous punches/schemes to take this 1-rounder.
Verdict: Big Kannon (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “I don’t get you, this doesn’t fit you, but the issue is that it won’t help, be Johnny Cage, kick something that shows a shadow of your old self!”
Recap: The gruff, raspy stylings of Infared Tha General make for a boatload of fierce punchlines, gritty mayhem and salacious personals…for a little over half a round anyway, till faltering a bit and getting pedestrian towards the end. For a patiently waiting Glueazy, his opponent’s see-saw turn leaves more than enough room for a barrage of consistently spitfire punches, some stinging wordplay and witty personals to leave with a win.
Verdict: Glueazy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Glueazy – “They say he ain’t dead, Mr. Potato Head, I’ll twist the nose!”
Recap: URL’s “Summer Madness 7” gives you a long-awaited match between early YouTube street battlers T-Rex and Reed Dollaz. And if you thought that Rex might be motivated enough to give you 3 crisp rounds of righteous, aggressive heat against a longtime rival, after the 1st round you’d be very disappointed, while his Philly opponent impressed throughout the battle. Indeed, stunting as he usually does with a heavy load of fiery gun bars and a boastful performance, the Dot Mobb general would command the stage in the 1st round and make for a debatable turn against an equally solid Reed. But then Rex just went off-kilter, maintaining his aggression, but at the same time succumbing to a very basic pen that could never catch up to his bravado. All the while a clearly more prepared Reed just kept upping his verbal ante with a boatload of steely punchlines, salacious gun lines and gritty, braggadocio bars/personals that had a frustrated Rex not only talking through his raps, but literally sitting out half of Reed’s fire 3rd round after he had gotten equally beaten bad in the 2nd.
Verdict: Reed Dollaz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Reed Dollaz -“They gonna have me on TMZ for killing a star, don’t get shot for thinking it’s still in the car!”
Recap: A spitfire, witty, personal-heavy and punchline-spazzing 3rd round by Kid Chaos comes too late as helped by a surprising choke from his opponent in the 2nd, J Morr’s flexing street tutorials, braggadocios darts, gripping gun bars and piercing personals/punchlines allows him to take the earlier rounds and earn the win.
Verdict: JMorr (W) 2-1
Favorite line: JMorr – “Nigga, I used to play Hide-n-Go Get with the bitches and then grab the BB gun and make nigga’s run and hide!”
Recap: When it comes to his bars, Iowa battle rapper Prophelinni might want to go more the witty route in the future as he seemed to be at his best here when he was unintentionally trying to be funny, as opposed to dishing mostly pedestrian bars on residual mayhem. Speaking of which, for Dre Dennis, the usual assortment of stinging gun bars and searing punchlines work for their consistent robustness, tho Dre also wins here thanks, in part, to a fire freestyle towards the end of his round.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “You got the mad face, you a-ight nigger?, lighten up, you should learn how laugh, Kawhi Leonard!”
Recap: Surviving an early slip-up the gritty stylings of King H get better as the battle proceeds, but too many salacious gun bars and potent punchlines/name flips from a more condensed Holmzie Da God gets the Loud Bioy the win here in this 1-rounder from Gates of the Garden.
Verdict: Holmzie Da God (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Holmzie Da God – “I’m on his block, with a banana clip, looking for H&M, the coolest monkey in the jungle!”
Recap: In this 3-rounder from IBattle, credit Jack Casserole for a bunch of nifty punchlines and the ability to stay away from the normal set of name flips you witness versus Drugz. It kept things competitive at least. Still, however, crafty with the punches, nice with the name flips/set-ups/gun bars and biting with the smack talk, it’s a more potent Drugz who does more to get each round in this one.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Drugz – “I wanna put hands on ya, just because I’m fed up with you nigger’s like cannibals!”
Recap: Better here when dishing hardbody personals and witty barbs (ironically, so was his opponent) instead of punches that were hit-n-miss, Jersey up-n-comer Real Sikh uses a near flawless 2nd round to even things up before delivering more haymakers in the deciding 3rd to score a mild upset over a solid, but too-gun-bar-reliant Dre Dennis in this 3-rounder from EBC.
Verdict: Real Sikh (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Sikh – “Boy I’ll snuff your soul out…then square up with your spirit!”
Recap: Not exactly a Chilla Jones that was on his A-game, but in this 3-rounder from CRB, Jones uses some rigid punchlines, hefty gun bars, piercing name flips, some dry wit and a handful of boastful shiners to score a 30 anyway versus a solid, but not consistently potent Made Wade.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “So tell Ottawa son [Sun], I ain’t with the corny ho shit, everyone I whip be gangster, sorry Po Rich!”
Recap: Perhaps a little wary of having to do his 3rd Proving Grounds battle, a serious Jey The Nitewing lives up to his open ‘I ain’t come here to play’ declaration with a sizzling 1st and classic 2nd round filled with spitfire punchlines, intricate wordplay, varied/heated personals and pontifications towards an opponent in Don Marino who entertained and came punch-heavy throughout, but overall just didn’t have enough to keep up with Nitewing’s more potent bars.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “What you take me for, fuck your hustle, when it come to the struggle nigga anybody could play that card, see I came from cold showers, all my euces know, but see most was broke, nigga Jey was poor, I ain’t have a mattress till I was 16, I had to wake up and make the floor!”
Recap: Fire 1-rounder between 40 B.A.R.R.S. and Shooney Da Rapper with the latter kicking an aggressive mix of bullish head-twisters and piercing name flips, while 40 came correct with a wide load of spicy punchlines, festive wordplay and fierce personals during her turn. No doubt a close one with an almost equal amount of haymakers, but a slightly more consistent and less flow-challenged 40 gets the edge here.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 1-0
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “Big metal on my waist, the metal got me sagging like Hammer’s pants, of shit go left, press this metal to her chest like a mammogram!”
Recap: Yunno, this talking through someone’s round thing needs to be taken more seriously. Most professional battle rappers already have a hard enough time remembering their raps for the ring and add to that an often noisy crowd and/or entourages that could throw you off at any moment, the idea that Th3 Saga (even tho he was complimentary) would dismiss an important unspoken rule like that and talk throughout Snake Eyez’ raps, just did his opponent and the battle itself a disservice. That said, even without getting too spiritual or biblical in this battle, Saga’s consistently fire punchlines, fiery name flips, righteous gun (!?!) lines, God-body screeds and deft wordplay gets him rounds 1 and 3 here to get him a win over a solid Snake Eyez, who while gritty and flexing with his bars as is his m.o., just wasn’t able to bring the consistent heat and unforced wit that you normally see from the Harlem rapper.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “Leg shot, made his ACL stop, Broadway Junction!”
Recap: A 2nd round choke by Habeeb is essentially the difference here as a pretty righteous, mayhem-rich and personal/punch-heavy back-n-forth between the IAMI hip-hop band member and Xcel gets the latter both of the opening rounds, before a more consistently spicy Habeeb took the 3rd of this 3-rounder from Southpaw Battle Coalition.
Verdict: Xcel (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Xcel – “Well let me guess, he don’t watch football, he’s on his Kaepernick, well you stand for peace?, well here take two of ’em, I got active fists!”
Recap: Resorting to too many nonsensical gun sounds and weak name flips, even if you want to give a way-too-anecdotal Big T the benefit of the doubt and credit him for some so-called ‘over-your-head’ bars (Ya gotta catchup!), the funny Team Homi disses and other unorthodox punches, this version of Ill Will, flexing throughout with exquisite bully bars, mean schemes, wicked personals and righteous wordplay/punchlines might have proven too much for Big Terrence to deal with even if he was on his A-game, which he clearly wasn’t here.
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Ill Will – “You good T, but I think they feeling Ill more, I could shoot him, or run up on T and swing, like Happy Gilmore!”
Recap: All Swamp in this one as the South Carolina spitter flexes a series of potent trap talk, stinging punchlines/schemes, fire set-ups and stifling personals to easily 30 a mostly pedestrian and ill-prepared Apollo in this Proving Grounds battle from Smack/URL.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “You look like you be loving and cuffin’ bitches, not me, the minute my mama put that light bill in my name I stopped trusting bitches!”
