I Do What I Want
In Building Rating
Event Recapped by LTBR Staff Writers
Staff Writer: France | Senior Staff Writer: Q Moody | Staff Writer: J Smo
I Do What I Want
PPV Rating
Event Recapped by LTBR Staff Writers
Staff Writer: France | Senior Staff Writer: Q Moody | Staff Writer: J Smo
LTBR Award Recipients
Battle of the Night: Geechi Gotti vs. Eazy The Block Captain
Best Individual Performances of the night: #1 Geechi Gotti | #2 Chayna Ashley| #3 Eazy The Block Captain |
The Biggest Win of the Night: Geechi Gotti over Eazy The Block Captain | Chayna Ashley over Rosenberg
Highlight Rounds of the Night: Geechi’s 3rd | Chayna’s 1st | Eazy’s 1st | First Lady Flamez 3rd | Rosenberg 1st | A.Ward’s 1st | Charlie Clips 1st | C3’s 1st
In the Building (France's perspective)
Chrome 23’s latest battle rap event proved to be yet another fun evening of battles, great lyricism, entertaining performance, drama, theatrics, and massive storylines that will have implications for the rest of the Battle Rap year of 2023. Chrome 23 hosting 2 of the biggest battles of 2023, is an interesting parallel in numerology.
Despite some initial hurdles in the form of technical glitches, the event managed to maintain its momentum and excitement delivering a memorable evening for fans, media, and attendees. The attendance was lively and enthusiastic, filling a spacious venue that allowed fans to immerse themselves in the battles with a bunch of seating to rest the feet and a back-area with a bar and tables to eat with TVs all over the dining era of the PPV. Salute to the commentary team between Shooney Da Rapper, Phara Funeral, Vada Fly & Shotime Sp. It was a good blend of personalities between the media and a great blend of female representation to bring in a battlers analysis for each performance.
One iconic tradition that Remy Ma brought to the event was her four-outfit-per-battle ritual, adding a touch of glamour and spectacle to each battle. The Chrome 23 staff also played a pivotal role in ensuring the event’s success; they greeted everyone with a warm welcome and efficiently managed the logistics, allowing the battles to unfold seamlessly. This combination of resilience, fan engagement, and efficient organization is a testament to their constant improvement in curating a fun space and improving on giving each event a resounding success.
The decision to feature a four-battle card is a refreshing balance between providing an entertaining evening of battles and not overtaxing the crowd’s energy, battle rap events are a physical commitment to all parties involved. This approach allowed each battle to receive the attention it deserved and kept the audience engaged throughout the event. As the league continues to thrive, grow, and innovate, it’s clear that they have found a winning formula that not only entertains but also respects the fans’ time, enthusiasm, and most importantly, the artist. Remy Ma gives each artist the opportunity to be in a perfect spot to center all of their bandwidth and focus on entertaining. And you gotta tip your hat to Remy Ma for being able to curate and delegate a successful event in the building.
Full Podcast Recap
We will be introducing our new rating system for individual battles. Similar to the 5 Mics concept, We will give a 5-star rating per battle on the card. ☆☆☆☆☆
C3 vs. First Lady Flamez
2.5☆ Rating (Recapped by J Smo)
First battle of the night, a pen-heavy showdown between 2 of Chrome’s better female performers, C3 vs. Flamez. Going into it this battle had sleeper potential as one of the better back-and-forths of the card, and while still competitive an issue showed itself early that never really got fixed: mic issues, particularly on the side of Flamez. Battle Rap is no stranger to mic issues and being that it didn’t affect the event moving forward, this is the only battle that suffered from it. Flamez started off the 1st and although already the weakest of her 3 rounds, the mic issues dimmed any hope the round had of building momentum. Some nice jabs and clever lines but the lack of a mic added to a lack of energy from Flamez in the 1st led to an overall weak round.
This was the opposite for C3 in the bottom of the 1st, who was not only matching Flamez lyrically but doing much more on the performance and delivery front. High energy, she landed some dope Flamez flips (ex: dancing around Flamez like an Indian haymaker), and overall, just looked like the vet she was in the given matchup. It was a clear 1-0 for C3 after the 1st, but that ended up being the peak of C3’s showing.
Flamez 2nd starts with a great Three’s/3’s company bar in response, and then once again, an immediate mic cut. Specific example of Flamez material being present but how the mic hurts any chance of building off a punch landing. But after that hiccup, she gets through her round clean and is her best round of the battle. Her “Peaceful Split” bar and “Survive This 40” bar are examples of her hitting some peaks, giving a little more energy and aggression. C3’s 2nd is response starts with some comedy that goes over super well, leading into a “Suckin Flamez/Glass Pipe” bar, which really shows in terms of performing and really engaging the crowd C3 did look more seasoned in that aspect throughout the battle. However, stumbles started to play a part in C3 2nd. Her material was solid, and some have argued her being a little more all around on stage could do enough to give her the round with no choke. The problem is with the stumbles and at the end of her round, C3 would vocally say something along the lines of “Damn I F’d that up”. Can’t amplify your own slip-ups and for this reason plus a good Flamez round, I had it 1-1.
That leaves the 3rd which is the easiest to call. Flamez has a round slightly less good than her 2nd but still solid, very bar heavy as usual. This time around, C3’s round is much sloppier in approach, once again having some comedy-based elements but not leading into any heavy landing material and feeling like a short round. Flamez took the 3rd very clearly and overall, for me took the battle 2-1, 2nd and 3rd. The battle could’ve been better without mic issues but still a solid battle-off material. Following the battle, Flamez called out 40 Barrs and C3 called out Ms. Hustle, 2 other good matchups that both ladies could see in the future.
Who do you have winning between C3 vs First Lady Flamez ?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) September 16, 2023
Chayna Ashley vs. Rosenberg Raw
3☆ Rating (Recapped by France)
In the thrilling battle between Rosenberg Raw and Chayna Ashley, you get all of the excitement you expect to get from a battle. Rosenberg kicked off the battle with a barrage of humor and clever jokes. Some of the jokes were hilarious and it set the stage for Rosenberg to gain momentum and land some powerful bars and punchlines.
However, Chayna Ashley wasted no time in establishing her presence, and it quickly became apparent that she possessed an overbearing amount of power that completely shifted the tides of the battle within the first 2 minutes of her round. It was like watching an NFL team build up a commanding lead in the first quarter and then sustain that lead throughout the entire game. Chayna’s unwavering presence and delivery proved to be a formidable force, neutralizing Rosenberg’s early momentum and leaving the audience in awe of her performance. Rosenberg ended his 1st round with some bars referencing The Friday Movie, and with the perfect timing, Chanya started her rounds with the same references almost appearing to be a rebuttal which magnified the impact of her explosive introduction, and she took full advantage of the early momentum booster and sustained the energy & content throughout the round.
Rosenberg’s second round mirrored his first, with a plethora of humor and jokes that were undeniably entertaining weaved in with some punchlines. However, his efforts seemed to be rendered ineffective in the face of Chayna’s relentless rapping. It was as if she wore a bulletproof vest for all of the humor, deflecting Rosenberg’s approach effortlessly. And major credits to Chanya for being able to pick up right where she left off. Hitting peaks in a battle is always possible for high-level battlers, but sustaining a high level of entertainment, content, crowd reactions and pacing of the battle showed she was under control this entire bout.
In the third round, Rosenberg introduced a unique angle by addressing the role of men in supporting the Chrome 23 league. He introduces the angle mixed with some heavy punches line the “Cross-Play Bar” or the NBA/WNBA comparisons. And being that Remy Ma did state in the faceoffs the night prior, sometimes Chrome23 needs to package the female or intergender battles on the undercard with some of the top men in the game, it gave Rosenberg’s angle some validity and leg to stand on. While this was a commendable attempt to switch things up, and I can also say it was the most competitive round, to the point I do feel Rosenberg has a case to win this round, but the window of opportunity to win this battle had already been sealed. Chayna Ashley remained steadfast, sticking to her winning formula from the first two rounds. She closed out the battle with a resounding victory, proving that her commanding presence and lyrical prowess were undeniable. She is someone that needs to be pushed to the forefront of Chrome23 and we hope to see her more active to take advantage of this stock-raising performance.
Who do you have winning between Chayna Ashley vs Rosenberg Raw?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) September 16, 2023
Charlie Clips vs. A.Ward
1.75☆ Rating (Recapped by J Smo)
A battle of 2 of the better freestyle/rebuttal heavy battlers of all time, Clips vs Ward is a top-tier matchup and rematch from their solid 1 rounder last year on The Rap Committee battle league. The 1st round of this battle showed promise and like they were picking up where they left off, as both had a good 1st. Clips started stumbling through an uninspiring Fruit Scheme, which really was a warning of what was ahead, but from there his “Thou shall not/stop reading” bar was fire, and honestly landed pretty consistent through the 1st with a couple more haymakers as well. Ward 1st opens with a huge rebuttal to Clips “I turned Rosenberg into a podcaster” bar with “Well I beat Viixen so bad she’s on OnlyFans”, crushing the building. From there his round was solid, not having as many bombs but really sharp and consistent writing through the round. The 1st is debatable and can really go either way, but I edged Clips the 1st.
The 2nd is where things go downhill. You know THAT version of Clips we all be sad about? He arrives. With a mostly messy freestyled round that was quite literally just a long list of schemes about Philly, Clips 2nd is an unserious mess with occasional punches landing between borderline gibberish. The Ishkabibbles punchline of his cheesesteak scheme may have been the most Clips haymaker ever though, as it did not rhyme nor was it any coherent language known to man. A sorcerer of the highest order. Ward probably should get this 2nd nearly by default but the truth is his 2nd was weak as well, with his remix of his Crown Vic moment being one of the only notable highlights of his round. I gave the 2nd to Ward but the battle at this point had taken a quick and steep dive.
Then as for the 3rd, it’s just not good. Clip’s 3rd is an even somehow lazier round than his 2nd. A double (triple?) sike I lied fake ending, incoherent. Just not a real battle rap round. Ward 3rd is also pretty light, having a concept towards the end about auditioning for Wild N Out where he wears a Wild N Out t-shirt and freestyles for about a minute. Ward won the 3rd because someone had to, but overall, this battle started with promise and ended as the most disappointing battle of the night. The battle is going to go down as debatable and another one in a list of many for Clips where the product is terrible on both sides of the competitiveness of it can be argued, for those that even care to argue about it. Rough battle and hope to see better from both on Black Out 8.
Who do you have winning between A-Ward vs Charlie Clips?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) September 17, 2023
Eazy The Block Captain vs. Geechi Gotti
4.25☆ Rating (Recapped by Q Moody)
In a summer filled with star-studded events and high-stakes battles, from the time Eazy vs Geechi was announced, there was something about it that made it stand above the rest. Even if at times it wasn’t the most heavily promoted because each man had other big battles taking place before it, the element of this being an era-defining clash carried through those weeks and months. The additional factor of the battle taking place in Camden, New Jersey, which is a trip over the bridge away from Philly (the original location for the battle), made this all the more intriguing.
This recap is going to cover a lot of ground so let’s get a few things out of the way. This battle lived up to main event expectations and both men have to be applauded for that. Countless times we’ve seen highly anticipated battles be underwhelming once the time came, but this one checked off every box. It was the masterclass chess match that we all thought it would be. I don’t quite have it as a battle of the year contender level, but it’s right outside of that and with some more time maybe I will change my thoughts on it, that being said still a great battle.
Eazy The Block Captain chose to go first, in a move that I think clearly backfired by the end of the battle. In a lot of ways, it was really surprising to see Eazy do the same thing that put Hitman Holla behind the 8-ball in their battle. While I can understand the thought process of trying to “get ahead” of the angles you know are coming, momentum plays a huge part in battles as we all know and unless there is an undeniable knockout round that a battler has planned in the first, choosing to go first will always be risky. For as great as I believe Eazy’s round to be, it is by no means a knockout round nor was it worth going first for. It may have been more worth it if Eazy chose to spend more time on the Remy Ma situation which in his first he admitted to there being some level of truth to with:
“Wanna know who I’m fuckin’, you’re gay. You wanna know the details?/ Nigga keep this on the DL/ If you heard a nigga did somethin’ to me over a female/ And he ain’t dead, it’s probably cause I still got the female.”
Do with that as you may.
He spends the beginning part of the round planting the seeds for this “Geechi Gossip” theme which would be reoccurring in this battle. The rest of his first round once he heats up is great, but not the ironclad lock of a round you need when choosing to go first. Geechi’s round takes a few lines to heat up, but once he gets to “let’s see if she can manage to keep you alive”, he’s off to the races from there barely taking a line off. This is the closest round of the battle, and anyone who has Eazy winning it isn’t crazy at all. The prevailing sentiment from me however is Geechi’s round had higher highs and a few more bars that stuck with me. I wind up edging Geechi the round because of that, but again this is the closest round of the battle.
The 2nd round is where things start to get a little complicated. This round is a battle of angles and ultimately with things like this it comes down to execution, but also how credible the content is. Eazy returns to the subject of Geechi being a gossiper and uses that as a justification for digging up everything he could possibly find on Geechi. The way he sets it up is actually pretty clever. He spends a large chunk of the round touching on Geechi’s run-in with the law and a case where Gotti served little jail time and attempts to make us as an audience question if Geechi snitched or if was there some funny business with his case. A typical battle rap angle to take that Geechi is no stranger to.
Once Eazy mentions LI The Mayor in his round, however, that was the moment where he says too much and gives Gotti too much room to diffuse it. We’ll get back to that. Eazy then does a whole thing running down the names of Geechi’s mother, mother, and father, and even child support and charges his father had. He tries to land the plane with the payoff being that Geechi comes from a family of thieves, but it doesn’t land for me. Ultimately it’s a confusing thing as a viewer to have Eazy spend all this time trying to paint Geechi as a gossip, but then spending a whole round himself doing the same thing he’s criticized Geechi for. It just comes across poorly and doesn’t make a ton of sense, even if I get the way he set up the round. It’s difficult because I don’t think the material is bad or lackluster, he has some great bars in this round as well, I particularly love the “split the money with your fucking son” line.
It doesn’t help matters that Geechi freestyled to start his 2nd and immediately nullified Eazy’s angle on Geechi’s case, by having the aforementioned LI The Mayor walk to the front of the stage. When you’re trying to paint this image of snitching going on and your opponent already has one of his co-defendants with him at the battle, it’s hard to buy into the conclusion you’re trying to lead us to. He also rebuttaled the child support talk by clarifying his relationship with his baby mother and stating that the kids live with him. It feels like in an attempt to match Geechi’s “messiness”, Eazy spent too much time digging things up and not enough time doing the thing he’s best at: counter writing. He almost completely abandons the thing that’s led him to the dance and it turns out poorly for him. Eazy being the counterwriter is, if he was going to do anything I feel like more time addressing the rumors would have taken more sting out of what Geechi eventually did. I understand the point of you not acknowledging it too much, even though he does a bit in his 1st round, but this was a straight up bad strategy from Eazy, which is the most shocking thing about this battle.
To get back to Gotti, it’s more than just the rebuttals at the start. His bars about being more tapped in with Philly than Eazy, talking about Eazy’s departure from Guntitles, comparing him to their peers, and highlighting which one of them is really the one who can do what they want. It’s all great material, and that’s before getting to this elephant in the room, the Hurricane Du angle. Du has been a consistent point of attack on Eazy ever since his rise into relevancy, but one thing that K-Shine tackled in his battle with Eazy was the allegations of abuse. Eazy has always strongly denied this, at points, Du also publicly denied it so the angle didn’t hold a lot of weight to people. But in the midst of a tweetstorm in June, Eazy and Du got into it and she seemingly confirmed that there was some truth to the rumors that had been floating for a few years.
An angle that had no public credibility now had some more validity behind it and Geechi used to full advantage and executed the angle extremely well, better than anyone has ever tried to address it. He found the perfect balance for it. In a round where it all boils down to the approach, the difference for me is that Eazy’s round was easily diffusible and had some hypocrisy issues, while Geechi’s ending angle was rooted in something damaging that may have some level of truth to it. And this isn’t a public condemnation or saying what I think did or didn’t happen, it’s about when you dig deeper into the material, whose content is harder to poke holes in? The answer in my eyes is Geechi.
The 3rd round is less complicated here and despite this being Eazy’s best round, in my opinion, Geechi has taken this round handily in the public consensus. And people might try to say it’s only based on the last few minutes when he interpolates Aye Verb’s famous 3rd round for Hitman Holla but directs it at Remy Ma. I would say that’s an extremely false statement and that it discounts that it’s not until 9 minutes into his round that Geechi even gets to that segment of the round. Without the obvious angle, Geechi was still putting on a phenomenal performance in this round and it felt like 2018-2019 Geechi returned when you hear lines like:
“12 years old I started bangin’, death or jail, more or less was the options
13 I got my first gun
15 was the first time I shot it
I didn’t stick around to see if he died, I just heard for the sirens
That means somethin’ happened, good enough, shit that was the logic
Nigga, before I ever got a paid to rap, my big homies gave me straps, I considered those as deposits
In the back of the projects, wrappin’ a brick
My niggas never had me ride for ’em
The first time I gave a nigga three full rounds, God was the one who called time on ’em”
By the time he even gets to the Remy Ma angle, it was already one of the best Geechi rounds in a long time so anyone acting like that’s all he talked about or that was all of the substance in his round needs to cut it out. On the subject of the Remy angle, anyone saying he was talking to Remy and that wasn’t directed towards Eazy needs to actually think for a second. The whole point of him talking to Remy is him attacking Eazy and saying that Eazy was a bad person to link with and that he was not worth any of this fiasco we’ve seen transpire for the last few months. At this point in time, those two are inextricably linked so even though he was looking at Remy during the segment, it’s clear as day directed at Eazy, there’s no way around that. All of it wraps up into Geechi’s 3rd being one of the best rounds of the year and one of the best of his career. It’s a genuine highlight and we won’t be talking about the state of battle rap in 2023 without mentioning that round.
All in all, I do believe this was a great heavyweight clash battle, but this is the first clear loss of Eazy’s last 4 years. He was still high level in this battle and without some strategic errors, I feel like this could have been a closer battle and it came down to the finer details of why Geechi wound up winning. Not just in my eyes, but on polls all across social media. I don’t think this was a crippling loss for Eazy or anything as he was still very good. With everything that’s happened, this was a very tough battle to win against someone with Geechi’s skillset. I will say though there may be some credence to the thought some have had that Eazy’s tougher battles have come against people who are more his generational peers (Fonz, Chess, Geechi) and that will be something to keep an eye on going forward.
For Geechi though, what is there left to say at this point? The more I watch this battle, the more I feel like this is one of his best performances ever. Coming into hostile territory and derailing the man on the most dominant run battle rap ever saw. His claim to being the best battle rapper of all time just got even stronger with this. After a year in 2022 where a lot of people felt like that was the beginning of the end for his run and a lackluster Coffee Brown battle prior to this, Geechi fully displayed the level he can still reach and firmly cements himself as the face of this era beyond a shadow of a doubt. Geechi clearly beat Nu Jerzey Twork and Eazy The Block Captain, the two names who have any semblance of a case for that title and now Geechi sits alone at the top. Reminding us all that this generation belongs to him.
Who did you have winning the main event?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) September 17, 2023
