So, I pulled 2 bouts from the BOTBX card (originally but Diz/Eazy seems to have inflated itself into a hot air balloon of conjecture clouding the material with deeper than rap implications which then leaves much of the content within it to a subjective lens. And that honestly just doesn’t lend to a fair scale of the work considering the optics) with the larger picture in mind for down the line attached to them, to point-scale each round & settle up for a theoretical winner. The 2-1 you won base model just never seems to do the art form justice in my opinion.
But first an aside…
(Info-spillage or “dumping” into the pool of Battle Rap consumption may soon exceed the max allowable before deemed hazardous. The art in the ring being drowned into a toxicity filled abyss of off-loaded word garbage and gossipy this and that can not be good for the health of the product within the pool itself. And though it may seem to fuel progress and fan the flames of excitement to some who may find pique convenience in the unraveling of BR’s kayfabe, in the end everything burns. Feels like someone somewhere should be considering the fact that the notion that something has always been this way probably shouldn’t also serve as the flow of dismissive tenor that suggest to simply keep rowing toward the rocky ledge and see what we find at the end of it. A major iron clad ingredient of prominence that has managed to evolve itself into every iteration of the art forms presentation over time has been the elements of storytelling and its seemingly endless lyrical range. Specifically, the craft of our cultural ethics and its aesthetics pitted against one another in rhymed logic to make for a moment of entertainment with a message attached, if not a lesson. As the artists themselves serve in duality with the end goal as templates toward the embodiment of a particular ethos in which a mass viewership has shown over the years to gravitate toward and grow its audience. Well, if the importance of maintaining substance of the product (talent) cannot be kept pristine and clean enough to swim in as the imbalance growing toward out-of-ring interest begins to groundswell the markets attention and focus at the expense of the 3 round tales themselves then, how will the future ever see a real benefit of immersing itself into the current state of BR?
That said,
Let’s peel back the layers and composite score the body of work shall we!
Bigg K
Round 1- +8
“Another Dot on the table, this the domino effect.”
Land= 4 bar lead up, feints to a solid straight away punch connecting out the gate.
+1
“I was the first to say f**k that when Smack tried to draw that line/
…what you was locked up for, two weeks? that’s a long ass time”
Land= K comes forward and counters with a humorous jab of his own to point.
+1
“who waits till their 30 to have a sitdown/
I’m at the table with Original Gangstas, next to Jim Brown/
you came home a few weeks later, like i’m a [member] now”
Land= late great Jim Brown? K throws a combination here that doesn’t land on both however does make contact in jest. The open interpretation Jim Brown reference could have equated to a swing & miss but the last punch converts. Point.
+1
“Not from neighborhood, Rex ass tryna trespass/
matter fact, when you battled Math on Vlad this what you said last/
i’m neutral but I was raised by the red rags/
..you ain’t decide to pick a side, you was swinging on the fence/
if you raised by the [members] how you playing on the [members]/
that’s why I do believe it, if you say you got a switch/
Land= 1st haymaker flurry combination to deal damage and connect in bunches for the bout thus far. All the ingredients are here- set up jab, cut off the ring by pitting Rex’s own bars up against him, digestible lead up to tie in previous bar and close the distance, and an overhand right/write that finishes the combo with power and no wasted motion. Great execution here from K. Double point.
+2
“You just a victim of the system that the kids abide/
why everybody think they [members] since Nipsey died/
skip the lies you switching sides but know this/
it’s ill-advised genocide and soul less/
the reason you throwing up C’s and so [member]/
is the same reason kids was throwing up B’s in ‘06/
..you 4’6 they need to supersize em/
they brought the dog another vet, i’m tryna euthanize em/
these ain’t grown man bars if I can neutralize em/
you not influencing the youth, you influenced by em/
Land= Saved by the bell. Copy paste the execution from Bigg K in the previous haymaker combination to this one and you have a get off the ropes and clinch moment in the bottom of the 1st. It’s early and a champion like T Rex deserves more benefit of the doubt than a little bit but the damage is done in Round 1. As far as the substance in-between the lines, the marketed influence of DeWayne Carter on I and my peers as teenagers during Wayne’s scorched Earth run of popularity cannot be understated. Like many of you, I was there. The fuel emissions of Rap’s environmental bio-hazards caused upon us in large part by the cultural hypocrisy of the genres far reach yet praised dismissive speech has and continues to leave its mark on our youth generation to generation. Furthermore, the magnetism of Rap music as it pertains to the direction of appeal catered toward negative outcomes designed to intentionally derail our youth is both well-known and well-documented at this point and the proof of burden reveals itself in perpetuity for Rap and what is left of Hip-Hop culturally so in fact we do know- somebody has to talk about it. Likely will never be everybody but somebody, and preferably not Bigg K as a stand alone battle artist on a card ripe with qualified street reporters to offer a crisply aged prospective. All that to say it drives home the point and aesthetically even more so for K in moments like this, alarmingly.
2Cents
+2
+1 (Consecutive haymaker)
(end of round)
TIME.
Round 2- +12
“You act like the gangster role you took was pre-determined/
you use to be a nurse, why couldn’t you be a surgeon/
I just had a battle with Murda Mook, pussy we was working/
now i’m battling Murda Mook, the evil version”
Land= Being a vet is knowing when and where to throw the right punch.
+1
“People hurting I don’t be in the mix/
you got a couple bars that need a cease and desist/
remember when you said- “if she old enough to cross the street she could get hit”/
creepy and sick, not to mention illegal as sh*t”
Land= mirroring the opponent: giving Rex his bars back as the angle. Tactical
+1
“he did a bid, came home and never was regular/
sumn happened, that made em lose his edge with competitors/
he on that list, of offenders/
that gotta check-in and register/
if Nitty is the alien, Rex is the predator”
Land= it’s like switching southpaw mid-bout. Can throw an opponent for a loop & swing the edge. The mirroring attack style continues as Bigg K comes forward.
+2
“Rex trying to find a real chick that go to school, still lit/
his favorite spot to meet a thot, a field trip”
Land= Time and place. The environment for this uncomfortable subject matter should be considered seeing as this round was not even Top 3 odd and disturbing of the full card. Regardless, K is taking full advantage as he points for shock value.
+1
“he brought a fake I.D. so they could chill quick/
took her to grown man bars, something she gotta deal with”
Land= More of the same. Rex’s battle rap chin is being tested the more the angle unravels. But hey, the ref (crowd) allowing hits behind the head isn’t K’s issue.
+2
“Real sick, let’s get it announced/
you see Rex on deck, keep the kids in the house/
that ain’t even the sickest sh*t he ever spit for some clout/
he said- “she so young I make the airplane noise when I [redacted]”
Land= Bigg K has a clear formula for this round and it is proving effective. The shock and awe haymaker has been unlocked for this bout. Rex must prepare a counter even if to simply curtail the angle. For now his guards are up. Point ++
Freudian slip? Real Sikh let’s get it announced… 👁
+2
+1 (consecutive haymakers)
“I don’t know bout the shows you sold out/
but with raps like that, I just hope it go South/
don’t tell me you a real one if it’s pedophile jokes in ya rollout/
cause it’s certain things that a real one don’t even joke bout”
Land= The deflating energy of the room suggest K has turned the odds. Rex’s best fight may have been put up already as Bigg K begins to walk down that back foot.
+1
“You poke out ya chest all tall/
act tough on the outside to impress all yall/
but fast i’ll expose ya past like you met Nardwuar”
Land= Rex’s masterful 2nd round is in jeopardy but not yet dead in the water.
+1
“Rex green on the inside, that’s a reptar bar”
S & M= lazy segue. Mostly unrelated to the foundational build-up of the entire round. Perhaps the damage was already done in his mind but not really. K needed to keep the pressure on to corner Rex and cut off the ring. Instead he conceded & it could cost the round. Squandered opportunity. Swing & miss to end the ⬇️ 2nd.
+0
(end of round)
TIME.
Round 3- 12
“Rex just be saying dumb ass sh*t, and this needs to stop/
he said- “you gon lose a 8th of blood”/
that’s not even a lot”
Land= haymaker counter rebuttal out the gate from a previously sporadic 4 bar set up by Rex that failed to land, proving costly. Point ++
+2
“you ever got bad news in the kite stressed/
when them letters is hard to read like a eye test”
Land= Point.
+1
“I send a shooter on a scooter/
he slide for the feeling/
speed up, then T stuck on the side of the building/
zoom and a boom boom/
hit Rex and affect the life of his children/
it’s brilliant”
S & M= it’s elaborate. Vividly composed. So much so the viewer almost feels compelled to “react” but it’s more a 4 bar lead up of feints that miss the mark once the punch is finally thrown in the end. The set up entices you as if the decoding of the detailed work has additional layers of meaning but it doesn’t.
+0
“run a blade cross ya face, make Nike checks/
they found his body in the mud, he was tryna flex/
now he in the dirt nasty, do what I say like Simon Rex”
Land=
+1
“i’m in the bottom with the guys/
where the object is survive/
it’s a quarter for a loosie, a dollar for some fries/
where they show up, pour out a whole bottle when you die/
the same people that wouldn’t give you a shot when you alive/
Surprise”
S & M= these are reality raps no question and K does a great job painting the scenario most times however every great portrait needs a signature and the tie-in insight to the moral of story is just missing here. Sticking the landing so to speak.
+0
“watch how it play out for ya/
blood stained drug money how we pay our lawyer/
strapped in a beamer on the way out Florida/
M5 with a M1, sound like a takeout order”
Land= and there it is. Sticking the landing. The layered entendres of the set up combination here hold up well between the lines. The tools, the drive, and the indication someone won’t be returning back from the field trip brings this tale together nicely. Jab, jab, hook. K now letting his lyrical hands go to score the W?
+2
“you ain’t never hit the border, went to Texas in droughts/
get a block of straight drop, from a Mexican house/
take it home to the stove, stretching it out/
you could put 5 on 1 like a Netflix account”
Land= the skill of the drug lingo battle style is nuance followed by simplicity. Almost all of the viewing audience in most cases possess very little knowledge and introspection into the logistics of drug trafficking (in real life) so leading us lyrically down a road that will be easy to find your way back is the assignment. Check. Despite the fact Netflix and their new policy would like a word. Bigg K is now in the lyrical pocket coming forward aggressive. Can he deliver the TKO?
+2
+1 (consecutive haymaker)
“I doubt, that’s how you living/
I been dying to mention/
how this gang-banging image, is a vie for attention/
standing behind real [members] like you hired some henchmen/
hoping to get saved by the grapes, divine intervention/
Land= this should only qualify as a partial land tbh. K knowingly forced the lyrical punch into a build up of false context. It worked as he knew it would due to set-up but the obvious mischaracterization of affiliation takes the zip off of that jab.
(DNA has been an optical ringside treasure in this bout. Shout out to him.)
+1
“1-50 lift em like a race truck/
we spin ya city till we dizzy and it’s taped up/
when you really a hitta you don’t really gotta say much/
you ain’t no cereal killa just cause you swinging from the grape nuts”
S & M= K tried it again, behind the head shot. No dice. Shame, the set-up appeared promising too. Well put together compound bars need substance.
+0
“who turned this pussy to a G/
you ain’t never start small, turn a cookie to a key/
don’t have me out Sugar Hill, in that hoodie and a ski/
like what’s the word on the street, i’m looking for the T/tea”
Land= Great film. When cinema still prioritized the root of fictional depiction.
+1
“you gon make me try ya chin/
then it’s funeral music, tell em cue the violin/
eat sh*t lil Randy, f**k who thought you might a win/
another 30 sack of work, the dog strikes again”
Land= one last jab to point before the bell with a play-on of slogan. Vet move.
+1
(end of round)
TIME.
…
Total= 32
T Rex
Round 1- +6
“I ain’t Mook”
Land= an infamous tone setter jab to get the fight started.
+1
“all it take is one hit, you better keep it Positive K”
Land= reference: “I Got A Man”, a classic early 90s dirty mac anthem.
+1
“you’ll eat cereal thru a straw thinking you special K”
S & M (Swing & Miss) = 4 bar lead up (feints) sets up a power jab that doesn’t quite connect with full velocity.
+0
“I ain’t one of these average guys, status wise/
was out of shape, i’m getting in shape, my fans satisfied/
(feint).. i’ll chop a leg off K, n**ga don’t ask me why”
Land= a Rex special: humored malice within a stonewall delivery of seriousness.
+1
“I done sold white to white and had a Santa line”
Land= subtle jab sneaks between the guard of a bar flurry.
+1
“they don’t understand it when it’s underhanded/
reason why ya sh*t out of/outer space, is cause you over plan it/planet”
S & M= Rex needed to expound more here, there was potentially room to work with lyrically had he re-positioned his stance (focused the attack) and elaborated. A difference is with me set-up ending in fruit, palm-a-granite/pomegranate?
+0
“I’m in Cali showing off, so it’s a Kobe night/
it’s gon show that the show is back..
(feint) we can make this a 1 on 1 or a homie fight”
Land= Straight away punch gets through to set up the big overhand haymaker however the big swing doesn’t make it’s intended impact. Still point the above.
+1
“vanish mode, soon as I see em he gone instantly”
Land= quick jab lands just before the end round slogan.
+1
(end of round)
TIME.
Round 2- +13
Rex at the top of the 2nd attempts an impromptu counter rebuttal that fails to provide enough informative context on the fly to really resonate as a land. Went for a big punch on the chin that probably should've been more planned out if he wanted to make it count. Besides, Mook would never pass on an angle like that…
“I know n**gas that's so sick and tired, of being sick and tired/
I know a fiend that left the rehab, he said he sick he trying it/
Another that died in front of the rehab, I know he wished he tried it/
It was all over my dope then I intensified it”
Land= Rex successfully paints the picture and lures K into a jab with a rationale that morally aligns with the cold ethics of an authentic death dealer. As he laments over his own causes while antagonizing the true conquest, the cruel intent is felt in the bars.
+1
“The only time that my n**gas shout is to take a stain out”
Land= this is Rex. An aggressive style lead jab artist that will search for that opening in the opponents stance until he finds it. Here he found it after much probing. Point.
+1
“I been through some things to get me some change/
we learned to move like roaches when we get in a raid/
Land= electric delivery begins to heat up as the jab is starting to find its sweet spot for Rex. If he can turn one of these rapid fires into a successful combination in the bars ahead then we have ourselves an old-fashioned fight gents.
+1
“as long as two-on-two add up, what we gon play for/
just know that I got a stray bullet for the stray dog/
…you ain’t Adolph”
S & M= much left to be desired from where this sequence began to where it ended. Considering a stray is a stray for a reason. Needed more context here.
+0
“You ain’t Hitler bad I used to hit the Ave/
hard as George Foreman hit the bag”
Land= In the spirit of Big George, Rex cooks up a healthy shot to the body here.
+1
“Third of all I ain’t come to play/
you f**k around and get two in ya mouth for what you 1/wanna say/
Land= First- 🔥
Secondly, the choppy delivery may have ruined a big connect for Rex on this one.
Thirdly, with all due respect- DNA on footage really took away from the heat on this one. It warranted a screw face however he’s on his 5th OD at this point lol.
+1
“the gun ull spray/
like a hydrant on a summer day/
he gon need a GPS if this go another way”
Land= Rex takes advantage of the momentum from his last bar and lands a shot that normally shouldn’t but for Rex’s unorthodox style it works. Point.
+1
“beef with me, sh*t can get deep as the voice on Tone Loc/
my hitman put bodies in bags, I start my own show/
don’t talk to me like i’m Snake Eyez, watch ya Tone Bro”
Land= hat slam! Rex lands that over right he needed to. The raspy comedy that is Tone Loc voice overs probably helps this scheme resonate more with a little impressionist performance from Rex as i’m sure he meant for this set up to cross-reference and correlate to the raspy tone of Snake Eyez. Still, sound technique. And let’s be honest, there are few things more fulfilling in Battle Rap as a consumer than a room rocking successful T Rex hat slam. Ya gotta love it. 📀
+1
“you act stupid, i’ma squeeze on you/
that 40 got recoil/
it ring and it’ recall you”
Land= 💣💣
Boom! This is the punch that gets fans out of seats people. That combination haymaker finally gets through the gloves on K with this one and it’s felt. Much like boxing, Battle Rap requires timing and proper placement. Assignment- ✔︎
+2
“Treat you like the lunchroom table, put beats on you”
Land= he found it. Nothing like the rhythm of a battler in sync with the lyrical motion of momentum. He’s got it going now. Rex has entered triple combination territory. Or, an unbeatable round as the BRC refers- “it’s getting dark”. Point ++
+2
+1 (consecutive haymaker)
“What goes up must come down, well this the opposite/
you going down in the grave and won’t come up out of it/
my white shooters the real deal, Stojakovic”
Land= See previous. (at least now there’s some merit to DNA’s antics lol)
(side-note- Bigg K’s believability defense is just elite..”Storyakovic”)
+1
(end of round)
TIME.
Round 3- +5
“this gon be an entendre and thats a fact/
cause i’ll hang you upside down and then beat you with a bat”
Land= Rex works in the jab early to assure everyone the fight is still there. Point
+1
(Rex feints with a poor Alpha/Omega scheme too far-reaching to gain any traction)
(DNA man…)
“Dead presidents, for years we done burnt up bread”
S & M= a total waste of such a promising lead up. This bar deserves a good amount of detail and an elaborate scheme. Hopefully it resurfaces somewhere.
+0
“ya bullsh*t, dead that/
I don’t respect that/
turn em from white to Puerto Rican he’ll have a wetback”
Land= coming forward and searching for a sweet spot to land his jabs. Point
+1
“i’m Kyrie, before I shoot I do a stepback/
cause I went to the gun store in Queens and I bought the whole left rack”
(DNA is shameless at this point lol)
S & M= in hoop you don’t stepback and abandon dribble to get to the rack (rim).
+0
“i’ma make ya man cripple because” is a moment lol
“yea I got some cases for flipping/
I got somersaults/some assaults”
Land= Rex is chasing the big punch at this point. Rightfully so in the last round but he hasn’t found the necessary reach thus far. Stylistically, he’s still in pocket.
+1
“back when Young Buck said he had it for ten a key/
me and my n**gas flew to Memphis and bought ten to see”
Land= solid combination here with back to back jabs Rex needs an opening to land a big right hand. Will be hard to come by without a counter angle to set it up but in the meantime making contact with digestible content adds up.
+1
“look i’m just identifying but and then if iron was to to blow off a little steam/
it’s just humidifying”
Land= Keep attacking and hope the efforts stick. Solid strategy. Rex is working for it as the round comes to a close. This one likely heads to the scorecards.
+1
(end of round)
TIME.
…
Total= 24
Final Score
Bigg K= 32
T Rex= 24
Winner= Bigg K 🏆
Eazy The Block Captain v. Dizaster
Surgical Summer ✂︎
"And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies then they would become my enemies... and then they will fear you.”
They’re assembled…
The game is the game. Always. And in wartime things are not always what they seem. That’s the count. Behind enemy lines you never know what one may find. Whatever side of that fences logic you find yourself as a spectator we should all keep in mind that we are just that- spectating. More so, the very disingenuous discussion online pertaining to a specific non-disclosure agreement revolving around an off-camera private matter that may or may not have occurred in the manner of which it has been widely speculated is just…well, what is Real Sikh cutting a promo about NDAs for lol? Yes, it is a funny dig at the subject but like most of what is being said by many it just doesn’t really mean anything at the end of the day. But it’s war. And the fuel that war usually provides to boost the echo chambers of economic gain and political triumph for the victorious party cannot be without consequence(s). There are Secret Wars and then there are very obvious advances on enemy territories. Undermining the calculus of the hidden hand here would certainly be a choice…What is now very clear to date is that Eazy The Block Captain is in some way attached to a situation that transpired privately involving individuals in particular who have no interest in a free-for-all rumor mill turned battle rap commentary that will do as it does and completely contort whatever it’s truth is into whatever wins a bout and morphs infamously into a timeless angle. Too late. In some ways, that toothpaste is out of the tube now. And THAT part is what cannot be taken from the spirit of competition within the sport. You’d have to imagine that certain parties at the table are very aware of this if not all of them. And rightfully so. Again, the game is the game and all is fair in the ring but it’d be naive of us as viewers to pretend not to see that the universal line of demarcation now drawn from it must be toed. Or else…Speaking of naivety, the sports biggest current draw appears to be vastly underestimating the pedigree of challenge that Battle Rap’s Curtis Jackson by way of Compton, California presents. Geechi Gotti, a Legend in his own right, can and will deliver a devastating satirical KO in this bout if Eazy is not mindful of his defensive stance in promotional lead up as well as written counter attacks that appear to be piling up by the day, valid or not. And though not everyone is equipped to see an opening and close in on it, tides can turn when the 3x COTY is involved. These are the breaks at the heavyweight mega-fight tier of competition. All of which Eazy is well aware of however his public disposition remains that of dismissal. Interesting…Not yet sure what to make of Eazy’s frequent disregard of this reality but I do make that a lot rides on the outcome of it for layered reasons as this bout continues to morph into an assembly of frills & conflict of interest. Fortunately for us all we have every reason to expect the Block Captain to be more than prepared come Sep. 16th. And what is now clear- the fight of the year (it is that) is tuned up and will spawn many league-wide foretelling ripples from it’s result that will likely permeate throughout the entire landscape of things to come. With residual effects from it that could soon after emerge to unearth a reveal in to what is the true rabbit hole…
About face, the Battle Rap world in its entirety will be watching. 📌
1 up, 1 down. Respect to all 4 MCs and their respective works. That will do it for Part 1. Looking forward to potentially continuing this model for many bouts to come in 2023. Readers, what do you think about a possible implementation style rollout of a Universal boxscore system in Battle Rap designed in order to bring a more generic formatting of contextual understanding to the sport? Interesting?
Yes? No? Too late?
As always, much respect to each of you who take the time to frequent each article.
Gratitude Luv1,
Until next time.
P.ess
1/1