Recap: After getting overwhelmed in the 1st round by Geechi Gotti’s more slick set-ups and real-talk bars, a smooth, speed-rapping Madflex manages to edge the middle round with more consistently nice punches that combined well with a spitfire flow. But just in case anyone needs a reminder of the difference in talent here, a confident Geechi comes back with versatile mix of fiery name flips, flexing street barbs and consequential gully rap that along with an error-prone turn from his opponent, gave him what was ultimately an easy vic.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechu Gotti – “There’s a lot of pain when I rap, we call that passion bro, ‘cuz I come from a place where death so common that funerals became a fashion show!”
Recap: “You’re mid-tier!” Ummm, yeah. Prez Mafia can keep killing the Craig Lamar’s and Money Bag’s of the world, but until he can step up and beat a Top Tier like DNA or in this case Cortez, he’ll forever remain a mid-tier URL battler (or, at best, headlining a smaller league card). Which is a bit disappointing when you know that the talent is there (so much so that can’t help but wonder if the two chokes here were due, in part, to taking this battle too soon after his recent battle’s against the aforementioned Lamar and Bagz) as we’ve seen it in the past and he even had a few (“This nigga is gassed and pussy, he petro!”) moments here when he wasn’t slipping up or choking. Either way, another dope performance by Cortez. The downright Nasty! (“I know Bloods up in your hood, so play even, or I’ll them big hats up on Prez like Abe Lincoln!”) wordplay, lessons in Battle Rap 101, spitfire jokes, braggadocio (“This is a bird-ass nigga, a bozo, you know the type to wait on line for days for some Jays that’s finna drop?…I’ll skip him, ‘Shut up nigga, its been my spot!'”) bars and crazy punchlines…it was all there throughout his 3 rounds on an Ascension card that garnered so much talk for ‘Tez being on it in the first place. Now after this showing, URL needs to stop the insanity and give Cortez the Top Tier battle’s he so richly deserves.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Cortez – “They said keep ya eye on the prize, I got a scope for that, ’bout to trump Prez like ‘fuck him’ I ain’t vote for that, Mr Hide My Bars, well good, I got a vault for that!”
Recap: A little shaky with his flow at times, but that still doesn’t stop Snake Eyez from delivering enough consistently spitfire punches and steely set-ups to beat back a solid and witty at times, but too filler-prone Philly Haze in this one-rounder from Bar Warz NY.
Verdict: Snake Eyez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Snake Eyez – “I need answers, you trading in EBT cards, smoking the shit up knowing your kid need pampers!”
Recap: The ‘I’m Here To Do The Devil’s Work’ t-shirt worn here by Jimz was pretty funny, but other than that this one was all Loso, who uses a plethora of fiery Christian-laced punchlines, life goals and witty personals to easily beat back the mostly basic bars dished by his opponent.
Verdict: Loso (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Loso – “Wanna know what’s a real contradiction?, oh I don’t know…how about a fat guy named Jimz [gym’s]?!?”
Recap: Like attempting a 3-pointer when your team’s already up 20 with a minute left in the 4th quarter, as shown here in a deciding 3rd round of what was for the most part a fire matchup versus an efficient and wordplay/punch-heavy, but not always potent Showoff, O-Red goes a little overboard on the extra bars in taking down his opponent. Still, besides a slip-up midway through the 2nd round and an elongated but consistently spicy 3rd, it was a pretty impressive and versatile showing from Red, who used gritty punchlines, aggressive heaters, some fly wordplay, a nifty translation, well-researched personals and some potent schemes to highlight a 1st and 3rd round that were both littered with haymakers for the win.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “And since you brought up my son, you know what?, all of your kids can get murked for what you talking bro, your oldest son [Bwoh!] to the neck, I mute his audio, your youngest son [Bwoh!] to the chest, reduce his cardio and then Bow’s [Bwoh’s!] will take your Princess from you, shoot for Omarion [more of you]!”
Recap: Against the unique, stylistic and wordplay-fervent bars of Cool, Eazy the Block Captain fights to earn his. And despite a couple of elongated rounds during this We Go Hard battle, the Philly rapper does so, dishing a fiery 1st and 3rd round of flexing punchlines, righteous gun bars, gripping trap talk and gritty street narratives to take each turn and get an away game win.
Verdict: Eazy the Block Captain (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Eazy the Block Captain – “Go ahead and swing, uppercut’s fucking him up, see we don’t throw hooks, Special Ed whipping the coke, I like to slow cook!”
Recap: Consistent and rapid with the fiery name flips, stifling set-ups and requisite urban (“Buck-fifty across his Adam’s apple, then put the .3 [tray] in his face like…’You wanna have a sample?'”) flair, Geechi Gotti scores a relatively easy 30 over a too one-dimensional and often indirect Reverse Live.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “Big straps, I heard he work at Five Guys…man, you serve nigga’s at drive-thru’s, we serve people on drive-by’s!”
Recap: One too many mediocre punches by Casey Jay in both of the opening rounds along with a condensed, punch-heavy, name flip-lit and wordplay-nice, witty and brazen bar spitting Phara Funeral gives the latter the win in this highly-anticipated QOTR matchup, before Casey gets back on her A-game with a fire, hard-hitting and consistently spicy 3rd round that handily beat a flow-challenged turn from Phara to avoid getting 30’d.
Verdict: Phara Funeral (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Phara Funeral – “This battle is like your lace front, Casey you ain’t gonna edge a round!”
Recap: A certified classic, that’s Brizz Rawsteen versus Ill Will. And that’s saying a lot in an age where popular battles are too often labeled ‘classic’ and fail to live up to the standard because popularity doesn’t always equate to a bout that will live on in infamy. Then too, classics aren’t just about two top tier battlers being on their A-game. Granted, Will’s ability here to spit a versatile array of spitfire bars via gritty (“.45 under the bed, I’m cheating on wifey wit’ a cougar bitch!”) punchlines, flexing (“Raw? Raw nothin’, if the Ross dumpin’, Raw runnin’, arm across his chest like, ‘Hold on bro, a car comin’!”) personals, dope storytelling bars, nasty gun lines and witty barbs/schemes (not to mention a killer Loaded Lux impression in the 2nd round that featured this banger: ‘Let me be honest, if you text out every hoe that I’ve stretched out, it’ll be nuthin new, just a double shot of smooth for ya boo and ya crew and I never have a bad drought, y’all niggas came here on planes…cool, y’all gotta go the hotel route, they didn’t even book my niggas rooms, I told ’em Brizz mama givin’ head out!”) for 3 consecutive rounds stands out, but having a heavy load of punches is what makes the Pontiac, Michigan rapper one of the best to do it. But it’s what Brizz does here that makes this one such a memorable battle, the Dark Side spitter surprisingly matching his energy, dripping mayhem and (“Aye Jaz, you want a Gucci purse? well you gotta give me some coochi first, it’s April 8th, how you feel about June the 1st?, I’m just puttin’ that in the universe!”) over-the-top wit with one of, if not his most consistent display of potent (“Live, In Living Color and sit ya face on the table like the Head detective, [BAOW!] I blow the brains everywhere, I mean, I’m not sure if you heard but that’s how I spread the message!”) punchlines along with a gang of fiery personals with little filler. And tho Brizz ends up losing the battle (I got Rawsteen edging the 1st with Will edging the 2nd and 3rd), with such a superb effort to go along with so many quotables/haymakes and an exceptional opponent who seemed to understand what an epic moment in time they’d both created, does it really matter who won?
Verdict: Ill Will (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brizz Rawsteen – “‘Cuz I’m a get Get Rich Or Die Trying and this .50 don’t Back Down, these serve all day, catch a MAC round, I’ll have his body hanging halfway out the bag like a hash brown!”
Recap: If this was Chef Trez with one-day preparation, can you imagine what kind of annihilation he would’ve put down if he had…say, a week instead? Dishing witty rebuttals, dope freestyles and steady-as-you-go (“I dare a nigga try to break in my spot, don’t worry I’m loaded, scope beside the bed, i sleep with an eye open!”) haymakers with ease, for a performance-heavy and gun bar drenched, but not always consistent Barz Major, it’s an in-ya-face tutorial on the fact that they’re levels to this shit.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “But niggers be sleeping on me, but that I got a handle on, every round staid and strong, y’all gonna love what I’m whipping up, I’m like the uncle at the cookout with the sandals on!”
Recap: Replete with hitting personals, nifty (Chilla: “Think it’s funny, for you dropping tiers [tears]?, laugh now, cry later, die hater!”) wordplay, hard (Gjonaj: “I got your bitch on her knees, I don’t mean to use religion, but she attached to the wood like a Crucifixion!”) punchlines and, of course, some hardbody schemes, Chilla Jones and Gjonaj keep it tight enough to split the first two rounds here in this 3-round battle from KOTD. But after Gjonaj delivers a nice Super Mario 3 bar in the midst of a pretty solid 3rd round, it’s Chilla who spouts the rare middle-of-the-round (“And you right, the shit is Super Mario, I first thought it was strange, but nigga’s battle rap ‘cuz a good job is not in their range, and they don’t want to jump up to hit the block for some change!”) rebuttal to edge the round and earn the win.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Gjonaj – “Bitch you’re not Top Tier, stop the lies, Pay-Per-View sales are down this year, I’m not surprised, because it’s hard to skip his rounds when you’re watching live!”
Recap: Can’t go wrong with this one as both Mizery and Madface deliver an almost equal amount of time giving the crowd a huge plate of gritty punchlines, visceral heaters, rigid name flips and braggadocio shiners during this 1-rounder from Body Bag Battle League. Still, with a couple of more haymakers, a gang of stinging 4-bar set-ups and slightly more versatility with his bars, the edge here goes to Madface.
Verdict: Madface (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Madface – “Don’t dap me up, your rap sheet suck, your last 3 rounds couldn’t give my last 3 fucks!”
Recap: Long-awaited matchup between KOTD’s Franchise and Brooklyn Carter turns out to be pretty solid with a wide assortment of nice schemes, potent gun bars, righteous (BC: “I’ll treat him just like a Franchise, I’ll keep giving him bucks untikl the caps gone!”) name flips and fierce (Franchise: “Think Biggie in the studio, my ratchet lil Kim, we all know that you ate Lil pussy!”) wordplay/punchlines. However, after splitting the first two rounds, while both battlers continued to make it competitive what with plenty of gas left in their tanks, it’s Franchise, with a more consistent and steadier barrage of heated and aggressive lines than his opponent, that ends up taking this one home for Canada.
Verdict: Franchise (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Franchise – Head shot…make a body fly across the room like Twerk push!”
Recap: From DMS Battle Ring, liked the performance-lit bars (esp. the homie’s line) from VIP in this 3-rounder, but an otherwise pedestrian showing from VIP to go along with Bonnie Godiva’s staunch gun bars, hitting personals and stinging punchlines gives her the 30.
Verdict: Bonnie Godiva (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bonnie Godiva – “Fuck it, I ain’t Google Crome, but now he gonna be Googling me and how I’m doing this boy bad, I’m Troy Ave, I’m shooting through VIP!”
Recap: In a close and competitive battle of hardbody rhythms (Kyd Slade) versus a punchline/name flip enthusiast (Ru Bando), the latter wins out as despite an equal amount of haymakers in each of the early rounds, one too many dry spots by Slade gave Bando the edge in both. The 3rd round, kept an already entertaining matchup captivating as each battler not only kept their pen game sharp, but utilized tag-ins that while being more to Bando’s benefit, still made for a debatable round what with Slade doing more on his own.
Verdict: Ru Bando (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Ru Bando – “I got a heart, so I hold the ratchet and let it tear, but that shotgun turn him into recess…Kid’s [Kyd’s] everywhere!”
Recap: Jey The Nitewing uses a plethora of rigid lyrical stunting, boastful commentary and other punch-heavy linguistics to make mincemeat of a mostly unprepared 65 Hunnit in this one-sided 3-rounder from Skytier Northwest.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “You gonna start your round talking my tits bro?!, I thought you was from Long Beach, not San Francisco!”
Recap: Extra gritty and dope battle between Relly Rell and Big T featured plenty of brazen punchlines, boastful darts, Chi-town laced histrionics, stinging/graphic gun bars and wily personals. And while Big T kept it close and flexed at times with some extra spicy haymakers, a more consistently nice and versatile Rell, after a debatable 1st round, edges the latter two rounds for the win.
Verdict: Relly Rell (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Relly Rell – “See, I’ll come to where you stay at, and pop on him in front of his Toy soldiers, right in front of his hood, I’ll put a round in T grill like a Toyota!”
Recap: After barely battling the last couple of years, Goodz shows us once again that he’s firmly back on his grind with his 3rd battle of 2017 here against the generically designated Jeffrey, who while impressing with repeatedly witty (“I been doing numbers on people like Nazi brands!”) one-liners and some cool name flips, hurt himself with only a couple of haymakers for such a long turn. On the other hand Goodz, with some unapologetic vibes from his 2015 battle with Rone, spit a more condensed and altogether humorous round, spiced with lucid (“These [balls up fists] are A-1, for what’s at stake [steak], we could go Out Back!”) personals that overall was just enough to supply Mr. Half-A-Gallon a win.
Verdict: Goodz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Goodz – “Put the money on the wood, we could see who the best team, but Jeff ain’t got the heart to play, I’m just trying to take Jeff Green!”
Recap: Bonnie Godiva keeps her spark lit with an ill flow that’s matched by pretty solid bars, fierce (“Nigga, you choked, yelled ‘Jersey!’ and shouted out ‘Loud Boys’? then told Nick you’d get in his ass? pause, that ain’t allowed [loud] boy!”) personals/punchlines and a handful of jokes. But apparently motivated by his recent and notoriously badWild ‘N Out appearance, Dre Dennis’ more versatile round, complete with hardbody bars, lucid (“Child movie star, I love how the .12 acting!”) wordplay and some witty one-liners, are enough to get the win in this one-rounder from L County Ground Battle League.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “When it come to battle rap bitches, you a 9 and that’s great shit, but in regular life you a 5…your rating change quick, you need work going from 9 to 5 like a day shift!”
Recap: When you’re on another league and they refer to you as a ‘URL Rapper’, you might as well remind them why you got selected for ‘The World’s Most Respected’ battle league in the first place. So it goes for Nunn Nunn, as despite a (“This ain’t the return of Rage, I been back, drop a bad, I raise the bar, I done turned limbo into a shoulder press!”) solid, scheme-heavy performance from Cleveland’s Rage Rush, with a wide range of clever (“I’m posted with the pound like I’m setting trends!”) wordplay, lofty (“Each hand, got each piece blamin’, I keep it clean, ain’t gotta wonder if we be jammin’!”) gun bars, aggressive shiners witty personals and rich set-ups, it’s Nunn Nunn who displays the difference in talent between a wily URL vet and a relative newbie.
Verdict: Nunn Nunn (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “But peep how the night ends, she more than a slight freak, I put my dick in her breasts, she call it a two-piece white meat!”
Recap: Dope performance, along with solid (“The game don’t stop here, we could take it outside like Nintendo Switch!”; “I don’t believ a round till I see it like flat-earthers!”) bars and witty personals from Christian rapper A.Ward, makes for a competitive matchup here on the KOTD stage against DNA. However, a little too much filler as well as a handful of pedestrian bars in the first couple of rounds hurt’s the Tennessee up-n-comer overall, leaving the efficiently crazy punches, fierce name flips, nice gun (“If I’m getting to his team and the toolie jam, then its to the Mystery machine, that’s Scooby’s van!”) bars and stinging wordplay from DNA with plenty enough in the tank for the win.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “Y’all got DNA backwards trying to match A and D, the First 48 gonna be a cold case if y’all see A&E!
Recap: Legendary sports broadcaster Howard Cosell once said that ‘The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best’. That’s the takeaway you get here as despite Stuey Newton putting on a dope, repping-for-his-state, (“I heard somebody scream ‘Gotti coming!’, I said ‘So what, load up and tell God he coming’!”; “Flame to his nose, the only time I’m burning bridges!”) punch-heavy and versatile performance against Geech Gotti, for each round his opponent just kept doing him one better. Whether addressing hypocrisy in Newton’s more conscious raps or spouting some downright mean bars or dishing on real (“Where I’m from you can’t wear certain hats in certain hoods, we don’t give a fuck if you just like the team!”) gangsta shit or flexing with some ill wordplay/set-ups, for 3 rounds the ever confident and (“This, got a hundred rounds in the clip, you could pray all you want, bet it won’t save him, I’ll let off 50, even missed a couple of shots on purpose…I’m point-shaving!”) gun-savvy Gotti rose to the occasion to beat back a very worthy and fierce opponent. Indeed, a 30 on the books, but a well-earned one at that.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “You gonna try and condemn me for being a gangbanger?, but is you really in the streets making a difference?, I mean damn Newton, you promoting all this Black love but the fact at home you got a white bitch, got me questioning, if all that Panther shit is only for the Cam, Newton!”
Recap: Bobbing, weaving, jabbing and scoring heavy with gritty punchlines/boasts and righteous name flips throughout the first couple of rounds, until he ran into an unforced error via a 3rd round choke here versus a pretty solid, but less consistent Daddy Mason, this Trap NY 3-rounder is all J-Krooger.
Verdict: J-Krooger (W) 2-1
Favorite line: J-Krooger – “It’s fuck you, don’t be the nigga that my blade is getting stuck through, I’ll send him up…now the kids got a Daddy to look up to!”
Recap: Fire rounds displayed from both sides in this one-rounder from WeGoHard between King Moneyy and Lexx Luthor. The former dishing grimy neighborhood tales along with stinging (“I don’t play fair, I just copped the baby ratchet out of daycare!”) punches that hit hard, while the latter scored with rapid punchlines, fire schemes and witty (“Retarded bitch in a bikini, the two-piece dumb!”) barbs throughout his turn. Definitely a close, but the edge here goes to Lexx for more versatile lines and a slightly more consistent flow.
Verdict: Lexx Luthor (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Lexx Luthor – “It’s like saying ‘thanks’ with a lisp, I’m nice when I’m spitting!”
Recap: The mostly bullish, but at times witty puns from Scoop make for a pretty solid effort. But in this 3-rounder from Don’t Flop, DNA’s rich combo of flexing name flips, stinging punchlines/ 4-bar set-ups and hard-hitting gun bars/wordplay are enough to take both of the opening rounds for the win before a debatable 3rd prevents the shutout.
Verdict: DNA (W) 2-1
Favorite line: DNA – “Big gun and that shit will split his ride like an Uber trip!”
Recap: On an impeccable run since his return to the battle rap scene versus Dre Dennis, Prez Mafia continues his successful run with another strong and winning performance here against wily vet Money Bagz. Round one was fiery on both sides, but Mafia’s more intricate (“Nigga you could tell I’m better, nigga we could fight, he won’t be able to read the right, he get Helen Keller-ed!”) punches and sizzling wordplay more than edged the round, despite an overall solid, but a (“If it’s war, he getting hit with a 2×4 like I brought Hacksaw Jim Duggan out!”) little-too-old-school turn by Bagz. Second wasn’t even close as Prez stepped it up a notch with some dizzying (“So if you ain’t passing up the shine, I’ll make your team give it up for’em, like when the crowd not reacting to the line!”; “Spine shot!, nigga your next disc [disk] gonna drop with some features on it!”) haymakers in between fiesty name flips and potent storytelling bars, while Bagz, failing to take advantage of his first appearance on the URL/Smack stage, barely made it out of the round what with mostly modest lines that seemed like they were lifted from his Grind Time days. Last round saw Prez, who obviously wrote his best material for the first two rounds, go the safe route with more name flips and name schemes/history lessons that were both hit and miss, giving Bagz an easy opportunity to avoid a 3-0, which he did with some hard-hitting (“A real emcee would freestyle and choke before he took another man’s raps!”) personals and stifling wordplay.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia -“I look at God, like what more do you want?, fro me to die?, first nunn than Bagz, I look at Smack and he proved this is a sign…it’s nothing but communion and a rhyme, ‘cuz I’m back for the bread, but you give me two crackers instead and I didn’t even whine [wine]!”
Recap: Punch-heavy, name flip-scoring and lyrically-lit without too much of the usual raunch during the first couple of rounds, a more condensed and direct with the bars Yoshi G gets a well-earned (score round 3 a debatable) win over a solid and pen-sharp at times, but not as consistently spicy Ladii Tunez in this 3-rounder from Bar4Bar Rap Battle League.
Verdict: Yoshi G (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Yoshi G – “Put a shell in your back, I think Ladii [lady] bugged!”
Recap: When many in the battle rap game considered Charlie Clips to be the G.O.A.T., it was mostly due to his consistent ability to deliver the whole package: fire bars, witty personals, a nice rebuttal game, crazy name flips, elite gun lines, ill schemes and wicked freestyles. Well, after an almost 2-year slump of mostly underwhelming performances (that because he’s THAT talented, still got him plenty of wins), if this one-round, but ultimately complete (“My nina like a white bitch, that mean Get Out before you see the flash!”) version of Clips, here versus the unique rhyme stylings of Burnz Da Fyaman, is any precursor to Clips being back on his A-game, battle rap as a whole will be better off for it.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charlie Clips: “You got a bunch of feens in your family, with these crack lines I could serve all of you, what I cook up bend spoons like Neo when he first met the Oracle!”
Recap: Nice, competitive QOTR punch-fest here between Don LadyII and Viixen The Assassin was close for all 3 rounds. But with Viixen registering more blistering gun bars, salacious personals/wordplay, dope 4-bar set-ups all the while edging it on haymakers in each round, it’s a well-earned 30 for the Assassin.
Verdict: Viixen The Assassin (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Viixen The Assassin – “Catch you with a group of friends, bitch you know I’ll still murk you, think That 70’s Show…’cuz Don will get smoked in a circle!”
Recap: A couple of school of thoughts here about this fire, one-round battle between Drugz and Truth Watson. Drugz getting emotional (again) and attempting to leave the stage after Truth goes there with a line about his opponent’s uncle recently killing himself. Did Truth go too far? Was Drugz being hypocritical in light of how often uses (this battle included) soul-gripping personals in his raps? Or is talking about those who have passed on (see: Suge, Shotgun) just a line that goes too far? Even in the world of ‘anything goes’ battle rap? I’m of the feeling that while the deceased and kids should be off-limits, battle rap being battle rap, the idea of any kind of censorship in battle rap, no matter how cutthroat, bothers me. And if you can’t handle it, go fly a kite or something. So while one can sympathize with Drugz (and give hin credit for leaving the stage instead of say, swinging on Truth), within the confines of the stage, a battle rapper should be able to say what he or she wants–that, after all, is the essence of battle rap. That being said, with Truth choosing to end the battle on his own, Drugz, with a slightly more versatile, cleaner, punch/personal-heavier and haymaker-raining turn, gets the win here.
Verdict: Drugz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Drugz – “I’m supposed to believe that you airing a gun, when half the time your hair is in a bun?!”
Recap: In a close and fiery battle dipped with plenty of hot (TL: “I felt my cornea open, never, ever sleep, I forgot the rest…like Born when he choking!”) punchlines and sizzling (KB: “I guess I could talk about your high top since it’s my turn, nigga just because you high top, don’t mean that you can’t get the side burn!”) wordplay, Killa B does just enough to edge rounds rounds 1 and 3, thus taking the win over a pretty solid Ty Law.
Verdict: Killa B (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Killa B – “Geek squad, I unlock Mac’s and open Apple’s!”
Recap: I’m guessing that when The Best Battler In West Bumblefuck, USA, pays a top tier like Charlie Clips to fly in and battle, he or she could care less about winning or losing so much as putting together a solid enough performance to get himself noticed outside of said town while maybe, just maybe, said Top Tier will pass along a nice kite to a Beasley or Norbes to warrant maybe getting a PG some day. If that’s the case, I ain’t mad at that. And in-between way too much filler and outdated bars, Niagara’s S.D.K. was able to deliver some nice (“…Vado got signed, they left Clips played out like a 6-second vine!”) bars here and there. Enough to warrant a PG? I’m not sure and would have to see more of the kid’s resume. But for now, as a freestyle/name flip-heavy and (“Type to catch you in Barnes-n-Noble and take your books, like you reneging!”) versatile Clips noted, getting the most views in his life, as S.D.K. surely will with this battle, should keep him happy in the meantime.
Verdict: Charlie Clips (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Charlie Clips – “Bringing up my pops and my mom’s raised me, whoopie nigga, that makes you a rookie nigga, and if he a snitch, then that make you a cop because you the one that booked me nigga!”
Recap: Despite Ave amping up his (“I ain’t the one, if I catch you when you pushing your work, shoot in the trap then double back…that’s Suge with no shirt!”) wordplay/punch game to make a late and fiery comeback in the 3rd, by then it was too late. Shotgun Suge, aggressive throughout, more (“I’ll give this old man bucks, making him bleed, Jason Terry, give him 30 plus ‘cuz he the oldest PG in the league!”) lyrical than usual, personal-savvy, performance-heavy and spitfire altogether drops a classic 1st to take what was a fire opening round. Then using a searing combo of more rambunctious gun bars, fire name flips/personals and stinging bully bars, Suge edges the 2nd over an opponent who had his share of spurts, but too often ran into one too many dry spots to pull off the win.
Verdict: Shotgun Suge (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Shotgun Suge – “So you named yourself Ave like you hold weight like that, no, you just an average nigger from Norfolk, straight like that!”
Recap: Even if half his bars were based on themes battlers have long called to order regarding Daylyt (i.e. the antics, gimmicks, homosexual dalliances, etc.), those fiery lines along with some potent name flips and flaming gun bars guarantee rounds 1 and 3 (you can argue for a debateable 2nd) to Cortez along with a win on the KOTD stage.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Cortez – “I ghostwrite, it’s common sense [cents], we coin phrases!”
Recap: Going after mixed messages within his opponent’s street ethos, while dishing some intense struggle bars and there, Linc keeps things interesting in this 3-rounder versus Geechi Gotti. Yet, with a boatload of pedestrian raps over the course of 3 rounds from Linc combined with Gotti’s sterling punchlines, stinging personals, tenacious metaphor game and righteous hood narratives, it’s an easy 30 for Geechi.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “I’m itching to squirt, you worried about how many like’s you get on a pic?!?, nigga let’s see how many people like seeing your pic on a shirt!”
Recap: File this one under ‘Upset’ as an elongated, but spirited Ddub, readily known throughout his career for choking rounds, puts it all together here, with nary a slip-up, to beat a pretty solid (“Big arms like I just did 10 in the box, this pussy get the piece to the nose like he smelling the box!”) Fettuccine 20. Indeed, from jump, for every spitfire round Fetty kicked, his confident opponent had an answer, whether it was frenzied braggadocio bars, bullish (“…now you acting like you don’t know the fucking deal, I’m all-Madden, if editing a player is the only time you can touch the skills!”) set-ups, sanguine personals or righteous darts that had the crowd screaming. Ddub’s consistent heat here not only makes for a well-earned 30, but yet another reminder to never underestimate your opponent.
Verdict: Ddub (W) 3-0
Favorite line: DDub – “He don’t even get the full clip, see I would give 20 16, but that’s so last year!”
Recap: In this one-rounder from King of the Ring, Pep dishes a load of mean bully bars and wicked personals at Sco. However, Pep’s occasional struggle with his flow, an elongated turn and an unnecessary tag-in from one of his people’s allows a more condensed, versatile and punch-heavy Sco to take the win here.
Verdict: Sco (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Sco – “Your bar’s don’t motivate shit, boy, I ain’t come here for no Pep talk!”
Recap: No easy winner here as both the fiery (“If we fight, you’ll probably fuck me up bro, look like you got some heavy ass hands…nah, I was kidding Holmzes [homes] Neverland Ranch!”) , name flips and back-to-back-to-back punches of Joe and the slower build-ups, but just as nasty schemes as well as real street/gutta lines from Holmzie Da God keep things competitive throughout this PG matchup on the URL stage. Joe gets things off to a quick start right away with spicy (“You got a kid?, I’ll put a father in a box, that’s my confession!”) haymakers that not only had the crowd wilding, but a more consistently fierce go-around that was able to beat back a very (“Silencer on the gun and I put it right on the nose like the proper way to say it!”) solid turn by Holmzie. Round two was more of the same from both battlers, confidently dishing their lines with even aggression and potency. However, for all of Holmzie’s (“When I was 20, I was the youngest nigga in my cell, 3 Bloods tried to run my hut, my only defense, two fists, some soap and a sock!”) comeuppance in the middle round, a little too much filler along with Joe’s highly animated and crazy Get Out bars that stood out the most to edge the round. Last round was also close, however a slight slip-up from Joe put towards the beginning a dent in what was otherwise a pretty nice (“You gonna spit that black-vs.white shit right?, that’s funny because bar for bar [points at Holmzie] you pale in comparison!”) round altogether, but erstwhile giving a very (“I was told when it’s war, I was told lock on with precision, so y’all won’t know which craft [witchcraft] I’ll use!”) formidable Holmzie the edge.
Verdict: Joe (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Joe – “Y’all seen the movie Get Out?, He thought it was godo to see a familar face…till I grip the pound!
Recap: Running throughout all 3 of his rounds with a super witty/mocking ‘He’s just a baby’ theme for his much smaller built opponent JC, Bigg K has what could arguably be his finest battle. Whether K was kicking a rare rebuttal on his opponent’s outerwear, dishing rapidly stinging (“Look, I rock for delph, big dog of the commonwealth, head first in that dirt, how an ostrich felt!”) punchlines throughout his turns, bringing the heat with some superb gun lines or making fun of battle rap semantics in general when he wasn’t going at JC with scintillating personals, a more-versatile-than-usual Bigg K does it all in taking out a pretty solid overall, gun (“But that scope got a lens wide enough to keep every nigga on yo’ field watching I send a paid shooter, he will pop and you gon’ only see him once like Will pops!”) savvy and haymaker-inducing-at-times, but a bit filler-prone JC, who at the end of the day just didn’t have enough to take out Bigg K’s comeuppance.
Verdict: Bigg K (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bigg K – “While you was playing Checkers, Connect 4, Life, Trouble, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, I had to check a connect for life, havin’ trouble getting that can to land, shooting Ladders!”
Recap: In this stirring one-rounder from WeGoHard, both (“Check the pamphlet, ever since this match was booked, I asked the army ‘Is bro sure [brochure]?'”) Pharoah and (“These clips back-to-back…this my slide show!”) Jai spit a load of hot, fiery bars that more than landed hard on their mark. But it’s Pharoah, who spat twice as long as his opponent (and only stopped due to the timekeeper) did, who ended up leaving himself a little more room for filler…and that, along with Jai being a little more empahtic with his punches, pretty much turns out to be the difference-maker.
Verdict: Jai (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Jai – “Don’t get hooked up to IVs for nuthin’…Roman Numeral!”
Recap: A series of rambunctious wordplay, sizzling schemes and boisterous, yet confident braggadocio bars allows the always-competitive (“If you involved, your fam involved, I pull up on any kin of his, and give him a big drumroll, like I’m announcing who the winner is!”) Craig Lamar and forever-animated (“My nigga, I’ve been feening for the belt, yo my own mother watch me struggle, I ain’t receive no kind of help, young Ray Charles, I had to watch my brother buck it [bucket], you had to see it for yourself!”) Prez Mafia to split the first couple of rounds in this iBattle matchup down south. But going into the deciding 3rd, a more resilient Mr. Woosah continues to spazz with lofty (“Nigga, I’ll split him in half and make him choose sides!”) punchlines and caustic set-ups, altogether more consistently potent than hos opponent, to take the round and the win.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “Nigga, fuck a scale, I just eyeball white, that’s Emmett Till!”
Recap: Goodz picks apart a clearly-not-on-his-level-Billy Boondocks with a confident palette of swagger bars, righteous (“I could call you in L.A. and make you go to the store!”) aplomb and some exquisite wordplay in this one-round battle from HoneyCombHideOut.
Verdict: Goodz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Goodz – “You hot, where? Come see me, give him bars like I’m locked up, I’m on the top tier!”
Recap: After a debatable 1st and a lethargic 2nd that saw him fall behind the (“When the arm extends, y’all get touched is what I’m getting to, turn the Zoo Faculty into the Petting zoo!”), personal/punch-heavy Krome, despite a near choke towards the end, Anubis’ mostly hot 3rd is just enough to edge the final round and get a tie.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Anubis – “You an electronic cigarette, you don’t want smoke for real!”
Recap: The O.G. Moon and the O.G. E Hart hook up for this intergender, one-round matchup on the Bring Ya Barz Battle League stage. Moon, after proclaiming at the start that he’d be challenging his opponent’s G-status, undoubtedly came fierce with a barrage of ill (“I put nigga’s in the ground, ask the last asshole, only thing is, you’d have to dig him up to ask the question, ‘cuz when the gun’s in my hand, it sings like a white boy band, but I pointed it at more then One Direction!”) street chatter that validated his resume. However, Moon’s propensity to go a little overkill on Hart’s looks would end up hurting him a bit as a slow-to-start-but-eventually-turned-up Hart steady dalliances of potent (“They ask if Hart can spit with these nigga’s, who’s a wrestling fan?, check my record, E C W’s, Yes I can!”) wordplay, lofty name flips and gritty street ethos not only got the crowd hype, but more importantly, edged Hart the win.
Verdict: E Hart (W) 1-0
Favorite line: E Hart – “Bitches knwo what really the deal, why he sleep?, you was thinking that E light, I’m Elite!”
Recap: A load of hot bars and schemes dished from both sides in this close, all the way competitive, We Go Hard matchup between two aggressive mainstays: (“Everything Golden? I’m coming for it all…everybody Paid In Full until he Mitch sliding down the wall!”) Presidential Dubz and (“Shit that I seen with my eyes, you’d think it’s make-believe, I’ll turn his world upside down, I seen Stranger Things!”) Ish Mula. With Dubz edging the first and Mula coming back to edge the 2nd, a very close 3rd gets dissected down to who had the stronger round overall and/or who had slightly less filler and the feeling here in both cases was Dubz.
Verdict: Presidential Dubz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Presidential Dubz – “Pulled up on him with something dirty like I’m rolling with Paper…with the cig behind the ear like the boggie for later!”
Recap: A competitive one-rounder with a lot of mayhem, rich metaphors, fierce gun lines and fierce punchlines dished from both battlers sees a more consistent ZigZag, especially when it came to the personals, edge this one out over JMorr.
Verdict: ZigZag (W) 1-0
Favorite line: ZigZag – “I’ll put one to they head [bwoh!] knock off dreds like they fucking fake…that just mean our extensions is different!”
Recap: A couple of old Grind Time vets, Ness Lee and Pass, go at it on the KOTD stage and put up what turns out to be a pretty dope fight with the more lyrical-leaning (and witty) Lee using a rapid stream of hot, polemic jabs to come back and make for a 2nd round tie (after the word-savvy and [“The only time you had dough on a brick, it was a pizza oven”] punch-heavy Pass easily took round 1), before continuing with the verbal shiners in a 3rd round to beat back a shortened turn by Pass, which overall equates to this one being a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ness Lee – “You old, whenever you hear a cop say ‘Chase that nigga!’, your black side run, your white side chase that nigga!”
Recap: With so much history and brotherhood between T-Rex and K-Shine, of course the two of them battling each other is an event you thought you’d never witness. But after over a year of drama, chirping back-n-forth and misgivings that reached its breaking point when Shine and DNA formed NWX and Murda Mook kicked Shine out of Dot Mobb, here the two battle rap vets are, on the Smack stage for a battle that while unable to quite live up to the hype beforehand, still was mostly solid throughout and not as one-sided as the crowd would make you think. After all, Rex’s 1st round was a fiery punchfest, scoring with its variety of wit, steely (“Shit ain’t about Dot Mobb, this shit was all about Shine, I told that nigga to hang on, but he ain’t wanna see Roc climb!”) personals and boastful punches/gun bars. Still, confident throughout with a wide array of jaunty personals, some fire wordplay, nice angles/set-ups, aggressive schemes and heated (“Nigger, he done, but stick the fork in his grill…Mazaradi!”) punchlines, after and even round 1, a way more consistent K-Shine would prove to be too much in the latter rounds, especially as Rex’s bars waned towards the end of his turns and got more pedestrian. Clearly more prepared for this battle and with a lot more to get off his chest, it was easy to see that throughout K-Shine wanted this grudge match more and the result proved it.
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 2-1
Favorite line: K-Shine – “Nigga, part of being a man is how you handle shit, you don’t go straight to the ‘Gram if I’m supposed to be your man’s and shit!”
Recap: When two of the wittiest battle rappers in the biz show up for match, one would expect a laughfest. Too bad, in this 3-round battle from KOTD, only Jeffrey showed up. Scoring at will with rapid (“I scooped his honey up like Winnie the Pooh!”) personals, a plethora of dick jokes and race quips, the plainest named rapper in the game easily beats back a mostly unprepared bag of pedestrian freestyles and wearisome raps from Uno Lavoz.
Verdict: Jeffrey (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Jeffrey – “Now the caption gonna say 48 hours notice when I’m spitting this online, ‘cuz I just delivered a box in two days like Amazon Prime!”
Recap: One-rounder between Saynt and Yung Griz has them both snapping with rapid punches throughout their turns. But even with Griz rapping almost twice as long as his opponent, his more versatile lines stay consistently potent enough to gain a win.
Verdict: Yung Griz (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Yung Griz – “I let a couple of point at kid’s top like Bart….that was dumb clever, ‘cuz no matter how many years go by, we gonna treat this yellow nigger Young Forever!”
Recap: In this punch-heavy and competitive 3-rounder from AHAT, Jey The Nitewing’s stay-on-point consistency, loaded with a gang of fire name flips along the way gives the raspy-voiced Federal Way, WA, battler enough darts to edge round 2 as well as the deciding 3rd round over an aggressive and pretty solid effort from Patron.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “I don’t really get why they had your back, I thought they would’ve had mine, c’mon Kelly…Patron was what got us in trouble the last time!”
Recap: Tight matchup between Qleen Paper and Da Example has them both dishing a variety of solid gun (QP: “With this strap I’ll throw ya brains back, it’s a difference between a reminisce!”) bars, fierce schemes, rich (DE: “I get all my money out the streets, I don’t fuck with Qleen [clean] Paper!”) metaphors and some nice personals. In the end tho, from seemingly wanting to impress against a big name like QP, Example’s elongated round turns out to be half-fierce and half-pretty average, leaving a more succinct QP with enough room to maneuver a win, even if he did ‘borrow’ that “The 9 kick back like you hit me first!” line from prez mafia.
Verdict: QP (Qleen Paper)
Favorite line: QP (Qleen Paper) – “Lawrence Fishburne, I jumped on my Deep Cover, with the strap, he turn Meance…’We supposed to be brothers!”
Recap: Even if it’s only a one-rounder, there’s nothing like having a win over the legendary T-Rex on your resume. Unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case for Ish Mula here, as even when faced against the already pressed mixtape verses from his opponent, a little too much filler throughout an otherwise (“Rex is so soft, let’s get the art of facts, bad kid at the museum, I’ll knock a bone off!”) solid turn, provides just enough leeway for the consistently (“Shrumda with the burner or the knife, speaking of Bobby he’ll go out like his daughter or his wife!”) thoro bars from Rex to edge the battle at the end.
Verdict: T-Rex (W) 1-0
Favorite line: T-Rex – “You can ask about Trex, they tell you I’m a hustler tho, in the middle of teh summer I be shoveling snow!”
Recap: Extra gritty, dope and competitive 3-rounder from We Go Hard sees a slightly more consistently spicy True Indeed, after barely getting edged by the punch-heavy/raucous street missives of B-Trillz in round 1, use a gang of hard-hitting punches, a boatload of righteous storytelling bars, daunting set-ups and some fiery gun bars/personals to edge the latter two rounds over his still fierce, but less potent opponent for the win.
Verdict: True Indeed (W) 2-1
Favorite line: True Indeed – “I can’t stomach nigga’s, his fam gotta come and get him and he get it too, fuck ya cousin like country nigga’s!”
Recap: In this one-rounder from Houston Bar Code, here we see the hometown crowd do what they’re supposed to do: cheer for the loud, aggressive and very…basic bars and storytelling lines of local battle rapper A-kaza. But an Aye Verb on his A-game is quick to hit the irony head on: “Nigga, you brought me to your city to battle you, that don’t mean you like that with bars, that mean you paid me to stand here while you get hyped by your boys!” Nuff said.
Verdict: Aye Verb (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Aye Verb – “How you gonna talk shit to me and have the nerve to talk to say this the biggest battle of your career? Well, for me it’s just another Saturday”
Recap: In this one-rounder from WeGoHard, Fettucine20 is both (“When I drive through, it’s like fast night on a late night, he get the mill [meal] through the window, then I’m airing his bimbo. oh, that ain’t ya bitch?…well, fuck she ya bitch or not, she’ll get the steel in the friend zone!”) thoro with the (“I’mma just put the ‘mac on Mackk, because he’s trying to get a name that’s ringing, ‘cuz y’all keep talking about how Mackk’s wilds, shit all I know he was mic’d up on The Wire and came back singing!”) wordplay and solid throughout. However, his opponent Mackk Myron is just relentless, both with the fire (“The trey peel back for the kids, that’s a lunchable!”; “Shoot another Just in Case, like Jaheim!”) bars and his performance, all capped by a better flow, altogether more than enough to edge this one.
Verdict: Mackk Myron (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Mackk Myron – “I’ll slide through, talking tops off like Spring break, now watch me send a wave through Harlem, I’m Charly Wingate!”
Recap: A close, competitive and hardbody battle takes an emotional U-turn when before the deciding 3rd round, (“Nigga, my last enemy’s families had to do car washes and that still only bought them the Hertz!”) Dre Vishiss brings his mom’s on stage and uses his round to salute her recovery from cancer as well as dish on real life personals struggles. All well and good and then some. But with a win on the line, (“It’s tragic when half the cig hanging out his mouth like a hood mechanic!”) Geechi Gotti puts aside the sentiment and does what he came to do: continue kicking that real street shit mixed with fiery punchlines, rich metaphors and gritty wordplay. In other words, more than enough heat to take the round and get the win.
Verdict: Geechi Gotti (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Geechi Gotti – “I might just pop this bitch, I keep a trey, .80 take her wig off like granny before she got to bed!”
Recap: You expected a spitfire punchfest, but instead JC versus Chef Trez is arguably a classic with each battler bringing their A-game and dropping haymakers and other noteworthy schemes with rapid abandon. Round one saw Trez immediately go for the jugular with an elongated turn that was littered with lyrical bombs, versatile heaters/personals and some fire (“We was raised different, the shit we go through day to day different, God told you get baptized, he told me to get a gun…we was saved different!”) wordplay. Chef’s fire palette was met, however, by a just-as-fire round by JC, who upon making his return to Smack, delivered what the fans were craving for: seismic (“Nigga, ask the docs about the patients I left ‘em, and I won’t quit yet, I got more clips left, and the cap will swallow his head like the old Dipset!”) gun bars and adept lyricism in a more condensed turn that earned him a draw for the round. The 2nd round is where Trez turned it up, showing off multifaceted hijinks with freestyles, rebuttals and a robust mix of fiery (“You dying sucker, see how my lines structured?, my mind gutter, .9’s touch ya’, since JC is God’s Son, his background get blew [blue] like Nas cover!”) punches, lofty name flips and witty shiners that easily beat back a pretty solid, but not nearly as nice turn from his fellow Writer’s Bloque opponent. With Trez up one round, the ATL spitter kept the pressure on, continuing to dish standout heat, gritty performance bars and potent schemes with self-assured poise. However, sticking in cool-headed vet mode, JC went back in his bag and came out with another condensed and flexing turn that was rich with stinging set-ups, fire braggadocio lines and jaunty (“Your bitch catch the heat from these straps…she not walking out of there with tan lines!”) punches to edge the round and make this superb battle a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “And what’s up with these niggas with struggle and gangsta bars? these dudes clueless, niggas got shotties in their pants legs, deuce deuce in their boots, but they move stupid, I had the pack in my briefs, AR in my jeans…and I walk regular ’cause I’m used to it!”
Recap: Seen Rambo before in a fire WeGoHard matchup versus Stumbles, so was already aware that the kid had potential. Here against the always gritty and gun-bar slinging GE, Rambo stays up to speed, delivering hardbody punchlines, fire wordplay and some mean personals to edge what was an overall solid, but a little repetitive and chronic dry-spot having turn from GE.
Verdict: Rambo (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Rambo – “Nigga, let’s cut the shit, ‘cuz this battle ain’t fucking fair, I asked for a nigga from the hood, C Hit went in the trunk and pulled out a fucking spare!”
