Recap: Along with a deliberate, but strong punch game, GrindTime vet Troy Brown displays some excellent freestyle ability too in this 3-rounder against Jey The Nitewing from Smoked Out Battles. However, highlighted by a spitfire 2nd round that saw him put all his unorthodox, but potent punches together and a steady display of other brazen personals and righteous lyrical flexing throughout the battle, it’s Nitewing who earns the 30.
Verdict: Jey The Nitewing (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Jey The Nitewing – “That ain’t rapping, they gassing, your 3rd eye been rocking fake lashes!”
Recap: Going right at his opponent’s sometimes tired use of gun bars, but also scoring with a barrage of gritty punchlines, witty/bullish personals and piercing wordplay, an overall more versatile Fonz manages to deliver more heat in rounds 1 and 3 for the win here in this We Go Hard battle versus Dre Dennis (who had a gun-heavy and elongated, but superb 2nd round, if only he could scheme more with the artillery instead of relying so much on 4-bar set-ups).
Verdict: Fonz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Fonz – “You want it Dre?, we could do it however you want to play, the gun will spray or I’ll slump you right now, leave him sleeping in front of a fan like a summer day!”
Recap: A nice set-up on the legends scheme to start his round, an able freestyle and some sizzling bars gives Philly Haze the edge over the comedic, albeit a little laborious, stylings of Uno Lavoz here in this one-rounder from HoneyCombHideout.
Verdict: Philly Haze (W) -10
Favorite line: Philly Haze -“Me and your bitch is like Neosporin, when we lay in the cut, I grip her ass and make beats when I play with her butt!”
Recap: Both are longtime vets in the battle rap game. Both are renowned for the ability to go off-the-dome with their bars and drop dizzing freestyles and rebuttals. And of course, both had infamous altercations with Math Hoffa….yeah that’s right, Serius Jones and Dizaster on the KOTD stage to see who can rap better! And the result? Kind of mixed, as while neither really brought their A-game, this was still a pretty solid battle what with some hot punchlines, freestyles, witty barbs and personals galore. Getting right to it, despite a nice, but a little predictable go-round from Serius (that allowed him to give his own drawn-out version of what happened between him and Diz after the Math/Diz fight), Diz edged the first round with a hilarious and performance-heavy turn that ‘of course’ centered around Hoffa, but still hit with wild scenarios and a couple of fly (“I’ll hit you harder than he hit you before, smack him right in his hairline, United Airlines, drag a chin on the floor!”) haymakers. A battle that was filled with tension throughout as Diz seemingly got flustered and frustrated with Serius’ well-known ‘interruptions’ as well as an apparent lack of respect he had for his opponent’s skills, a witty and heavy-on-the-personal-side turn in round 2 by Diz was edged by a couple of fire rebuttals along with some solid wordplay and fiery (“I’m getting more Arab money than you, if you not a believer then let’s tally bans [Taliban’s]!”) punches/personals by a more condensed Mr. Jones. A more turned up than usual Diz speed raps his way through the 3rd, mixing in some nice schemes and punches, but once again getting edged by a more consistent, punch-heavy and mocking with the personals turn by Serius.
Verdict: Serius Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Serius Jones – “I told y’all nigga’s man, I just speak from life experience, you shouldn’t have been in here playing with your death, life is serious [Serius]!”
Recap: When it comes to wordplay, Street Hymns can often overplay his hand and that leads to a lot of reaches, especially in this Bullpen Battle League matchup versus Brixx Belvy. Of course, that’s not a knock to the 4 Horseman’s overall ability seeing as he can rap and despite some reaches here and there, he did score with enough prolific darts to take round 2 here. But frankly speaking, if not for Belvy’s own lack of consistency (esp. after a spitfire, punch-heavy round 1) with the amount of reaching Street was doing throughout this battle, a vet like Belvy barely edging the 3rd for the win is pretty self-evident.
Verdict: Brixx (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Brixx Belvy – “Scripture for scripture, hey that ain’t what you wanna do, as a virgin you couldn’t understan what this was coming [cumming] too!”
Recap: After Born edges a rather pedestrian 1st round with a slightly more consistent and condensed turn than his opponent, both he and (“But if you spot this all-black eagle on me, it’s not for play, so move out the way when I’m aiming this, basically, the point of everything I was syaing is, if you see a dark wing duck, let’s get dangerous!”) Eaze turn it up in a pretty even and exciting 2nd that contained some dope wordplay, potent set-ups and fiery bars on both sides. However, still ahead going into the 3rd, after a nice round from Eaze, Born’s punchline-themed round and chance at winning is blown by an ill-timed slip-up towards the end, thus giving the round to his opponent and making this one a draw at the end.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Born – “What you thought?, that you would be buzzing off a nigga?, the ratchet caught his face in a shot, like when ya side bitch got your ass ducking out the picture!”
Recap: Dre Dennis (“Like a little white lie, I been [bend] the truth”!) can rap often and forever, but elongated rounds can work against him as is the case where after splitting the first round with a just as solidly nice (“Flow illegal, plain [plane] outta here, Muslim people!”) Spee Dolla, Dennis easily takes the 2nd round with way more fiery (“It’s a wrap with a hand on my hip, like the old Tsu Surf!”) punchlines, hitting gun bars and a nice rebuttal at the intro. Going into the 3rd with the lead, it’s more of the same sizzling (“I’ll swing them arms back like George Jefferson walking!”) lines for Dre in the 3rd…except for him once again rapping too long and really lacking variety with the bars, which in turn waters down his consistency as his punches aren’t always hitting with the same impact. And that leaves Spee Dolla, while dishing fierce wordplay along with some nice (“Grab a street sweeper, barrel look like a Louisville, water Tommy gun, that clip could make a movie reel!”) performance bars in what was his best round despite a shorter turn than his opponent (with but with a higher bar quotient), with enough will and a little more variety to take the round and earn a debatable.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Spee Dolla – “Different picture, you chumps will be slumped if I looked to hit ya, shortie riding, she fixing to rock it [rocket], he Hidden Figures!”
Recap: Here’s a case where one-on-one tag-in’s get to be a little too much, as after getting hammered by a barrage of Stuey Newton’s scintillating punchlines and bully bars in this one-rounder from We Go Hard, a dogmatic, but inconsistent Gwitty tags in his boy Reepah Rell for what amounted to be a fiery minute of ‘old head’ bars that Gwitty can’t claim credit for. Thus, what turned to be a highly entertaining battle, is still, bar wise, an easy decision with Stuey the victor.
Verdict: Stuey Newton (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Stuey Newton -“When I spray necks, big enough to knock an organ back, but think safe sex….it got the rubber grip to absorb the clap!”
Recap: Against the underrated puncher Stricc, Young Kannon survives a spitfire 2nd round from his stoic, but still combative opponent with his own plethora of able-bodied punchlines, stinging personals, righteous mayhem and festive gun bars in both the 1st and 3rd rounds for the win.
Verdict: Young Kannon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Young Kannon – “We don’t care about your time in jail, ‘cuz all real nigga’s did time too for grinding sales, big ass bags…I could take T-Top’s mama from his clientele!”
Recap: Two crazy pen’s go at it on the WeGoHard stage and besides a disjointed 2nd round by Showff and too many slip-ups from Saint Mic in the deciding 3rd round, it still made for a close and fiery battle throughout. Round one is edged to Showoff, as despite his opponent having arguably the best line of the round (and perhaps battle), Show’s consistently potent (“Open my closet, a dead body is the only one a nigga found, but it’s a million dollars when I want a nigga now, ‘cuz I’ll leave a body with 6 0’s, I’ll be the 1, 2, calm a nigga down!”) bars, designed to boast his Brooklyn scorecard, set back a very hard and well-crafted turn from Mic who didn’t really heat up till the middle of his round. Second round saw Saint Mic come back to even things out with an intense and loaded (“Yeah, we rapping, Show, but I really came in the box on the low….I’m a date raper!”; “I cruised up, with them ‘matics, blued up, I’m Democratic!”) barfest that was littered with lofty wordplay and swanky gun bars. Going into the 3rd tied with each battler ready to take it, it was anyone’s guess who’d win. But it’s Showoff, after a bit of a slow start, who gets his hand raised in the end, overcoming a superb adn wide-ranged (“You cool on RBE, but to URL you still RPG!”) but gaffe-prone round by Mic to edge the final round with a better flow, steely, (“Midday, that .12 will lift him in the air…that’s how I knew him!”) animated gun lines and rapid heat laced with each dart.
Verdict: Showoff (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Saint Mic – “You gay, bring a whole new meaning to keeping hammer’s on ya hip, the irony, we all seen Belly and I’m the Obama nigga, yet you the one out here with all the banana on ya lip!”
Recap: A more versatile, (“You don’t buy no milk, put food in the house, true story, talking crazy, when I’m the reason your son got them new Jordan’s!) personal, condensed and punch-heavy Snake Eyez goes in on a (“It’s ironic how my reach got longer after I ate a thot, now I gotta play Snake games!”) solid, gun-bar heavy, but elongated Eazy the Block Captain, scoring a victory on yet another Philly battler with erstwhile sports bars, flexing wordplay and a steady stream of menacing bully bars.
Verdict: Snake Eyez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Snake Eyez – “Run up on me while I’m leaving, I’m clapping, Larry Bird, ’88 3-point contest…I’m shooting with the jacket!”
Recap: Not the best you’ve seen from O’fficial. But while the gritty Tori Doe came with some hot lines/wordplay here and there, her lack of a consistent effort in addition to O’s ability to dish just enough heated wordplay and stinging (“I would give you some breasts, but you don’t want the brisket!”) punches gets the New Orleans vixen the deciding 3rd round and the win.
Verdict: O’fficial (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Tori Doe – “Small at the bottom, wide at the top, how you shaped like the wifi?”
Recap: Dishing nicely with fiery intricate raps and feelgood wordplay that were at times laced with salacious biblical themes, Ha Double scores a one-round win over a Johnny Parelli, who hit hard with a couple of haymakers here and there, but at the end of the day spent too much time firing off pedestrian bars, when he wasn’t obsessing over Ha Double’s ‘greasy’ hair.
Verdict: Ha Double (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Ha Double – “Ebony God is the way I’m gonna black on this bitch…it’s beautiful!”
Recap: Even with a dope performance from Mr. Wavy, this battle vs. Bill Collector is a laborious one. But I guess elongated rounds (esp. from Wavy) are to be expected when you’ve been on the shelf and sitting on bars for awhile. Either way, pitted against a boatload of random darts and sluggish bars from BC (who only things competitive in the 1st round), Wavy not only made it look easy but earned his paycheck with a barrage of fine-tuned gun lines, gritty punchlines, nice performance bars, ill dance moves and witty personals to score a 30.
Verdict: Mr. Wavy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Mr. Wavy – “This strap curb nicely, that’s behind the back!”
Recap: In light of a fight almost breaking out here in this matchup between Big Kannon and Jay Rell, it makes sense that their apparent real-life dislike for each other would warrant them both writing so many personals prior to their battle. Still, while Rell’s requisite fat jokes were (“Why, every time you bake food, you caress the oven?”) pretty funny at times, Kannon with a wider realm of more creative personals along with potent schemes, a slightly more cohesive flow and nasty (“I sized you up, and you know what?, I understand why the fans do not respond, nigga, because it’s Harry Potter, you can’t say nothing magical without Duwang, nigga!”) punchlines, managed to edge the latter two rounds after a debatable 1st, to get the win.
Verdict: Big Kannon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “And your style…nothing’s changed, I mean I know exactly what you’ll say, ‘Kannon, you have a wide and disgusting frame’, I’m only mocking Jay before he gets into the Hunger Games!”
Recap: Adept at pointing out his opponent’s flaws within his own raps, YaBoyClip hilariously does it again here against the unorthodox (“You too light-skinned to say ‘Stop it Black!'”) stylings of L3. That, along with fierce wordplay and some nice punchlines adds up to a win for the WeGoHard vet.
Verdict: YaBoyClip (W) 1-0
Favorite line: YaBoyClip – “See, in this ring this nigga all ass, that Rakishi, but the ratchet trying to take the nigga outta the hood like Dashiki!”
Recap: In what could go down as a one-round sparring match, K-Shine uses aggressive performance bars, NWX cohort DNA and some stinging name flips is beat back the standard punches of relative unknown EB.
Verdict: K-Shine (W) 1-0
Favorite line: K-Shine – “I’m live, bars connect in the air…Wi-Fi, you another burger that’s buns…Five Guys!”
Recap: Solid, rugged and (“You too old to be telling people it’s baby fat!”) jokefest turn by Beez is turned back by a more potent, freestyle-laden and (“This pistol is like flattery, nigga this shit gonna get me everywhere!”) steely round from Marv Won, in this one-rounder from Barbarian Battle Grounds.
Verdict: Marv Won (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Marv Won – “That’s gonna have me kicking doors where you at, nigga let’s see if your hinges work, and I ain’t even looking for no dope, I’m trying to see how much your friends is worth!”
Recap: Consistently slick with the wordplay, but also mixing in some fiery name flips, meaty personals and flexing punchlines throughout her turn, in this 1-rounder from I Grind Battle League, 40 B.A.R.R.S. is also able to take advantage of a couple of slip-ups from an otherwise gritty and punch-heavy Big T, to win this battle.
Verdict: 40 B.A.R.R.S. (W) 1-0
Favorite line: 40 B.A.R.R.S. – “Gun in his face got Terrence talking to himself right before he die, I will blow the ultra-ego out a nigger once a Tip hit T eye [T.I.]!
Recap: Aggressive with the braggadocio lines along with the trap talk and even mixing in a rare rebuttal in the middle of the round, overall Rosenberg Raw’s arsenal proves to be way too much for the very basic bars of Parlay.
Verdict: Rosenberg Raw (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Rosenberg Raw – “At the bottom of the barrel is where I might leave ya, I’ll take a blade and turn your shirt into a wife-beater!”
Recap: Nary lacking for confidence, Swamp uses a gang of boastful stunting, scintillating gun bars, fiery personals and flippant name flips to beat back a solid and gritty, but nowhere-near-as-potent turn by Polo in this 1-rounder from Carolina Barrs Rap Battle league.
Verdict: Swamp (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Swamp – “Every time this bitch open his mouth, dog gonna lick a shot, that’s a Snapchat filter!”
Recap: It’s NWX all day as Th3 Saga punctuates his bars with winning name flips, righteous jokes, spitfire (“For the bread, a scuff will [scuffle] make me hit a lick like my white shoes dirty!”) wordplay and fierce, animated (“I’ll make the murder look so clean, first I’ll body his whole team, and point something weird on his head…Professor Rogaine!”) punchlines to score an easy 30 over mostly one-dimensional up-n-comer Sparks.
Verdict: Th3 Saga (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Th3 Saga – “I don’t care if you came prepared, you’ll still [steel] die, I’m not Logan!”
Recap: From Ireland’s Rap is Full league, the witty barbs and brazen personals/punches from Dublin rapper Siyo score at times, but overall fail to pack enough consistent heat to beat back, in the opening rounds of this 3-rounder, a more consistently scheme-hitting, set-up-lit and versatile punching Real Deal.
Verdict: Real Deal (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Real Deal – “You thought this match would change your life, well its sad to say you’re fucked, game face, Trevor gotta crack the whip and son Simon like its Castlevania!”
Recap: One-rounders don’t get much more sizzling than this as both (“Nicki Minaj, just because you got your fake ass shot, doesn’t mean you can handle Twerk!”) Phenom and Dougy hit hard with a barrage of spine-tickling gun bars and fiery wordplay. Still it’s a more consistent Dougy, with a sterling performance that gamely backed his plethora of (“You came up pussy, not on some killer shit, he grew up to kidnap girls, you still [steal] a bitch!”; “Just know that if I ever said an average bar, I mean what I say!”) haymakes, who brings this one back home for Brooklyn.
Verdict: Dougy (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dougy – “The only Phenom that could make it out of these bars is Lil Kodak, nigga!”
Recap: Hey, I was an 80’s and 90s wrestling fan, so I can dig it. Reminiscent of when “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan were still in the NWO together and they fought each for the championship belt a couple of times, fellow ‘Golden Squad’ members Pep and X Da Don got at it here in this one-round matchup from FearNoOne/HoneyCombHideout. And while X Da Don scores with fleeting braggadocio bars, aggression and a unique delivery, too many dry spots, but mostly a way more consistently bar and performance-heavy Pep manages to outdo his brethren in this rare intra-faction battle.
Verdict: Pep (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Pep – “I learned from young a machine will give you a different type of respect, I went the same road that Urkel took!”
Recap: Relentlessly spouting stinging punchline after punchline with a nice mixture of flexing name flips, piercing personals and rigid gun lines dipped in just to get his point across, G Lowe easily beats back a hardbody and witty at times, but nowhere-near-as-nice The Prafessa in this 1-rounder from Carolina Barrs.
Verdict: G Lowe (W) 1-0
Favorite line: G Lowe – “You the nigga we send to the store for the wraps and the snacks, always got your hand out but never getting no daps!”
Recap: Unbothered by the rampant mayhem and earnest trap talk thrown at him by a pretty solid T-Gunz, in this fiery 1-rounder from Body Bag Battle League, a more boastful with the heat, hyperbolic with the punches, flexing with the name flips/personals and sometimes just plain disrespectful Madface litters the spot with enough damage to gain the win.
Verdict: Madface (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Madface – “Took every burners out the house, left the stove clicking, yeah the gas at home nigga, this your business!”
Recap: Taking us inside the trap world for the umpteenth time, T-Rex’s comfort zone shines early on, but becomes repetitive later on. Not that it matters to Rex, even when he gets caught by his opponent here, the erstwhile Rad B, for recycling bars. Still, wouldn’t Rex have been better off spinning more lines on why an up-n-comer like Rad deserves with him in the first place? Or better yet, displaying more of his hearty (“I’m married to the white, it’s like Kanye’s wedding!”) wit and peep that, a cold (“If I wrote, if I feel like saying it, I’ll say it again!”) rebuttal game? But hey, word has it that Rex is retiring soon anyway and hell if we all don’t appreciate him doing this battle after he no-showed when it was first supposed to take place. That being said, while Rad B needs serious work on his monotone flow and penchant for mediocre bars, the yung’un still managed to put in enough work with some nice (“Last time a chick seen Rex bone, she was at a fucking museum!”) punches/wordplay/personals here to make it competitive and earn a split.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Rad B – “Are you gonna win? I already said birth control…no baby!”
Recap: Steady with the fierce punchlines and potent (“Hit him with the shotty, blank email, you getting sent without a body!”) gun bars, Genocide is nice with his throughout this one-round battle with Bill Collector. However, the always animated Double Bar Bill is not only able to dish his own assortment of killjoy punches and rich gun lines, but a nice mix of hitting (“You smell like you drank all the water from out the cabin!”) personals too, thus edging this one in the end.
Verdict: Bill Collector (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Bill Collector – “You stutter to the pigs, I diddida diddida…that’s all folks!
Recap: The normally gun bar dishing and mayhem-induced Krucial Ken veers left with a more personal stunting and punchline waving turn that makes for a solid overall, but hot-n-cold showing here. Thus, leaving a rapidly punching, wordplay-heavy and more consistent Johnny Parelli with the win in this 1-round battle from Matrix Rap Battle League.
Verdict: Johnny Parelli (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Johnny Parelli – “When I ignite, I’m smoking KK, that’s Khalifa Kush!”
Recap: Good fucking 1-round battle between Amazin D Boy and J-Krooger delivers on a boatload of utter mayhem and plenty of righteous boasts. But havoc and bedlam aside, all the while taking advantage of an opponent who rapped twice as longer as he did with less potency in the 2nd half of his turn, a rapidly firing on all cylinders, condensed, metaphorical and punch-crazy J-Krooger takes this one.
Verdict: J-Krooger (W) 1-0
Favorite line: J-Krooger – “I’m the reason your name on this card, let’s not make it a tombstone!”
Recap: In this one-rounder from Body Bag Battle League, Killa Time showed some wit and had some hot lines here and there. But too many reaches along with a plethora of pretty basic bars couldn’t withstand the arsenal of potent name flips and ferocious punches from Nunn Nunn.
Verdict: Nunn Nunn (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “I’m flipping, like the hourglass, I got dirt for Time, lazy inmate, it’s not gonna work for Time!”
Recap: Take out Qleen Paper’s half-a-minute or so slip-up in the middle of his 2nd round and against the ever-rambunctious Nu Jerzey Twork, you have a much closer battle what with QP’s slick-talking veneer dropping some dope punches here and there when he wasn’t dishing stinging gun (“The beam on his face, soon as it get down to his nose, ring!”) bars, aggressive personals and witty shiners. But clearly focused and repeatedly applying the heat with a host of fly (“I’ll grip a blade, leave ya lip hanging off, give ya a ‘nigga please’ face!”) weaponry, oft-subliminal, but biting wordplay and fierce name flips, Twork wasn’t having any of his opponent’s veteran panache, edging a close round 1 with more spice to his haymakers, before also winning the latter two rounds with the help of a slight downturn in overall potency from Qleen as well as his aforementioned cogency with the bars coupled with an overall very ‘strapping’ performance.
Verdict: Nu Jerzey Twork (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Nu Jerzey Twork – “Sharpshooter, with the lens, I could go pro [GoPro], [Bwoh!] [Bwoh!], it’s shooting in slo-mo and he’ll who hit him…but you should be used to the No-Show!”
Recap: Over the long haul, punch for punch, Craig Lamar is able to hold his own against Big Kannon. But in what was a pretty competitive 3-rounder from RBE, it’s some exquisite personals from BK that are all the difference, allowing the Chicago rapper to edge the latter two rounds and win the battle after a debatable 1st.
Verdict: Big Kannon (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Big Kannon – “You’re not strapped, nor am I ‘cuz I ain’t think you were worth crazy drama, I could’ve dropped the kid with the ugliest ratchet, shit that sound like nigga’s first baby mama!”
Recap: Funny, entertaining, head-scratching and totally one-sided battle from AHAT sees Yung Griz somehow getting through all the crowd noise and interruptions from his wayward, totally unprepared, freestyling opponent throughout this bout and deliver 3 rounds (we’ll deem the 3rd, where Griz spit what amounted to a superior character assassination, a classic) of spitfire punchlines, scathing personals, piercing schemes, blistering gun bars and rugged name flips and beat back a pretty embarrassing effort from Billy Boondocks.
Verdict: Yung Griz (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Yung Griz – “You always saying you wanna lift up the West and that’s kinda why some of us new nigga’s try to look up to you, then we get a little buzz and nigga’s say we good and you try to troll to keep us under you and that’s why I can’t fuck with you!”
Recap: Who knew that Prep had so many haters? In a battle drenched with personals from both his opponent Venom and fiends in the crowd, the DMV headliner, while shining when he spits ill freestyles and fiery (“On his way home get hit with another 30…Kevin Gates!”) set-ups but falters with a few too many dry spots/repeats, esp. when attempting to show off his off-the-dome acumen. For opponent Venom, even with somewhat of a tepid flow, consistently hitting with fleeting punches/personals throughout his round makes than makes for it and is also more than enough to offset Prep’s righteous unsteadiness and even getting tagged in 3 times during his turn.
Verdict: Venom (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Venom – “The last time we seen someone in a bowtie kill something B.I.G., it was a bad day in hip-hop!”
Recap: Using a variety of gritty gun bars, potent wordplay and fire punchlines, Truth Watson survives a couple of mild slip-ups to beat back an overall solid, but oft-reaching and inconsistent YaBoyClip in this PG match from URL/Smack.
Verdict: Truth Watson (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Truth Watson – “Laundry day, I place something under ya chin, then I’m folding ya shit, then scratch the serial [cereal] off like ‘What else on the grocery list?'”
Recap: First, a couple of side notes on this highly anticipated battle between O-Red and Ave. For starters, Jai 400 Block, standing right there behind O’Red and refusing to hold Red’s water bottle in his hand time and time again was just passive aggressive and hilarious at the same time. Secondly, O-Red complaining about Smack supposedly cutting his round short, when Red goes at least 6 to 8 minutes in each round, was just ridiculous. That said, lyrically and punchline speaking, it doesn’t get much better than this one as personals and schemes were for the most part left out. And with the hype around Ave being pretty high before this battle happened as well as the envisage surrounding the veteran O-Red coming back to Smack/URL to take on the hot newbie being a must-see, to see both battles on their A-game (except for s slight slip-up by Red in round 3) made this battle close, exciting and a matchup that was literally drenched with haymakers. A close round 1 that saw a turned-up, (“Bro a goof, and we know O been food, shit everything about Red Cafe!”) punch-heavy and altogether fire Ave, gets edged by a slightly more condensed O-Red not only keeping up with his opponent on the more formidable (“You from Virginia right?, ok when that Baretta tweak, hole through the sternum, your bae, will give your chest a peek [Chesapeake]!”) heaters, but mixing in a couple of fire freestyles with overall, more intricate wordplay and witty personals. Round 2 also goes to Red, who was somehow able to up his showmanship after a superb round 1 with a variety of sizzling (“That foreign ratchet will serve him, welcome to Golden Krust!”) punchlines, stifling name flips/gun play and other noteworthy mayhem to beat back another dope, but not-quite-as-as-nice-as-his-1st turn by Ave. With a win already in hand, an ironically elongated and punch-heavy turn by Red (that contained the aforementioned near choke) makes for a clear loss when it comes to a more condensed, punch-focused and still in his bag Ave in the final round.
Verdict: O-Red (W) 2-1
Favorite line: O-Red – “You want this wreck?, you gonna sit with them on a losing shelf, but fuck it, cool, stitch up your own wounds, that means shoot yourself!”
Recap: After impressing the normally passive UDubb crowd with a spitfire, haymaker-friendly, punch-drenched and near flawless 1st round, DNA’s prolific use of gun bars would come back to haunt him in this 3-rounder as Pat Stay would use a witty, raucous at times and anecdotal-lit 2nd to go along with a hard-hitting, personal and punchline-crazy 3rd to complete a comeback for the win. Ironically, DNA would get off to a fierce start in the deciding 3rd round, but instead of continuing with more gripping personals on his opponent, his choice to resort back to a boatload of steady gun lines and other redundant street missives would assist in his loss.
Verdict: Pat Stay (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Pat Stay – “Battle rap is all you watch, battle rappers is all you hang with, bunch of law-abiding citizens with violent imaginations!”
Recap: Nice impresses here with that straight gutter, (“When I got shot, I woek in the hospital and told my mother it was on, and she took it in the worse way, ‘cuz she knew I was going right back to what got me shot in the first place!”) real life shit that makes the crowd scream ‘Facts!’. But overall, Nunu Nunn’s potent (“I’ll hit you till you cross gender….stuck in a trans!”) wordplay, fierce name flips and the Jersey dude’s lack of being more direct (esp. in the 3rd round where almost half his bars were directed at J. Murda) with his bars hurts him. Thus giving the 1st and 3rd rounds, along with the win, to Mr. Nunn.
Verdict: Nunn Nunn (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Nunn Nunn – “I want your sister, [but] gotta act right for the ho bitch, [but] she get back outta line, and I’ll put one in the skull of your sis!”
Recap: With a future PG battle possibly on the line, rising Massachusetts emcee Biz Barker shines with a barrage of cantankerous bars and witty jokes on a solid, but also going-through-the-motions DNA in this one-rounder from iGrind.
Verdict: Biz Barker (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Biz Barker “Go in ya pockets like ‘What else?’, that ain’t Gwitty in the background!”
Recap: In this one-rounder from AHAT Battle Rap League, a two-fold of heated gun bars and spirited name flips allows Dre Dennis to score an easy vic over a jokingly nice, but pretty basic otherwise Mark D.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Your lines always fucked up like ya barber cheap!”
Recap: A testament to the idea that URL would do better to really promote their respective PG classes, Steams vs Danny Myers (who both got their starts on Smack in 2015) definitely goes down as one of the best battles of 2017. The ever-crafty, clearly motivated and flow-crisp Steams turned in a sublime performance for 3 straight rounds with spicy punchline after punchline when he wasn’t spouting some sizzling wordplay, nasty scheems, persistent heat with the (“Or I’m at your door, puttin’ in pain (Payne) wit’ the Roscoe, it’s long, and the front of it drip: it’s a snot-nose!”) gun bars and fierce name flips/personals. While an always game Danny supplied a gang of aggressive West-coast bangers, witty (“Miss me with all the hi-jinks!, nigga, you 30, and best friends wit’ a nigga who can’t even buy drinks!”) personals, piercing name flips of his own and plenty of ringing mayhem. Each round was close, but after a debatable 1st, we have the slightly more consistent and punch-heavy Steams edging both of the latter two rounds for the win.
Verdict: Steams (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Steams – “Let me stop, ’cause I can’t understand the position this tranny’s under, with eight rugrats, this nigga has got to be scared of rubbers, the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who likes it ‘Raw’, if a bitch fuck him, then I’m scared to touch her [Why?!], ‘cuz that pussy gotta be a Lethal Weapon even if Danny glove her [Glover]!”
Recap: A little sloppy with his flow at times, Dre Dennis still manages to get his shine on, using spitfire bombs and other urban (“Head shot, Murda and Prez in the whip, I’m thinking Kennedy!”) semantics to edge the forever (“I will slap the bitch out of you and add a new member to ya clique!”) spazzing (but not quite as nice in the 2nd half of his round as his first) J Murda in this one-rounder from The Trap NY.
Verdict: Dre Dennis (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Dre Dennis – “Your name ain’t really on this card, bitch you straight McLovin, ain’t nobody coming to see you Otis, bitch I’m David Ruffin!”
Recap: Agreeing with Danja Zone that this battle between (“The irony, I joined battle rap to give y’all Heaven and caught Hell for it!”) Loso and Bad Newz was close (and fire throughout), doesn’t mean that it didn’t have a winner. As the feeling here is that after witnessing a debatable second as well as a debatable 3rd, the only clear round was the 1st. Which saw Bad Newz line up a more consistently spitfire array of punchlines to beat back an overall solid, but oft-porous turn from Loso. Indeed, Bad Newz, who overall mixed it up a bit more than his opponent did via a slew of hard (“And I heard you got the bricks on the low, well nigga take me to it, Truth or Dare, if he ain’t trying to tell me, then I’m a make him do it!”) gun bars, bully raps, a nice rebuttal to start his 3rd, real-life struggle bars and stinging punchlines, seemed to have a plan going in on staying away, for the most part, the all-too-common Christian rebukes that we see against Loso and instead just relying on having a better pen. And it worked, as a handful of predictable punchlines, subpar personals/name flips and a couple of slow starts to his rounds come back to hurt Loso in the end.
Verdict: Bad Newz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Bad Newz – “Snapple fact, you could get a round over words!”
Recap: Using a barrage of fiery punchlines laced with ill (“Grayson Allen…dude always tripping!”) set-ups, Sir South takes the first couple of rounds here over a pretty (“Ratchet, telling all of his business…basically, that bitch going in the mouth of South like Jimmy Hart!”) solid overall, but somewhat ‘slacking’ at times Bangz, to earn the win in this 3-rounder from iBattleTV.
Verdict: Sir South (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Sir South – “I’ll cut him open, I see something in him like he got potential!”
Recap: With gun bars and absolute mayhem raining down everywhere, Prez Mafia certainly had to earn this one. Against a fiercely (“That’s why I brought that steel around, ‘cuz I watched you steal a round from a nigga and you still around!”) nice and just-as-spirited Stumbles, a little case of (no pun intended) stumble-itis cost Prez a close round one, before a cleaner and more (“Come see, I’ll get a couple kick, that’s two rounds in ya head, now you Chun-Li!”) potent 2nd round evened things up. Still, judging from a pretty solid, heat-drenched final round Stumbles wasn’t going away any time soon. Yet, relying on experience, some nasty punches/set-ups and ever-ready wordplay, Prez does just enough to take the 3rd and the win.
Verdict: Prez Mafia (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Prez Mafia – “Negro spiritual, I’ll let it sing in the field….then swing low!”
Recap: 3-round, winner-takes-all, money-on-the-line, judged RBE battle between Jimz and Aye Verb makes for an easy decision as Jimz spouts a trio of consistently dope, punch-heavy turns that easily gets him the latter rounds after a debatable round 1. Seasoned battle vet Verb, who along with his opponent did a great job on promoting this matchup, would use one of his noted ‘Showtime’ schemes in each round, but outside of he opening round, nothing the St. Louis battle did could keep up with his oft-witty opponent’s more stifling and versatile bar game.
Verdict: Jimz (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jimz – “You can’t tell us about pain and struggle…we Knicks fans!”
Recap: A hot start that featured some aggressive shiners along with a sputtering Mr. Mills gives (“You only cereal [serial] killing at breakfast, you not a General Mills!”) Bedaffi Green round 1 in this matchup from CGBL County Ground Battle League. Yet proven able to the task, Mills uses a nice rebuttal game and steely (“….he come off the top rhyming, soon as they put him in hot water, stick a fork in him!”) punchlines/schemes to easily take round 2 over a filler-prone turn from his opponent. Split going into the final round with the battle on the line, neither battler really stepped it up too much bar-wise. Yet, a fiery freestyle and more steadier punches from Mr. Mills, edged him one for the win column.
Verdict: Mr. Mills (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Mr. Mills – “If you ain’t think I got shooters…well godammit that nigga stay masked up like that nigga behind you!”
Recap: A debatable 2nd and 3rd round, forces this one to come down to the 1st where Jonny Storm spit about twice as long as his opponent Tone Montana did and easily took the round (and win) with way more spitfire punches and a couple of (“Your girl be sucking my dick, watch who you French Montana!”) haymakers.
Verdict: Jonny Storm (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Jonny Storm – “Tone Montana, y’all about to see him die, punches, flow, presence, I’m a seasoned guy, to kill him I could give a hundred reasons why, but I ain’t want to boast about it, so why give T.M. I [TMI]!”
Recap: Almost had him. On his way to an impressive win over the (“I don’t gangbang, just thought I’d remind him nigga, the only Nutty block I know is a condom, nigga!”) fiercely eccentric Bar God that is Danny Myers, Compton’s Geechi Gotti’s barrage of spitfire (“See, I don’t even know why we here, this matchup kinda odd, but I get it, since I killed a Saynt [saint] I gotta talk to God!”) wordplay/gun bars and urban (“Real Compton nigga, my first ‘lik I robbed the corn man!”) street dynamics had him on the way to victory, until he fell victim to a slip-up towards the end as well as some more pedestrian bars that didn’t quite meet the straight heat he was spitting throughout most of his round. Still a fire one-round battle nonetheless that a more consistent and a little more versatile Myers was fortunate enough to edge out.
Verdict: Danny Myers (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Danny Myers – “I’m not playing, the glock spraying until you stop stop standing, they told me to get Gotti and Gotti got got…Goddamhim!”
Recap: Solid, punchline-heavy turn by J Morr, but Chef Trez’s variety of fire (“You put on this facade, like you really out here killing shit, photobomb, you could catch a deuce behind the images!”) performances bars, potent schemes and jaunty punchlines was just too much to overcoem in this one-rounder from Body Bag Battle League.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “You trying to put an end to me?, keep distant, heat spitting, pin a clip to the dreds, he getting them re-twisted!”
Recap: A hardbody, disrespectful and sometimes witty Arsonal versus a punch-heavy, wordplay-savvy, fiery scheme dishing and personal-leaning Chilla Jones makes for a competitive and dope 3-round battle on the UDubb stage. But after an aggressive-on-both-sides, but debatable 1st round, Chilla Jones just proves to be too much to handle in the latter rounds, spitting more consistently potent bars with rampant flair in the 2nd and 3rd to edge both against a pretty solid, but a bit filler-prone turns by Ars.
Verdict: Chilla Jones (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chilla Jones – “My mind right, lyrically zoned, I’m too much of a monster for Red Bull, it’s in my energy homes!”
Recap: The TrapNY hosts a 3-rounder that sees Bonus use a host of fiery name flips, rambunctious gun bars and rapid punchlines to beat back the slick talk and nifty wordplay of a competitive, but altogether overwhelmed Kush Cloud.
Verdict: Bonus (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Bonus – “You piss me off more than when you trying to get pussy and the baby won’t go to sleep!”
Recap: A first-round choke by da Example (who up to that point wasn’t spitting much more than average bars anyway) makes this an easy win for a consistently nice Tone Montana in this one-rounder from Jack City Battle League.
Verdict: Tone Montana (W) 1-0
Favorite line: Tone Montana – “After I hit him, just pull out y’all camera’s….that’s how I pick a fight!”
Recap: Not much separates Rum Nitty-soundalike PG and Gwitty in this super close, West-coast PG matchup from URL. Atypical, but fiery (“Gwitty: “He rap good, on the mic cool or get hit from the blind side, this glock from New Jersey twerk, cock mines!”) gun bars from both (“PG: I’m talking curb stomp, hustler, you don’t really stick to the block, with your name on a bullet, that’s a signature shot!”) battlers, an equal amount of (PG: “A head shot will have him sharing memories like the Facebook option!”) haymakers, excellent (PG: “Watch the punches, metaphors and similes, ‘cuz you could get punched over meta 4’s that this assembly!”) wordplay from each, name flips, funny (Gwitty: “You famous?, hey miss, give him a swirly, face in the toilet, he won’t say shit!”) anecdotes and a few personals here and there and finally, consistent flows that matched their energy. That being said, the feeling here is that upon close inspection of the bars and overall performance, there was just a little bit more originality to his bars and a slightly better showing from Gwitty, who with a bigger battle rap name, had to know a little less about his opponent than vice versa. Thus, Gwitty is Paper…2-1 with PG edging the 1st round and Gwitty edging the latter two.
Verdict: Gwitty (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Gwitty – “Tek’s blam, cabal rings hit your best man, blam, blam, I walk with the arms…headstand!”)
Recap: Strong showing by Joe is met by an even stronger overall performance by Dougy, who when he wasn’t dishing pointed (“End this show wit a Mac like kings of comedy”!”; “I’m talking big dummy shits when I’m packing the tool, with a big dummy clip, like ‘Shaqtin’ A Fool'”!) gun lines that laid a fiery foundation, stayed gritty in the mix with steely trap talk, fire wordplay/set-ups and potent punchlines that continuously scored. For Joe, with aggressive (“Y’all know white boys cant dance right? So when I’m swinging arms doing dougie wrong, don’t be surprised!”) punches and dope wordplay (“NY Giants, oh they’ll [Odell] have you and your man in trouble [Manning] when they cruise up (Cruz) that’s what the mac will do [McAdoo]!”) that landed well throughout his 3 rounds, a solid battle nonetheless, that if not for his opponent’s comeuppance and a little too many repetitive themes, might’ve had a different outcome.
Verdict: Dougy (W) 3-0
Favorite line: Dougy – “We both grew up around the same type shit, you needed your mom’s, I needed a nice brick, see?, we both needed that white bitch!”
Recap: One of the punch-heaviest, dopest and competitive 1-round battles you’ll see, Ru Bando and Chris Mills both bring their A-game’s to a We Go Hard match that should’ve gotten a lot more attention in 2017. Bando, a stickler for sheer mayhem and rapidly punching with plenty of vigor, head-swinging gun bars and short, but perfunctory punchlines, rarely minced words. While Boston spitter Mills, kept the scoreboard lit with a boatload of thrifty wordplay, fire-set-ups, real street shit, some ridiculous name flips and suave (“I got a mean jab, speed bag, see how I roll with them punches?!”) punchlines that had the crowd hype. A tight one with an almost equal amount of haymakers, what Bando lacked in versatility was made up for with slightly less dry spots from his opponent, thus, we call this one a draw.
Verdict: TIE
Favorite line: Ru Bando – “It ain’t a firm handshake when I squeeze the grip, ‘cuz I’m wilding with the sub like the teacher is sick!”
Recap: Strong, raucous and punch-heavy performance by Mike P gets edged by a stronger showing by Chef Trez, who starting with his spitfire ‘Don’t none of y’all nigga’s pop those K’s, ‘I’m strapped in’, it’s like Twork, the wrong stair get you dropped on stage!’ freestyle early in round 1, dishes nothing but straight heat as well as a couple of more haymakers for 2 rounds to take each of them and beat back an opponent who certainly did enough to win, but just couldn’t quite match the Chef’s pen game until salvaging the 3rd with a cleaner, (“I took blood from his head and did his boo greasy, slapped a hand print on that ass, too easy, she ain’t recognize the bald head, I thought she knew Beasley, chin shot, turned the whole cheek red, now she Glueazy!”) scheme-heavy and more versatile turn.
Verdict: Chef Trez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Chef Trez – “I’m cuttin’ ya life shorter, get ya brains pushed back, you can’t see the gun?, try harder, ‘cuz the .44 still [steel] in reach like my father!”
