A Look Back at the Good, Bad and Ugly Lessons Learned at Filmons Fresh Coast Ether Event aka Cassidy vs Dizaster

Image Credit: BattleRap.com

I waited till Wednesday to write about the Fresh Coast Ether event for personal reasons. This turned out to be a great thing. Due to the untimely passing of Young B the Future who was the top tier prospect of 2014, the news cycle on Ether has been rather slow. It was the biggest battle event ever thrown. A billionaire by the name of Alki David, the owner of Filmon, a streaming television company who specialize in live streaming events, joined forces with Lush One and the Fresh Coast Music Group to present Ether, this past Saturday live on IPPV. The other name of this event was merely the main event, Cassidy vs Dizaster. I watched, as did many, the first and unplanned second night. For the most part battle fans were expecting Dizaster to kill Cass. This is his forum. No one expected the most debatable battle of the year or the biggest upset of all time. Its a matter of opinion and you will know mine. Lets take a look at all the lessons we learned from Ether, the event as a whole. Please keep in mind these are my opinions. If they are yours, great. If not, fuck yourselves.

Lets first talk about the battles themselves. Watching from home was, kind words would be "challenging," frustrating, and depressing at times. In fact there were so many issues with the stream, it was in the end, freeview content. More on that later as that was a win in the end, the free part that is. The stream and the event started late and there were technical issues abound, in house and digitally. The mics didnt work half the time. One of, well seemingly two, lavaleer mics broke which led to Daylyt and Serious Jones trading equipment mid battle...yup. Second to last battle of the night, second biggest battle of the night. This was Total Slaughter, except the battle guys were supposed to get it right, do it better. However blame cant really be placed on Lush. FilmOn produced the event and handled the video and audio, not Lush. Battle Rap and Pro Wrestling are very much alike in the sense of you kinda need the people from within to handle the decision making, not the exec who thinks they know better. Just because you pay for it doesn't mean you know more than the professionals. I have watched talented filmographers ruin great wrestling due to no idea how to shoot it. Ether was watching the same treatment for battle rap. Fact of the matter is there were issues with mics, with the stream, sound cuttin out both live and on stream. This was incredibly depressing as was missing basically a whole Bigg K round and all sorts of Big T goodness and like half of Real Deal vs Illmac, and part of Ars vs Saurus. What makes it even more bittersweet is that when you see the official release, what its supposed to look like, and what the live experience of the stream was. Also pro wrestling has proven many times, live IPPV are the motherfucker of clean streaming.

Each battle had a pro wrestling MMA style entrance. Battlers, please step your entrance game up. Why not hype shit, barely playing to the crowd at all? Use it to your advantage, to display your identity. Make yourself stand out, its a show. Part of the issue was a la TS, this wasn't really a battle crowd. That is a true sign of a movement becoming an industry, giant events full of people who are there to claim they were there. Therefore, crowd reaction most of the time, on cam at least, not what a crowd for an event like this would be expected to sound like. But please...dont just walk down steps swiftly, have some fun.

Cali Smoov is an up and coming battler from LA. He is a member of Krack City alongside Dizaster, Daylyt and Aktive. Smoov also is apparently reponsible for bringing Lush and David together, therefore may have been the spark to all this. He was given the gift of Death By Caustic. I would never, ever want to battle Daniel Stefani. I have never met him in real life, I am a fan of his as a battler and as a member of the Dirtbag Dan Show podcast and believe he may have the most evil intentions any battler alive. He has ruined careers, marriages, minds (see Daley battle) and laughs. Cali brought bars, some very good. Caustic decided to make him pay for his ego with hateful personals about his reputation and sexuality. Remeber a rap battle isnt just a competition to see who raps better or has better indirect wordplay, its about making someone look bad, a verbal altercation, a fight with words. Caustic beat 11 fancy yet light spin kicks with a haymaker to the jaw. That simple.  Danny Meyers, fresh off an amazing battle with Aye Verb battled Heartless, fresh off a huge upset over Charlie Clips. Didnt see this, however I'm hearing 2-1 Meyers in what i'm sure was a battle full of wit, wordplay, and Meyers running round screaming like a white woman in a slasher movie after big punches. Two battle vets coming off monsterous 2014 preformances, Real Deal and Illmaculate duked it out in a fantastic back and forth. This was a rare close 3-0 in Illmaculates favor. Real Deal was nearly over agressive while Illmaculate is becoming better nearly each time he hits a Cali stage. Two examples of why tiers exist occurred as well. Billy Boondocks won a freestyle tournament at the previous FC event in early November. However this is the equivalent of a guy winning a touch football tournament and then getting put in the All Pro game. He had the unfortunate task of facing a very on Rum Nitty. Nitty was a breakout star of the new Fresh Coast after an epic battle with Danny Meyers a year ago. Since then, he has had some huge battles, including Arsonal in Nittys home town of Phoenix and B Magic for FC. Nitty is one of the hardest hitters in battle rap, and has shutdown bars every battle, showstoppers. This was watching a tee ball player face Randy Johnson. This was the guy you went to high school with who did karate vs Anderson Silva. It was a bloodbath, plain and simple. The other example of this is Aktive vs Big T. Aktive is also Krack City. He is one of the most legit gangsters in battling and is also very very green. He faced the 600 lb. man with the 600 lb. bars, Big Motherfuckin T. T is a monster who had a classic with Diz the prior month. At Ether, he was razor sharp, with gun sound effects firing everywhere. Aktive got taken to school in a wash. These are top tier battlers for a reason. Dont punish your newcomers that way FC. 

Up next we had an intermission which included a beautiful young lady fuckin up her own songs and inspiring a movement. After Ether, #Yaki and the decently hot chick rapping it will forever be ingrained in our memory banks. Arsonal battled The Saurus after the whole Yaki thing. This was a great battle from what the feed didnt fuck up, Ars is the most viewed battler alive, Saurus is the most decorated with possibly the most battles. This was street vs backpack between legends on their A games. Though some may say the whole race card 2nd round by Ars was played, the way in which he did it was not. I gave it 2-1 Ars for more quotables, better presence and the fact that Saurus may or may not have left the er at the end of the word.  The next was the battle of the puchline kings, Bigg K vs Concieted. Con is a trailblazer who has influenced battle rap more than nearly everyone and currently appears on MTVs Wild N Out. Bigg K is street battlings great white hope. Con came light, K did not. This was Ortiz vs Shamrock as battle rap. A one sided beatdown of a veteran.  Bigg K is a problem and proved it again. The semi main event was the battle of the night. Serius Jones is an icon, uncrowning Jin in the "good ol days," signing with Luda and DTP, and two giant return battles. Last we saw his face, however it was helping Math Hoffas fist shut down SM3. Daylyt is the king of antics and one of the most advanced writers in the game. His major battles since the summer included dressing in a Spawn costume, stripping down and pulling out Mr. Hankey vs Rex, dressing as the headless horseman vs Real Deal and trying to shit onstage 3rd round, battling Krack City teammate Cali Smoov. He twerked on Smoov and simulated head. Two weeks prior vs Pat Stay for the KOTD title, he dressed as a slave, and basically proceeded to do 3 parts of a one man show which happened to take place during a battle. He came into LA and rapped his fuckin ass off. Days bars usually are better on camera due to being so complex. I got Day 2-1 close, as while Serius was more direct Day was on some other shit. Serius did take the one round freestyle battle after the show got shutdown.

That brings us to the nearly crippling debacle that was the main event. It was the highest profile battle in history. Cassidy the self proclaimed founder of modern day battling, mainstream for over a decade, the first platinum rapper to battle vs Dizaster, Eminems favorite battler, arguably the face of modern battling and a killer on stage. $175,000  for that battle alone. This was the most hyped, most promoted, most anticipated battle ever. A bodybag was expected, a debated classic insued and nothing went as planned. It took nearly 20 minutes to clear the stage, as it was being ordered by fire marshalls. On camera it looked like entourage bullshit. In reality it was, according to Dizaster, a stage full of rival gang members, with Diz having a crew consisting mainly members of the notorious Grape St. Crips and Cass hiring members of Comptons Blood set. Chubby Jag has disputed the paying thing, not the gang thing however.  Half the stage exited, and Cassidy began to spit, four bars. They were, however, four bars that showed he studied Diz. Then more stage fuckery for twenty minutes. Then Cass spit again. He started hot, Charlie Clips impressions and schemes. Yeah, there was the whole use of "gun got a long nose like an elephant" in 2014. After two minutes of writtens, shit got weird. Cassidy began a series of Ar Ab prebuttles and other freestyles for nine minutes. Lush couldn't stop him, Diz even began a round and was stopped, by Cass rapping over him. Diz was shocked but said let him go. Cass went for 9 minutes to us, or five minutes to Cass. Diz then began to spit, and got about 8 bars out before the boos hit. He blamed Cass people in the pit, they claim it was Diz doing the whole fixate on one topic thing that he lost to Arcane by doing. None of that mattered as it took 40 minutes for one round. The biggest battle ever got shut down, the building and the feed dark. The scene took an L on its biggest night, once again. 

2014: A Year Of Hip Hop Emotions

Image Credit: XXLMag.com

by: Ashe Samuels

This week we are here to look upon the landscape of hip hop in 2014.  I will preface the following with a brief explanation of my tastes in hip hop. As someone who grew up in NJ (I started listening in 1996 when I was 12) I have a strong affinity for boom bap. I am real big on shit having lyrics, not just a beat and some dude who's stuck on the same thought. I am a huge battle rap fan. I tend to be a snob when it comes to hip hop but fuck it I...love....this....shit. This causes an emotional roller coaster especially because the last two years, it seems as if it is thriving while being killed.  Ill let you think about that. With all that said, I'm going to let you see what my emotions on the music. and everything around it.

Run the Jewels makes me happy as hell. In the past two years, Killer Mike and El-P have served up a one two combo of fuckin haymakers with RTJ 1&2. Dope beats, ridiculous bars, and some of the most tripped out production you've ever heard out of New York, playing these back to back gets me high as fuck without touchin a thing.

Lyricism as a whole resurgance is also a truely beautiful occurance. Eminem and Shady Records decided to make November their bitch. The cypher had everyone talking who was had the best verse, besides Em.  2013 started the whole occurance where Em seemingly decided bar out on the world. The MMLP2 was hit or miss but when he did decide to just go in, (asshole and Rap God most notably) it was like watching an old grandmaster go all ninja on a class full of students half his age, and win. The cypher was a 6 minute quasi-freestyle that was everything in Em we could've asked for. Royce, Ortiz, Crooked, Budden and Yelawolf all had great verses, with Royce and Ortiz battling for a close second. The new material on the album was full of play that back worthy cuts. It's an album full of great bars, quality production and the strongest roster in the game. Even Big Sean was good in his guest spot on Detroit vs. Everybody, and I really, really don't like Big Sean. 

Image Credit: AllHipHop.com

The year started out strong with a quality release for Pusha T, and two a heavyweight release from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Gangsta Gibbs is a monster and Madlib is an underground legend on the boards. Pinata is backpack gangsta rap at its finest. Evidence and Alchemist decided to remind hip hop heads why they fucked with them in the first place on Lord Steppington, with the two sharing both the mic and the boards. Atmosphere did the same on Southsiders. Pharoah Monch dropped PTSD which was the deepest album of the year. TDE continued to release dope artists with Ab Souls first major release, which we'll touch on later. Then there was Onyx and #Wakedafucup, but more on that later too. Big Krit dropped Cadillatca, which can only be described as trill soul. Skyzoo and Torae gave us Barrel Bros. A modern age Duck Down style NY classic. The Roots proved why they transcend all genres while still keeping it hip hop "And Then They Shoot Your Cousin." Mixtapes gave us the beast that is King Los dropping his first post Bad Boy effort which showed why he didn't work with Diddy. He is not a single factory, King Los is a fucking MC in every sense. Zero Gravity II has some of the sickest bars on anything released this year. Jon Connor showed why he earned his Aftermath contract on his Kanye West inspired tape. Connor used classic Kanye tracks to create current interpretations. De La came back. We got a taste of Glass House with Slaughterhouse laying out the House rules. Grafh paid tribute to classic hip hop and showed a return to form on 88 Crack Era. It was actually a good year for releases that had content which brought a smile to my jaded, cynical face.

In southern New Jersey and Philadelphia there is a classic hip hop station, it is perhaps the greatest modern format on terrestrial radio. Nothing past around 05 and you can usually get about 7 or 8 quality cuts in a row. Pro Era are a group of rappers who weren't even fetuses when Illmatic dropped, yet make classic NY hip hop. Onyx teamed with a group of European producers who go by Snowgoons to make a boom bap banger of an album. Fredro Starr and Keith Murray made headlines with their battle that was cancelled due to the fuckery of the promoter. De La Soul dropped a mixtape, and Q Tip and Busta gave Midnight Marauders a tribute. DJ Premier decided to mark his territory this year. Ill Bill paid homage on a World Premier complete with a Primo boom bap monster. Prhyme is hip hops version of when Rage Against the Machine grabbed Cornell and formed Audioslave. He also is saying an album with Loaded Lux is in the works. The Lox brought the Trinity to the masses.  

Battle rap getting into mainstream hip hop makes me filled with glee no musical. Was Total Slaughter lacking in execution?  Yes, but who gives a shit. Raps biggest label gave you a battle rap reality show and national ppv. That is a win. As is Loaded Lux doin records with Styles and Cam, Tsu Surf with Joe Budden, !Mayday¡ (Featuring GT Vet and Freestyle champ Wrekonize) with Murs, so on and so forth. The guy who created Holo Tupac bought in and now we have Dizaster vs Cassidy. Joe Budden got roasted by Hollow. Ab Soul ended his LP with a battle vs Daylyt.

2014 brought us Run the Jewels, some great albums, the return of lyricism and legends, and the mixing of mainstream rappers into battle rap. However, it seems it also tried to die a tragic public death on a massive scale. Part two to come, 2014 The Tragic Suicide Note of Hip Hop.

Eminem Celebrates 15 Years of Hip Hop With Shady XV, In Stores TODAY!

Image Credit: ShadyRecords.com

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Today feels so SHADY for some reason. That's because Eminem has dropped a double album titled 'Shady XV,' which is available in stores and on iTunes now. The release hype for this album was absolutely genius. As you've already heard here; Em, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf dropped a HUGE CXVPHER to start up the anticipation. It didn't take much time for yet ANOTHER drop to come out. Shady Records released a mixtape which consists of 66 unreleased tracks.

While Eminem seems to be MIA, Shady Records supergroup Slaughterhouse is out promoting the album, as they are featured on it. Today in New York City, all 4 members of the group will be at Mikey Likes It Ice Cream. They will be serving up a new flavor of ice cream STRAIGHT from Michigan called SHADYVX. If you can't make it out today to meet House Gang, Slaughterhouse is scheduled to sign autographs of the new album at the DTLR Store (Livingston Mall) in New Jersey. We were unable to make it out to todays event, but not to worry. We got you covered! You can be sure to catch HHSS in the house tomorrow as we will be covering the event.

It's so great to see that REAL hip hop music is still alive. Listening to Shady XV along with the Shady Classics mixtape is sure to be very refreshing to all you hip hop heads out there!

The Social Commentary of Battle Rap

Image Credit: zimbio.com

by: Ashe Samuels

Dearly Beloved,

Welcome again to my column now to be titled, "Seasoning for the Unseasoned." Today we are gathered to speak about the social commentary that is a foundation of hip hop and also becoming one in battle rap, as well.

Hip hop has been speaking on class warfare for decades, the haves vs the have not so to speak. Battling is no different. A few weeks ago, URL released two major battles; Tsu Surf vs. Hitman Hollow, and the young Canadian Charron vs. Shotgun Suge. In Hitman vs. Surf, Surf began to go in about Hitmans upbringing. Surf, from Newark, used his third round to talk about how Hitman, though he comes with Blood affiliation, is from a two parent household and is a college athlete. He used wordplay to illustrate that he was more street due to not having parents and having to fend for himself. It was arguably the best round from Surf in quite some time. Dizaster, who is one of the most highly regarded in the world, has been dissed many times for not only having rich parents but also living with him till his late twenties. Pat Stay even claimed that anyone could be Diz due to him not needing to have a job, therefore being able to dedicate himself to battling while everyone else had to balance work and battling. Canada's Kaliente was often dissed due to being homeless, but used that struggle to hit hard against Tycoon Tax. While you wont hear all the so rich and I have nicer shit bars you do from modern hip hop, there will always be the "I'm harder because i came up harder" aspect to battling. Those are just some recent examples.

Race relations have always been a hot topic in hip hop, and battling is no exception. Murda Mook ended his battle against Iron Solomon with a Trayvon Martin angle complete with a hoodie. Shotgun Suge began his battle against Charron by saying "this ain't a battle this is justice for Mike Brown." Charron, a white Canadian MC who won 106 and Parks Freestyle Friday but was excluded  from the 2013 Cyphers for being too white and Canadian, used his whiteness to his advantage to win over an oftentimes hostile NYC crowd. From a fantastic Columbine name flip (this is Columbine a white kid taking a shotgun to school), to his final round rebuttal about being a skinny white kid in hip hop and the problems it caused (what you know about shaking Norbes hand and he mistakes you for the camera man). Oftentimes the "you lost to a white boy" card gets played, such as the first time Diz battled Arsonal and the reverse happens at times, such as when Aye Verb confusingly called King of the Dot fans racist. I say confusing in that particular case as the battle took place in LA, in front of a mostly black and Latino crowd. Dizaster, of Lebenese decent, used 90% Asian bars, though hilarious ones against veteran A-Class. Cadalack Ron gets uncomfortably racist at times, though what does one expect from a guy who may or may not have shot dope, mid battle, on camera? If you are white and battle in URL, you being white will probably be half your opponents material, and you being white will be half of yours. That is where some of the beauty lies, almost a racial dialogue through dissing.

Image Credit: goodfellamedia.com

With the rise of Young Thug and the Wayne kissin Baby fiasco, homosexual culture has been on the rise in hip hop. Battle rap is the same, but different. Pat Stay battled Rone in a compliment battle, where two battlers literally compliment each other instead of saying awful shit to each other. The lead up was quite, well, gay. They acted really gay towards each other. The battle had many twings of that as well. No Shame is a transgender battler who has had great showings in AHAT and BOTZ, and has shown herself to be far more than a gimmick earning the respect of her peers. Then, there is Daylyt, battle raps Andy Kaufman. In the leadup to his battle with Pat Stay, they have begun to basically send weird prison love blogs to each other. Its basically battle raps version of gay chicken at this point. Day has also said things like he'd fuck Diddy, possibly to get put on, possibly just because. He warned Aye Verb before their battle that he would try to make out with him onstage. He battled fellow Krack City member Cali Smoov at a non battle event with over a million streaming viewers. He also put out a Young Thug diss called "Choppers" and "Pink Skirts," in which he rapped in a short pink dress and twerked with an AK-47. The weird part is that Day is a heterosexual man with a kid, who is doing this to troll battle raps homophobia and the outlandishly gay movement in hip hop at the same damn time.

Though many claim it to be overly mysoginistic, battle rapvis far from pro domestic violence. Bonnie Godiva brought out Uno Lavoz ex girlfriend on stage in her third round to basically put him on trial for rape. Sketch Menace also called out Uno on the allegations. Hollow the Don flipped out on Joe Budden for supposedly hitting women, stopping in the middle of his round. Hollohan has been called out for his alleged mistreatment of women in many battles. A lot of battlers get away with a lot of things, but no one gets daps for actually hitting a chick.

As I said before, battling has something for everyone. Super lyrical aggressive rhymes? Turn to battle rap. You want thought provoking bars with incredible replay value? Battle rap. You want some social commentary on the side? Yup. Battle rap has that too.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: ITS HERE! Eminem, Slaughterhouse, & YelaWolf Present #‎SHADYXV #‎CXVPHER

Image Credit: ShadyRecords.com

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Oh its FINALLY here! Shady Records has dropped the CXVPHER leading up to Shady XV, which will feature Slaughterhouse, 50 Cent, Yelawolf, and many more! You NEED to check this out, as Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Yelawolf, Royce da 5'9 and Marshall Mathers himself, none other then Eminem, battle it out in each of their hometowns.

An Education on Battle Rap for the Uneducated

Photo: Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Royce da 5'9, and Joell Ortiz) at SOBs in New York City.

by: Ashe Samuels

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here today to talk about the pro wrestling of hip hop, that is battle rap. Now half of you reading this may have no knowledge of this beyond 8 Mile, so lets break it down for a second. Battle rap in the form in which it exists now is written, not freestyle, and takes place acapella or without a beat. It has evolved from cracks on peoples attire and mom jokes, to the place to hear bars in hip hop. In fact, your favorite rappers are huge battle rap aficinado. Drake has hosted and currently sponsers King Of the Dot based out of Toronto. Method Man has hosted multiple battles. Diddy and Busta Rhymes have showed up at URL. Eminem & Slaughterhouse had Total Slaughter this summer, and the Fuse series Road to Total Slaughter.  Joe Budden battled Hollow Da Don, Ab-Soul ended his major label debut by battling Daylyt, and Canibus battle Dizaster and Cassidy is about to. YouTube is filled with thousands of battles and they have amassed 10s of millions of combined views. However, it has remained relativley underground, but even that is now changing.

I mentioned mainstream rappers battling. What i did not mention is that they get fuckin roasted. Ab Soul had by far the best preformance. His bars were great actually, but then Day spit and it was clear whos realm they were in. Joe Budden got booed, dropped the mic and walked off stage in the third round. He tried but Hollows stage presence and battle savy style took that battle for him. Canibus....well Canibus acted like a total fuckin nutjob and pulled out a binder in his third round. This is not because they arent talented MCs, but because this is not their realm. Budden is one of my favorite rappers to be honest. Its not just about your words but your projection, your movement, your performance as a whole. There is no beat to rock over and a crowd that is not there to hear a song but to watch a battle and will boo the fuck out of you for not coming correct.

We live in an age where lyrics are no longer what makes or breaks an MC in hip hop. For every Budden, Royce, Ortiz, and Crooked, there are 6 Young Thugs. So where do you go to hear bars, to hear that aggression and wordplay that hip hop was raised on? Battle rap. There is a reason why your favorite rapper and there people watch battles in the studio, because that is the new place to hear bars. Fans rewatch battles and hear something that went over their heads the first time. Bringing it back or repeating a bar became the live version of rewinding because it was so damn nice. Concieted slows it down so the crowd and his opponent can hear the double meaning. Loaded Lux repeats things not because he thinks it wasnt heard but because he wants you to listen. That is the beauty of battle rap, its not something you hear, but you listen to.

It is something you listen to, but you watch as well. A Daylyt battle needs to be seen. Where else can you see a Crip dressing like a Klan member for 2 rounds only to reveal he was Black Jesus in the third round. Days battle with B Magic had a Matrix theme to his rounds but a 3rd round told as much through visuals as it was with words, complete with bullet time twerking. That is just the tip of the Daylyt iceberg but thats for another article. From hand gestures to pantomime, props to facial reactions, Battle rap isnt just something you listen to, but also something you watch. How else would you know what Caustic meant when he battled Aye Verb and told Verb he, "showed up looking like Goldust."

Just like pro wrestling there is lead up, the only form of spoken word anything where people cut promos on each other before the event. There are rivalries, Lux vs Hollow made UW into a much larger entity and was almost a decade in the making. Math Hoffa put himself on the map by punching out Dose onstage, and a few years and much shit talk later, a rematch occured. Dizaster and Math had a rivalry based on Maths penchant for throwing hands in a battle that ironically ended with Diz punching out Math in the third round of a fantastic battle. There are stables that rise and fall; Dot Mob, Innuendo, S.O.N.S., Krack City and many more. Worked shoots, those are called personals. You want a prime example watch Pat Stay vs Hollohan from KOTD as two former best friends air each others dirty laundry for the world to see. Shit there are even tag teams which can be amazing if done right. Dirtbag Dan and Caustic battled Shuffle T and Marlo from England in an amazing 2 vs 2. Illmac and The Saurus both champion battlers by themselves are also legends as a team.

So there we go, my dearly beloved readers, an introduction to battle rap. Wanna know why Jay-Z was sayin "you gonna get this work?" Watch Lux vs Calicoe. Wanna hear aggression, and raw raps? Watch battles. Backpacker? Watch The Saurus, Illmac, Charron, A Class and a number of underground inspired battlers. Want guns and street shit? Watch Hitman Holla, Hollow Da Don, Arsonal, Big T, B Magic, shit just watch URLs big battles. Like weird shit, watch Daylyt, shit like backpack or street shit watch Daylyt too. Watch Dizaster to see Eminems favorite battler, Pat Stay to see why hip hop lives in the North. The list of names goes on and on and as time goes on Ill expose you, the fair readers to more. But for now, as they say, TIME!!!!

   

R&B Singer Nathaniel Releases New Single Featuring Loaded Lux titled, "U.G.H."

Image Credit: Nathaniel's Official Instagram (@nathanielrnb)

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Imagine one of the illest R&B artists straight out of Brooklyn New York, collaborating with one of the illest battle rappers straight out of Harlem New York. Well, Nathaniel and Loaded Lux have served up the perfect combo for you! 

Releasing hit after hit such as "Keep Watch," featuring legendary hip hop group Wu Tang Clan, "It's Me," featuring Uncle Murda, and "My Lady," featuring Troy Ave, & Chinx, Nathaniel seems to be on a mission as he continues to show that only the best are made in Brooklyn! 

Image Credit: Nathaniel's Official Instagram (@nathanielrnb)

Bobby Shmurda's "Hot Ni**a" seems to be quite the trend lately of remixes by just about every rapper you can imagine, and Nathaniel has the latest remix to THE REMIX of the year! 

Listen to Nathaniel's latest hit "U.G.H." RIGHT HERE!

Stay tuned...

Battle Rapper Daylyt, From "Total Slaughter" Says He Wants To Have Sex With Puff Daddy!

image credit: kingofthedot.com

Whoa. Total Slaughters own, (and currently one of the most popular battle rappers) Daylyt, wants to bang P. Diddy! 

“I’d fuck Diddy” said Daylyt, according to BattleRap.com. "I’m not gonna front. I’d fuck the shit out of Diddy… Why not? Diddy’s attractive. Get him off like a bottle of Ciroc, a shot of Ciroc. He got plenty of Ciroc. Get him fucked up, I’ll fuck...I’ve always been infatuated with how he dances–it’s something about like the arms and shit. That shit’s sexy, yo. Like, pause. No homo. Let’s really be honest. Diddy’s thick, yo.’”

This is not the first time he's spoke so openly about being gay. He refers to himself as a "Gay Blood," and made accusations about Lil Wayne quietly being gay as well. He also said of "rapper" (pop star) Macklemore, "all he raps about is gay shit." 

To read the FULL "wild" interview, go to www.battlerap.com 

by: Dana Pelotta

Blog Owner/Editor In Chief

Twitter: princessdanaox

What Happened To Rap Battles? Total Slaughter Review, Battle Rap History, and more...

photo credit HipHopDX.com

WHAT happened to Battle Rap?

In music, progression is necessary for the betterment of the industry. Artists in every genre must adapt with the times or they will never be able to reach the pinnacle of their craft. Keeping up with the times is fun, it’s necessary, and it’s lucrative. If an artist can keep making money by tapping into new fans on a regular basis then they will have a long and fruitful career. But one thing must remain a constant in order for the genre to thrive, and the one thing is the essence of what brought the music about to begin with must remain the foundation. Without the foundation or the original concept that made the artist and the fans appreciate the music, nothing happens. One genre that has lost a lot of its luster is battle rap. This version of battle rap that I’ve been seeing over the last few years has its heart in the right place, but it’s mind has misguided sense of direction. In recent times the battle scene has went away from the low-key phenomenon that made it must see TV. The rappers that battle are still supremely talented, but the entire battle rap productions and extravagant shows look like something Broadway musical or an episode of 106 & Park’s Freestyle Friday. After watching the recent Total Slaughter pay-per-view, it seems like these are sad times for battle rap.

Total Slaughter Equals Total Letdown… 

For two weeks leading up to Total Slaughter all the talk was about how amazing the battle production put on by Eminem would be. Eminem got his start as a battle rapper and of course he made an entire movie (8 Mile) about it. If anyone could take the battle rap genre and turn it into a huge pay-per-view event that I would enjoy watching, it would be Eminem. I knew most of the guys in the line up including Arsonal, Joe Buddens, T-Rex, Murda Mook and Loaded Lux. I had heard Daylyt was really talented and the Hollow Da Don kid from Queens had insanely good bars. So I couldn’t wait to watch this and have it spark my interest for battle rap again. By the end of the night I was shocked and disappointed by what I had just witnessed. Was this what battle rap had come to? The California rapper Daylyt battled in a Spawn costume then stripped down to his boxers and just laid on the floor until his round was over? Really? I knew the show was going to go down hill from there and I was correct.

The aspect that sold me on the show to begin with was watching Loaded Lux battle Murda Mook. My first battle experience was watching smack DVD’s of guys like Mook and Lux making their bones in the streets of Harlem battling in clothing shops and rooftops battling in front of local crowds. Mook was always a monster whose punch lines were so devastating that it sometimes took the crowd a second or two to realize how sick his lines actually were. Mook’s style was always more direct, more disrespectful in a sense but in the battle way of disrespect. Mook wanted to make a mockery of the idea that you challenged him to begin with. Then he went about breaking you down punch line by punch line.

Then there was the style Lux brought to the battle game. Lux seemed more methodical with his approach. Every line was leading to something, a bigger picture of how you were going to meet your demise. Lux would use huge words just to make his dumbfounded opponent feel like an idiot, then he would go back to being the kid from Harlem and hitting his opponent with bars about why his opponents clothes were terrible or why his opponent was a nobody in the neighborhood. The best way to sum up Lux would be using the Lauryn Hill line, “And even after all my logic and my theory/ I add a motherfucker so you ignant niggas hear me.” For me that epitomized Lux’s style and he pulled it off very well. It had been quite a while since I heard either man battle so I was hyped going into their match. Two Harlem battle legends coming back to battle each other like old days.

Unfortunately, times have changed. The Loaded Lux is saw on that stage was not the same Lux from the Smack DVD’s. This Lux was still just as intelligent with his word play, but he was more preacher than battle rapper. He went on for long stretches not attacking Mook and I have no idea what he was even talking about half the time. He was just on stage rambling. Is this what fame and money does to the greats in battle rap? If so it was sad to watch.

When it was Mook’s turn, he seemed a lot like the Mook I enjoyed watching in the early 2000’s.  But there was one difference, this Mook was far less ruthless. Mook was spitting bars and getting after Lux, but it wasn’t the vicious Mook I remember from before. Old Mook would have dismantled Lux for such a poor showing. But this Mook was just battling to battle, not because he wanted to prove he was the best at his craft. Rather he was battling like he already made it in life and was just doing it for the money and TV exposure.

Go back and watch this battle between the two battle rap legends and you’ll see what I miss about those two, here.

Maybe it was just an off night for Lux, and maybe because Lux was off that threw Mook off as well. If Total Slaughter was any indication of what I’ve missed from these two in recent times, I’m glad I stopped following them when I did.

Last and definitely least was the battle between Joe Buddens and Hollow Da Don. I knew this was going to be bad for the simple fact that I’ve watched dozens of battles in my life, and I’ve never see a rapper that’s established come into the ring and battle an established battle rapper. The closest I’ve seen is Cassidy battle Freeway years ago but both were known rappers and barring some people saying Cassidy was a huge battle rapper in Philly, both were mainstream guys. I heard Hollow was talented and I know Buddens music so I figured both would bring their A games. I thought Hollow wanted to prove a point and show that battle rappers are just as talented as guys who’ve made it in the rap game, and Buddens would so up big to prove to battle rappers that mainstream rappers are great at anything they set their minds to. What I witnessed was Hollow being clever and talented, but not focused on the battle, and Buddens was blatantly reciting raps he wrote prior to the battle. It was embarrassing. At one point hollow stopped rapping to tell Buddens if he ever hit another woman again in his life that Hollow would beat him to the ground. What? And during the 3^rd round Buddens kept stopping to complain about the crowd booing. The crowd was booing him because not only was it apparent he was spitting written material, but also he wasn’t even winning by basically cheating. I’m a fan of Budden, but his showing at the rap event was a joke. He was basically booed off stage and he quit. This is the event the battle world was waiting for? The microphones didn’t work properly half the time, the crowd was booing and cheering at the most confusing moments as if they were doing it on cue,  and most of the rappers seemed like they were only there for a paycheck. I was shocked that Eminem was the person that put this together. This was not what I was expecting form a Marshall Mathers production, and from the tweets and I articles I read that night, most of the viewers felt the same. The Battle rap game has moved away from what made it great, and it will have to go back to the beginning in order for it to be fun again. 

Battle Rap Is A Gladiators Sport, Not Broadway…

Battle rap has become a great revenue stream for rappers, promoters, television networks and everyone in between. And when money is involved, things change. Go back and watch some of the greatest rap battle in history, and see what they all have in common: Two hungry battle rappers, not battling for money, battling simply for respect and to build their reputations. But in the beginning of the battle rap phenomenon the rappers weren’t the only reason battle rap was great. The spectators were almost as big in the battles as the rappers were. People that come from the hoods across America know how to amp a situation up. When battles were held in clothing shops and roofs in Harlem and the Bronx, the people from those neighborhoods who knew the landscape were packed into those places to root on their local rappers. The laughs at punch lines were what spurred rappers to continue tearing an opponent apart. If a rapper could get the crowd going, then that would go a long way into swaying the decision of who won the battle. It was not about winning money; it was about winning the crowd. Once a rapper swayed the crowd, his confidence grew, and with it so did his swagger and the cleverness of the lines he was delivering. Conversely, the rapper hearing the crowd growing against him knew when his turn was up, he would have to step it up in a major way and do what was necessary to win them back. That was the essence of the competition. No microphones, no large-scale productions, no fans paying money to watch at home or in person; none of the non-sense. But with money being thrown left and right, no one can or should fault rappers for joining battle leagues and doing paper-view events. The money is too good to pass up. But if Total Slaughter is what the world is to expect from rap battles from this point on, then I’ll go back to my battle rap hiatus. Sometimes change is great, but other than rappers making money now, battle rap isn’t as fun for me anymore, and that’s a shame. 

by:: Frantz Paul