Black Mafia Battle League: Winter Madness Recap

LTBR Award Recipients

Battle of the Night:  Calicoe vs Swamp

Performance Of The Night:
 #1 Murda Mook | #2 A.Ward | #3a Calicoe | #3b Swamp

Staff Writers: Q Moody (Senior Staff writer), France, Justin Smolenski (J Smo) 

Preamble by France: Calico’s Winter Madness: A Complete Success

Despite initial fan concerns regarding the lack of promotion and delayed started time, Calico’s Winter Madness event can proudly say mission accomplished! A marquee event to close the battle rap calendar year. Calicoe was confident in the battles he booked, the performances we would get, and the storylines from the matches to carry the attention of the card to where marketing wasn’t quintessential. The Card ranged from legacy-defining clashes to Champion of the Year implications and long-awaited grudge matches—paid off handsomely. The December spectacle was delivered on all fronts.

Calico deserves immense credit for organizing and hosting a seamless event and stepping into the ring himself to deliver a high-caliber performance. This was a much-improved effort from Black Mafia’s inaugural event, Still Outside, showcasing significant growth in production, execution, and overall impact. With the success of this year’s Winter Madness, the stage is set for a promising future and the anticipation for a Winter Madness II. We may have a new annual event that we all look forward to, and we salute to Black Mafia Battle League for creating that!

Special recognition goes Ruin Your Day on the production as per usual! Clean and crispy video/audio work. Big shoutout to illmac for providing solo remote commentary to the battle with excellent analysis. Solo Commentary might not feel the most entertaining at times as a viewer because sometimes we want a commentator in the building who’s immersed in the energy, but the benefit of watching battles on camera is you get to break them down with so much more detail and a unique perspective. I personally enjoyed Illmac’s commentary a lot. His analysis of the bars and performances was sharper than what you could expect from others. 

A special shoutout goes to standout performances from the Pre-Winter Madness card earlier in the weekend. Yunus secured a judged victory with a commanding showing over Fat SaySo for a $1,000 on the floor, while D.I The Hennyman delivered a standout performance. Kicking off the main card, rising stars Breezy Will and Black set the tone with a stellar opening battle. These two up-and-comers outshined some of the veterans on the card, making themselves names to keep on a watch list for future of Black Mafia’s roster.

A.Ward vs J2

The Score of this battle is based on the performance A.Ward displayed in a one-sided battle.

3.25 ☆ Rating Recapped by J Smo

In the first battle of the main card, Ward vs J2 was set as some people’s dark horse for Battle of The Night, with Ward being an established top-tier talent combined with the momentum J2 had coming off his Career high Win vs Snake Eyez at Power Moves.

However, the result of the battle was clear, and it started early. J2’s 1
st round was solid, an on-brand punch-heavy round that J2 style is based on. While not a bad round, it presented as a beatable one, also having some slight stumbles that would affect not only his 1st but his performance throughout. A.Ward, on the other hand, started off on 100& and it felt like 200% with a power punching 1st that tackled the Christian vs Gay man dynamic of the battle-off rip. Starting by flipping the classic Murda Mook “Smack called my phone opener” vs Serius Jones, the round was haymaker after haymaker, using the apparent angle but giving it the creativity in the wordplay and execution needed to make it effective. It was a clear showcase of levels as Ward took the 1st for a 1-0 lead in dominant fashion. 

The 2nd was J2’s best round, as he responded with a couple of quick rebuttals before getting into an approach of his own, with a race angle in response. While the angle started slow and didn’t have the same effectiveness as Wards 1st round angling, it was a clear step up in quality from J2 1st. Also, it had his best bar of the battle with the crowd interaction-based haymaker, with everyone in the audience putting one fist in the air to show how “outnumbered” Ward was. While the round also had some light stumbles, it was still far more competitive than the opening round. Even with this improved round, it just seemed to be a mismatch on the night as Ward delivered another heavy round that just seemed to keep reaching a peak that J2 couldn’t match. It was a rare form Ward similar to that of his dominant TheSaurus performance earlier in the year on Mass 6 and was enough to take a 2-0 lead (albeit a closer 2nd) heading into the 3rd.

This leaves the final round, which was the easiest to call, as J2 forgot his round and had to call time short and abruptly, leaving the door open for Ward to complete the clear 30, which is exactly what he did. Coming off a Loss to Ave, it was imperative that Ward get back on track vs an opponent he out-ranked and not only did he win, but he showed a clear gap in his current ability. J2 has still had a very positive 2024, with good big stage showings and consistency with battlers of his tier or below throughout. However, this Ward battle adds to a list of top-tier opponents this year that J2 has faced that have all been clear losses. J2 against Twork, Ave (1RD), and now A.Ward, he looks to be a bit outclassed still against the next level of competition. While J2 absolutely has taken a step up, he has more to work on before he can be considered competitive at a top-tier level. 

Ill Will vs Bill Collector

2.75 ☆ Rating Recapped by Q Moody

A battle I think a lot of the culture had slotted as a sleeper battle of the night on Winter Madness wound up still a good battle, but some turbulence from both emcees kept it from reaching the heights it could have gotten to and it almost makes this battle weird to judge because of that.

They both choked in their first rounds, albeit Bill got more material out than Will. But Will’s first was off to a much stronger start than Bill’s, which was having a harder task in getting a reaction. Either perspective on how it’s judged isn’t wrong. But it was a rough start for two top-level guys.

In the 2nd round, we finally get to see the real potential of this pairing. Bill still has to fight for reaction in the room, but his writing and the way it’s built line by line is still prevalent. Will’s 2nd is much stronger. This is probably where some of that hometown advantage plays. Will gets into a segment where he’s saying things people who are local to Detroit or frequent the city would know and react to, and it goes over wholly and wonderfully turns the battle in his favor. But I could see people who aren’t from Detroit or don’t get what Will is referring to, giving the 2nd to Bill since following along with him is probably a bit easier.

The 3rd I think, is the clearest round of the battle. Bill is still good, but he really has no momentum on his side, and he did come across as if it was affecting him. Will’s 3rd great, and with his humor landing and being able to build that into haymakers, that round didn’t leave itself for much debate.

I have Ill Will 3-0, but again, it’s a strange battle in that it’s good, but the other factors involved can make it something more debated in the future than it probably is right now if you give Bill the first because he rapped longer or the 2nd because you didn’t care for Will’s Detroit references, there is a case to be made for Bill. I do feel like that.

However, this is two chokes in a row for Bill Collector in major battles. Bill isn’t a guy with a history of choking problems, so for him to do that twice in a row vs JC and Ill Will is a little concerning. (Also oddly, against back-to-back opponents from Pontiac? Tin Foil Fat?) I just hope he’s doing alright since this is so out of character for him and that there isn’t anything deeper than rap disrupting his process. 

Marv Won vs Tay Roc

3.00 ☆ Rating Recapped by J Smo

In one of the more competitive battles of the night, Roc took his extremely busy 2024 on the road again, facing Marv in his backyard, and Marv gave him a much tougher fight than the last legend Roc faced in a road game (shoutout Reed Dollaz). While many, including myself, thought this matchup was highly advantageous to Roc, Marv threw some worry into that prediction early with his best round in his 1st. While Roc 1st was decent, Marv could control the pace crowd and land some of the higher highs of the round. While some will point to gas or some extra crowd reaction, you must consider it’s a home game for a legend, which is part of the deal. While there may have been some expected hometown love in the 1st, it would be a bit disingenuous to act like Marv didn’t earn most of that reaction with what was a great opener that gave him a 1-0 lead. 

While it was a surprising start, this is Roc we are talking about, and it is no surprise that he turned up in all aspects of his performance in response. With a pocket and punch-heavy 2nd, Roc used his, at this point, top 1% rapping ability to keep back-to-back momentum that led to a much more on-brand and bomb-heavy round that Roc has given many times through 2024. Marv 2nd ended up being a sizable step down from his 1st, not only content-wise simply being weaker but also with a much more awkward pace, looking like at points he may have lost his place in the round and was freestyling or rapping much slower to try and find his footing again. It was a clear 1-1 heading into the 3rd.

Roc’s 3rd quality lands somewhere between his 1st and 2nd, being good and formidable but not great or unbeatable. It was another punch-heavy round that was good enough to get the W if Marv didn’t have a great round in response, but the 1st half of Marv’s 3rd looked like that great round may be inbound. With a much more angle-based 3rd, Marv executed angles about Roc’s chain very effectively, and it looked like he could close the battle as strongly as he had started. However, the 2nd half of Marv’s 3rd wasn’t executed quite as well, failing to gain much momentum off angles more based on Caution and reverting to some of the pace issues in his 2nd.

The start of his round is good enough where there is still a debate for Marv in this 3
rd, but I found Roc’s round more efficient and consistent and ended up edging him the battle 2-1, 2nd clear, and 3rd edge. The battle is a solid look for both, Roc closing the year with a good showing and, for many, a win, while Marv gets a debatable fight that shows he is so respected amongst his peers and can give anyone a proper challenge, especially battling at home. 

Calicoe vs Swamp

4.50 ☆ Rating Recapped by J Smo

Very happy to say that the long-awaited main event and co-main event for Winter Madness delivered and then some, with the co-main of Cal vs. Swamp being Winter Madness’s Battle Of The Night.

With six grand rounds, we got the best of both Cal and Swamp’s battle, which should lead to energized debates for either winning for years to come. The 1st round of the battle is the closest and where, for many, the actual debate of the battle will lie. Cal led off with a highly smooth round, with his all-time great flow displayed off rip, styling on Swamp while also giving a sneakily good bar-for-bar round with schemes and witty lines scattered throughout. His “coke so white/an NBA player married it” bar stood out as the peak, but even simple lines like “Got you we got his wifey tied up / watching the football game with her hands raised” is an example of how Calicoe gets to the punch in his way compared to the current battle rap formula. Swamp’s 1st in response is nearly equally heavy, with a more punch-heavy round with his signature real talk style and substance-based content. His flip on the Trick Trick/Suge situation, even after over a decade of different versions of it, was one of the best to date and had his strongest round of the battle in the 1st. There are highly fair debates for either in this round and anyone trying to declare it clear is more than likely playing favorites as people do when battles of this magnitude are this close. While Swamp 1-0 is a perfectly logical call, I appreciated the structure and flawlessly rapped delivery of Cal’s first just a bit more and had Cal 1-0 by a razor’s edge. 

The 2nd is a more straightforward round to call, as this is not just the best round of the battle from Calicoe, but it is the best round of Winter Madness as a whole. Calicoe’s 2nd is perfection, showing him at his absolute best. The rapping, the angling, the penmanship, and the overall energy he gave was the best we’d seen him since his 2nd vs Goodz, another instant all-time Cal round. The Landscaper scheme/haymaker was exceptional. The constant mix of angles and punches was a perfectly balanced attack, and when it ended on his “give my Hitman an extra stack if he don’t hit no civilians” haymaker, you knew you were watching a masterclass round by Cal. Swamp 2nd in response isn’t even bad, with a good rebuttal to Cal’s Phara angle and a very solid punch-heavy round of his own. But this was just a near unbeatable round that wouldn’t be matched unless it was Swamp best as well, and with that not happening, it makes this the clearest round of the battle with Cal taking the 2nd and being up 1-1 or 2-0 depending on how you call the 1st.

The final round is viewed as the weakest round from both, but on the rewatch, I have difficulty saying that for Swamp’s 3rd. Cal had his shortest round, and delivery was way more dialed back in terms of the energy and pockets compared to his 1st 2; feeling like the round may have even been a bit short as well. Swamp 3rd was consistent as his whole performance was, with some of his more effective name flips of the battle, “Put a strap on Wizard like Gilbert Areanas” and “Headshot/something flies into Hightower like 9/11” being some of the highlights. Maybe the most impressive part of Swamp’s showing is that while in the 3rd, the crowd may not have given all his material the proper love, Swamp fought through with full confidence and only worried about his delivery, which is the key to any major road game. While some still say this round is close enough for debate, I have the margin of victory wider of Swamp with each watch and gave him the 3rd comfortably, bringing my final call of the battle to Calicoe 2-1, 2nd clear and 1st round that could go either way.

Calicoe gets back on track with an elite version of himself we had not yet seen in 2024, and Swamp adds a war vs. a legend at his crib to the resume with a BOTN that will mutually benefit both of their stock. The people have asked for the battle since 2022, and everyone should be happy that even with an overdue label, the struggle turned out about as great as it could—a win for the battlers and fans alike. 

Kitchen Qleen vs T-Rex

2.25 ☆ Rating Recapped by France

A match that was booked for the first Black Mafia Battle League event gets rescheduled for Winter Madness. Two of Calicoe’s favorite battlers of all time get to clash, and this was a match tailor-made in heaven for the league owner.  

The battle was a solid performance; it followed the stage right after Calicoe & Swamp performed, so they had a very high bar to meet. They also hit the stage very late in the evening, so it was hard for them to conjure up the same level of engagement from the crowd, so when you watch the battle in the series of the night, it may have felt underwhelming but both battlers brought solid material for each other.

Qleen wasn’t able to stay clean for the battle, so it does become a default win for T-Rex, but I have to give Qleen massive respect for opening up about losing his father over the past week and still coming to perform. Sometimes, it’s deeper than rap and entertainment, our battlers are human and go through a lot in life and set it all aside to give the fans a show and meet their contractual obligations.  As for T-Rex, he puts the ribbon on a great resurgent year. You can certainly expect to see T-Rex rank highly on Champion of the Year for 2024 in the Top 20 list, and maybe this sets the stage for us to see a very active and consistent T-Rex for 2025. Much kudos to him. 

Murda Mook vs Arsonal

The Score of this battle is based on the performance Mook displayed in a one-sided battle.

3.50 ☆ Rating Recapped by Q Moody

For a battle involving two of the most pivotal figures in battle rap history, this is not something I was ever really clamoring to see. Arsonal is consistently active and available, but Murda Mook, with his limited appearances over the last 12 years, still brings a level of novelty and aura from a box office perspective that makes everything he does a spectacle. 

Mook isn’t called the logo for no reason. So, fittingly, a ton of people have shot for him over the years. I’m trying to paint the picture that Mook vs Arsonal was never at the top of my list over seeing Mook encounter names like Charlie Clips, Hollow Da Don, Tsu Surf, or Hitman Holla. 

Nevertheless, Arsonal remained persistent and kept the talk of this battle alive. Even doing some unsavory things to make it so. But the results are the results, and eventually, this mega clash of superstars got put together, and man, there is a lot to unpack. 

I’ve reviewed every Mook battle that’s taken place since this website was formed. And in that 2+ year sample size that covers his clashes with Geechi Gotti, Bigg K, Nu Jerzey Twork, and Arsonal, this run has shown so much improvement from Mook. I’ve left this period with so much more respect and reverence for him. 

The Arsonal battle is probably the pinnacle of this. In totally neutral ground in Detroit, Mook put on a clinic. 

The first round from Mook is widely viewed as his peak of the battle, and for good reason. He opened up with a great bit of counterwriting, addressing the infamous Instagram live of him getting into it with the police. His energy was tangible through the screen, he looked extremely comfortable and showed real control with the way he seamlessly could go from clever, well-built bars to working in angles about their legacies. Even uses a prop of some Cartier frames to pay homage to fallen Detroit music legends. All attributes of battle rap were on display here. Mook’s first is a total masterclass in performance, crowd engagement, and picking the right spots.

For all the flack Mook has gotten for his past performances, he needs respect for his highs. He has listened to the fans and begun to figure out how to really translate in the modern era, and that makes him immensely dangerous going forward for anybody. The total package is forming, with him making lines quicker to the punch, more engagement with the crowd, and more intervals of performance; it’s all making for an electrifying and dynamic battler, alongside the fact he is a master strategist and with unlimited rapping dimensions.

Arsonal has been a mixed bag of results for a long time now, something we’ll get to later on. But with this being such a major battle for him (really a legacy battle, to be totally honest with how much Arsonal sought after it), you had to imagine Arsonal would show up as prepared as any battle he’s ever had in his life, maybe even the most prepared. 

And his first round mostly reflects that. For all the critiques I’ll have for Arsonal later on, he understands the mechanics and fundamentals of putting words together more than most ever will. He’s so fluid and the word placement and transitions to different paces. 

And he has an excellent and commanding delivery. When these things are combined, on a purely auditory level, Arsonal just SOUNDS great. His pen has never been his strong suit, but at his best he can chain punch and build enough to have momentum carry him through a round. He has several moments in this first where it’s not an actual bar that gets a reaction, but just the wave of momentum he creates with how well put together his rapping is. The angles he does decide to take aren’t bad, either. He touches on the infamous video of Mook’s apartment, Mook being selfish in battle rap, but I think for how competitive this round is, Arsonal would have been better served either dedicating more time to his angles or spacing them out better throughout the battle.

Arsonal dumped a clip in his first, and while it’s a good round. He opens the round by saying this is Darell Jones, not Arsonal. He still raps the exact same in his alter ego, but he kicks off the round by really talking to Mook at the beginning. The motor of Arsonal’s rapping generates momentum while opening up an angle about what Mook hasn’t contributed to the culture, doesn’t battle any of the newer guys, and doesn’t open doors for others. It started off strong, but it’s not as potent as Mook’s round in totality, and in a wild turn of events, Mook wasn’t the one who over-rapped. It was Arsonal. Arsonal took some of the sting from his round by how long he rapped, for me at least. As his round prolonged, it became more aimless, losing the sense of direction and point of attack he introduced.

This is Arsonal’s high point of the battle, and I still think he lost this round, I’m not mad at anyone thinking this was a debatable round. That said, Arsonal took a huge step down the next two rounds, while Mook stayed consistent. 

Mook’s 2nd doesn’t get as much crowd reaction as his first, but it’s not because the crowd isn’t engaged. It comes across as them listening intently to everything he has to say, which worked for the round’s benefit. This is genuinely my favorite round of the battle. Mook delivered the most direct, angle-based content of the battle in this round, and I thought it was delivered perfectly. Setting the stage for the differences between him and Arsonal wonderfully. My favorite segment of the entire battle came here: 

“Let me give you perspective /

It’s a difference in ethics /

The only reason your name was even in the selection /

Is because we interconnected, check it /

You attained fame by saying things no rapper should /

My name became synonymous with the game

For saying things no other rapper could /

Let’s be honest, they credit you for disrespect. Never for rhyming/

you got your props off shock. I stayed current by being electrifying/”

Mook kept his foot on the gas. Even when transitioning back to slick wordplay and punches, the writing didn’t take a step back. He might not throw a ton into a punch or make it the emphasis of his style, but what Mook is great at is building a foundation on these slick lines and jabs in almost Floyd Mayweather-esque fashion. At his best, the way Mook’s raps feed into each other and fit into the next section of rhymes is elite writing. It can’t be undersold how impressive Mook was on this night

Arsonal’s 2nd sees him revert back to only relying on delivery and technical skills to get by when this is his emptiest round content-wise of the battle. There’s nothing to take from this round; he’s not punching as well as he did in the first and he’s no longer being focused or bringing any angles to the table. And after an already underwhelming round, Arsonal choked.

You Know The Rules

Let me repeat that. Arsonal. Choked 

In a battle that he had been practically begging for 10 years and doing the most even to keep the idea of this battle relevant, he choked. And maybe that’s silly me for thinking that in one of the biggest battles of his career, Arsonal would understand that now is for sure not the time for slip ups like that. But that’s my fault because that’s who Arsonal has been the last two years.

In the last two years, Arsonal has choked in battles against 

  • Kapo Bravado (Main event)
  • Rosenberg Raw (The YouTube upload edited out his choke of this battle)
  • Casey Jay
  • Franchise
  • Coffee Brown  (Main event) 
  • Ms Hustle

And now here vs Murda Mook. Which by the way, Arsonal is now the first opponent Murda Mook has had  choke in a battle against him since the modern era of Mook battling (post-2012). Another milestone we can check off for Arsonal.

There’s no other way to put it other than that it is embarrassing and ridiculous of someone who’s supposed to be held in such high reverence. But the sad thing is, that’s only going back to the last two years. If I wanted to dig into the archives, there would be a lot more that I could list. The last 5-6 years of Arsonal have seen some good showings here and there, like against Ace Amin and B-Magic, but mainly been composed of chokes, stumbles, and cringeworthy, bad material. But we’ll get to the bad material more in a bit. The reality is the way stigmas are around people like B-Magic and Charlie Clips, the exact same critique needs to follow Arsonal who’s given the culture way more bad than good over the last few years. 

Right now, Mook is up 2-0. And like a shark in the water, Mook saw blood and finished the job. His third is probably his weakest round of the battle, but I still saw him have one of the highlights of the night with his Street Fighter pocket, talking about his ties to Detroit, his Eminem reference that led to a “Rap God” homage and getting into a rapid flow in another Eminem reference, and he puts a nice bow on his legacy vs. legacy talk with the “why YOU ain’t…” segment. Mook was floating there and just closed out with moment after moment. 

Arsonal decided to spend his 3rd round talking about Mook’s deceased mother. I don’t know if Ars anticipated more of a disrespectful Mook in an attempt to match Ars’ disrespect, so he wanted to double down because of that? But honestly, that’s just shooting bail and trying to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

His strategy is so impressively flawed it manages to be both nonexistent and poorly thought out simultaneously. He choked at the end of his 2nd round, completely forfeiting a round instead of just closing it out smoothly. He props up to launch his most disrespectful round at the end of his performance as if it’s some final act that none of us could’ve seen coming. You saved your most provocative round for the end after Mook spent two rounds completely diffusing the notion that Arsonal is all about shock value. It’s like Arsonal walked right into the angle. The mother’s disrespect would’ve served to be the most effective thing to use at the beginning of his performance.

We Aren't Saying Arsonal Shouldn't Be Disrespectful

Disrespectfulness isn’t the issue, but its presentation matters. Disrespect has gotten Arsonal this far, but there is a way to deliberate the use of disrespect to gain an advantage. Arsonal tried to provoke a reaction with malice instead of mentioning someone’s perceived weaknesses or past failures.  Mook has mentioned in previous battles swearing on his mother’s grave in some of his material for specific topics. Arsonal could’ve revisited that and flipped it with a perspective of, “Did you lie on your mother’s grave? Or Let’s Play swear to ____”.

The disrespect wasn’t done creatively to undermine Mook or hit a pressure point. He was being disrespectful for the sake of it instead of maybe finding a clever way to make it effective. Arsonal could’ve made a reference to Mook’s sobriety and played on his low points to portray it as a weakness to the audience. His IQ didn’t let him think that far ahead. 

Arsonal thinking that this was something that made sense as a battle-closing approach for him is why he’s not the all-time great he’s propped up to be. He could have spaced out his angles and done more talk about not giving back to the culture compared to what Arsonal has done. He could have used the best of his “disrespectful” bars earlier instead of trying to build a whole round around it. But because Arsonal isn’t actually one of the greatest ever, separate from his accomplishments, his lack of battle IQ was glaring in what might be his legacy-defining moment.

He’s a legend, he’s a pioneer, he’s done a lot of good for battle rap. Arsonal stood out over his peak because of his highlight attributes, but over time, there hasn’t been an evolution in his game; you can watch a battle from him 13 years ago sound precisely the same as this battle. His actual content isn’t becoming the best to ever be in this culture. Countless grudge matches in his catalog have resulted in the red more than the green. Material can be subjective, but there are countless outdated bars, and the bars we have aren’t good or clever for the majority of them.

He also weaves in this angle about Mook being kicked out of college because of some alleged sexual misconduct and goes as far as to imply Mook is a rapist, just to dap him up after the battle. And on top of that, the bars just fucking stink! It’s not packaged cleverly or memorably. It’s writing bullshit for the sake of writing bullshit.

I wonder if bars like these are worthy of being considered “saying something”

“I could purchase a female Tesla robot, and I still wouldn’t steal/steel pussy.” 
“A Sneeze bar, aiming Acho (At chu)”
“Boosie cut, run this fade.”
“Go to your Mom Grave, and tell her she got a Simp son,You Bart to her.”
“Arthritis / (Author Write this).” 

 

Can we have some higher standards please, man? How long is Arsonal allowed to write stuff like this, and it’s not discussed because he has the most views? Why does that safeguard him from the rightful criticism that he’s genuinely been writing some of the worst shit in battle rap for the last 6 years? He SOUNDS good when he raps, but when you take the slightest deeper glance at what he’s actually saying, it’s stuff that developmental battle rappers would get laughed out of the culture for. There’s a reason why Arsonal’s name gets left out of certain dialogue when discussing the greatest ever. And that reason and the uncomfortable truth it that his talent doesn’t match up and doesn’t make his case.

In a battle he spent a decade plus asking for, Arsonal spent his last two rounds showcasing what I’ve personally felt about him for years: his actual skill level is overblown because people have a hard time separating it from his legacy. 

Meanwhile, Murda Mook, is in a battle he vocally has never really cared about. Showed up and handled business accordingly and had his best showing to date in the modern era. Mook isn’t perfect. There are still some bad lines here and there that show that maybe Mook will forever be prone to a cringy line or two, but for the vast majority of the battle, he was focused, potent, and looked like he really was one of the best ever to battle. 

Seeing Hitman Holla, Murda Mook and Loaded Lux all put on some of the best performances of 2024 really makes 2025 and what’s to come for all three of them the biggest story heading into the year. These are three of the biggest and best to ever do this, showing that they can still operate on levels that most of the culture can’t reach. 

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