LTBR Award Recipients
Battle of The Night: K1NG vs Los Premee
Performance Of The Night From The Trenches t: #1 Muuu Wop | #2 K1NG | #3 Dre Majesty
Performance Of The Night From IBattle: #1 Noxx | #2 Los Premee
Staff Writers: France, Justin Smolenski (J Smo)
The Trenches and iBattle grabbed their best 5-man lineup and went to war. Theme-based events amongst up-and-comers always grab the attention of hardcore fans of the culture or the media that focuses on the battles. Salute to Eazy The Block Captain and Lexx Luthor for always putting their rising talent in opportunities that further push their development. These types of cards always impact the culture when it comes to branding a league’s talent pool or building up backstories. These types of battles become checkpoints in an up-and-comer’s career as they continue to ascend; as a fan of these guys they are raising the ranks, you get to witness someone take their game to the next level from the ground up, and it’s always dope to see.
The Trenches walked away with the biggest and most standouts for the night, arguably being able to walk away saying they won 4-1.
As expected from an iBattle event, the setup was complemented by Battle Rap Royalty at the commentary booth! Chris Tex & Dutches consistently bring the energy you can always expect to see when you’re watching an Ibattle production—major Salute to them for all the work they put in.
We also left the event with a little nugget: So it seems that Chrome 23 has begun their all-female tournament of rising talent, and some of the battles were shot at the same venue a few hours before the event. Something to be on the lookout for!
Muuu Wop Has Performance Of The Night
Muuu Wop delivered a standout performance for the evening. Factoring in the result of his win, and showing he had, I can confidently say he was the best battler in the room that night. Not only claimed the title of POTN, you can even consider this to be an upset? Oppa being the champ at battle and with a track record, you would favor him in this match on paper, but styles make fights, and Muuu was well aware.
In post-battle interviews, Muuu Wop talks about the level of studying he’s been focused on with his opponents meticulously. Dedication to analyzing game tapes is clearly paying off. His bars are tighter, his delivery is hitting harder, and his overall presence will continue to resonate as he increases his fanbase.
In contrast, Oppa, it was a performance not to his standards and almost a bit shocking. He seemed shaken and struggled to find his rhythm against Muuu’s energy. He had some dope material in different spurts of his 1st round and the ending portion of his 2nd round, But at no point was Oppa able to fully find his footing throughout the entirety of a round to generate the momentum needed to counter Muuu’s rounds. Not to mention, we saw him choke in the third round before he got it back and finished the round. Oppa was unexpectedly outmatched by those who may have picked him to win. Muuu uses this win over Oppa to a statement about wanting to battle some of the Spaces battlers as he and Yunus continue to build up. Muuu walked away, beating Ibattle’s #1 guy.
We’ve been telling you about a Muuu World Order for months now; don’t seem so startled.
Dre Majesty Shows Major Improvement, Nakim Shows Flashes
Dre Majesty & Nakim was one of the better back-and-forth battles of he night. I think Nakim had several highlights in his 1st round and a massive bomb to end his 3rd round, so he definitely showed flashes of being explosive, but it seemed to me Dre was able to find more of himself consistently peaking higher throughout the start and finish of his round. Dre’s delivery has shown notches of improvement and his performance is getting more resounding.
You can see his commitment to physically painting his bars, but the improved delivery alongside the authentic southern sound gives these bars some impact in a way that feels more captivating as a viewer. Nakim deserves some props for sure. Personally, I feel he felt a bit outclassed by some of Dre’s moves (no pun intended), but Nakim brought more of a fight tonight than the Face of Ibattle. At this point of the night, it started to feel like No one was going to help Noxx put a win on the board!
Noxx Putting Up Numbers On The Board
Written By J-Smo
In what many would say was iBattles sole win of the night, Noxx actually led off the night giving his league a 1-0 lead. After his opponents backing out of his last 2 matchups, Noxx showed up extra clipped up with 3 strong rounds for Z Da Dropout. While Z took an early lead with a powerful opener, Noxx stayed at that high level while Z rounds were written a bit downhill and losing steam.
Noxx isn’t one of the more talked about artist at iBattle, but is one of their better models of consistency seemingly always bringing high energy and at the very least serviceable material to his battles with this one being a couple steps in quality above that. In a night where most of the rest of the roster choked or took clear Ls, he stood tall as the cleanest and victorious iBattler talent from the night and hopefully this sheds more light on how Noxx is not just one of their most underrated talented but may be one of their best in general.
Main Event K1NG
Written By J-Smo
Fresh off the Trenches tourney win, K1NG faced his toughest and most anticipated matchup yet in the main event slot vs Los Premee. As you’d expect, it was a rapid fire punchfest from start to finish. K1NG’s animated delivery and constant chain punching have already snatched attention, standing out as the premier Trenches talent and only getting better each battle. Premee emptied the clip early, giving K1NG some real adversity and pressure to work through, but writing uphill was a massive key for him with a 2nd round that matched Premee bar for bar and would’ve likely been a clear round for K1NG regardless of Premee’s choke.
The most impressive thing about his showing has to be the 3rd, where K1NG brought a character/career breakdown round similar to the one he had for Z Da Dropout in the Trenches tourney final. Showing versatility that not just was incredibly executed but also took the steam out of another punch-heavy round from Premee, K1NG once again shows he’s very clearly learning from battle to battle. As impressive as he was in his standout battle vs. JMorr, you can already see a big difference in detail in the approach, and it’s only been a couple of battles since then. With many edging K1NG the W in the Battle Of The Night, it’s another successful step up and test passed for what could be the best new talent in Battle Rap.
Los Premee: Is There A Next Level To Reach?
Written By J-Smo
Los Premee has had a busy year, with battles like him vs. Chef Trez and Homeschool showing the range of opponents he’s going against, but his battle with K1NG may have had the most attention due to the similarities and style and rank they both hold relative to the leagues they represent. Premee had another good showing in this one, showing why he’s looked at as one of the better up-and-coming punchers in an overpopulated ocean of the archetype. His 1st was his strongest round, always finding a way to stack up haymakers when he’s at his best, and also put up a very competitive 3rd as well.
While it was overall a positive performance for Premee, it did left a bit to be desired. Of course, the choke in his 2nd is a flaw in the showing, not great timing, and changed the momentum of the battle. Also, Premee’s talent isn’t in question, and he is incredible as a pure puncher. But unlike the likes of a K1NG or even his fellow iBattle top talent Opaa, he hasn’t really tried to extend his game past what he’s good at. Not everyone is going to pursue being an all around battler, so maybe this is just his lane, but the same Premee you saw in his breakout 1 rounder vs Danny is the same one your getting now. While in many battles strictly his bar for bar ability will keep him competitive he will continue to face adversity vs more all around archetypes if he decides to stay committed to his straight forward method of attack.
