RBE’s latest creation, the Full Circle series, introduces a new format that sets it apart from its conventional settings. Embracing an empty room style, this series places emcees within the confines of a circular space, that is being filmed in a 360-degree motion by the skilled lens of Avocado from Ruin Your Day Productions. The unique visual approach adds a layer of dynamism to the battles, allowing viewers to immerse themselves fully in the confrontations, capturing every angle and reaction within the circular arena. The round times in these battles range from 2 minutes to 2:30. And each battle’s total run time of content averages between 13 to 15 minutes. The installment of the Full Circle series kicked off on a rooftop, setting the stage for a visually captivating experience.
Noteworthy battles, such as Bad Newz vs. Snake Eyez II on Bags and Bodies are the pillar to this filming style and that battle has exemplified the Full Circle format’s potential to elevate the viewing experience, making it a standout addition to RBE’s diverse catalog. As the series evolved, subsequent battles transitioned to private settings, maintaining the intimate and exclusive atmosphere while exploring different backdrops. To be transparent, I have noticed some of these battles have glaring Jump cut edits and skips during the battlers rapping their rounds, leading me to believe some of these battles are shot with more than 1 attempt, which can take away from the series. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of that, especially if there is a possibility of a stumble or a choke being edited. But so far, I’ve enjoyed a few of these performances in the circle, so far with a total of five battles released in this series.
-Arsonal vs Jag
-Charlie Clips vs QB Black Diamond
-Kausion vs RX
-Aye Verb vs Mickey Factz
-ill WIll vs Payne
These battles can be found in the members-only Section of the RBE YouTube channel. Subscribe for $3.99 to watch these battles.
The House Of Payne
Recapped by France
2.75 / 5 ☆ Rating
The clash between Payne and Ill Will at RBE’s Full Circle event marked the first battle of the series that brought together different tiers of the league. Payne, a rising talent who graduated from the Brick process and is looking to hone his skills. He was featured a few times in the blue room and entered the league with a solid foundation and a hunger to make his mark. While he may not have consistently swayed social media polls in his favor from his blue room battles, Payne showcased glimpses of his potential ceiling and growth in previous battles, making each battle an integral part of his development in the league. The significance of facing diverse challenges during this crucial phase of ascent cannot be overstated, as it pushes a battler’s pen to new heights and refines their craft.
On the flip side, Ill Will entered the bout riding the wave of one of the best years in his career. Having headlined two of the year’s standout best events against God-tier opponents, he elevated his legacy to new heights. However, the clash against Payne proved to be a departure from the stellar performances fans had come to expect from Ill Will. Despite his recent successes, Payne managed to assert dominance in this particular battle, showcasing an unexpected outcome that added an intriguing twist to the narrative.
Ill Will’s first round, reminiscent of his performance against Rosenberg Raw, lacked the usual energy associated with the seasoned battler. A notable jump-cut edit fueled speculation about potential stumbling, leading me to believe that WIll probably wasn’t clean in this battle (And this moment told the story as the battle continued to unfold). This sets the stage for Payne to seize the moment and establish an early lead. Payne’s commanding presence and momentum in the first round laid a solid foundation, earning him a huge lead that put Will in a deficit that he never fully recaptured.
Ill Will, recognizing the need for a shift, delivered a standout second round. With a clever flip of “Momma/Payne”
Ill run up on Payne and Momma Payne and hit Payne in front of Momma Payne
Now momma in pain, crying in the window every night, Literally, momma in Pane
She’s lucky I don’t bunk bed you mfs. Momma in Payne.
As long as he doesn’t try to act out through her, you Know Momma In Payne
Will has an injection of increased energy, wordplay, and aggression, he ignited a more competitive phase in the battle. Despite the improved round, Payne continued his upward trajectory, showcasing uphill writing and maintaining a slight edge. The second round emerged as the most debatable, offering fans a point of contention in an otherwise decisive match. Payne’s gradual ascent demonstrated his ability to evolve within the battle, setting the stage for a third round that would solidify his claim to victory.
In the third round, Will raps about a minute into his round and calls time on himself, the battle was pretty much over at this point for me. Ill Will’s abbreviated performance left an opening for Payne to capitalize. He starts his 3rd with an angle about Will’s Cousin robbing his friend and Payne adeptly flips some of Ill Will’s bars. it was a decent angle that I felt he could’ve dug a little deeper towards, and Payne can develop his skills as an angler as long as he doesn’t draw out a story too long and keeps some angle-based punchlines while painting the picture. He kept stepping up his energy and aggression, Payne delivered his best round of the battle and a strong third round, which is now becoming his signature. He put a ribbon with a huge haymaker at the end
“Im thinking about sending you over/
And that will be the end of Pontiac like General Motors/”
The combination of Payne’s relentless onslaught of aggression, angles, and energetic performance secured him the win, marking a significant milestone in his RBE career and establishing this battle as easily, the biggest win thus far of his career in the league, against a top-tier competitor. There are still many ways to continue to develop for Payne, but this victory deserves its praise, and it’s a great building block to go into 2024 with to take the next step.
Mickey Factz vs Aye Verb
Recapped by J Smo
3.25 / 5 ☆ Rating
The Full Circle concept doesn’t just tackle a new way of shooting battles but also emphasizes pure rapping in a quiet environment strictly focused on the battler’s pace, flow, and content. For these reasons, Verb and Mickey Factz are 2 talents that on paper should benefit most from the new series.
Starting on Mickey 1st, Mickey immediately showed why his pen-heavy style has gained him respect even if he’s not your traditional active battler. Early on he shows a level of directness, angling about Verb avoiding the Swamp matchup, using all types of world play around the word Swamp to keep punching at Verb. While the high points were with Swamp, the angle went over a few other opponents Verb hasn’t taken yet as well as recent matchups (AWard, Ave). Towards the end of his round, a good couple of bars playing off Adverbs and Verbs “Dis still” bar vs Lux leads to some momentum to end the 1st, in an overall solid opener round. In response Verbs, 1st is a bit, different. Starting out calling himself the “Vecepticon”, Verb slowly cooks the whole round, tapping into his aggression more towards the end of the round. Good flow pockets built up but heated up later in the round, his mini scheme about instruments towards the end being a high point. Verbs 1st is decent for those that like the rapping style of Verb, content-wise though, in directness and creativity there is a dip from Mickey’s round as well as being shorter and was a clear 1-0 heading into the 2nd.
The 2nd is the peak of the battle, with Mickey’s round being one of the better battle rounds he’s had in his limited resume. A career comparison between him and Verb mixed with a critique of Verb’s career choices is a perfect angle that he executed perfectly. Using an analogy of a driver stuck in a roundabout, he talks on Verb overemphasizing the “game-changing” moves he makes, clowning his ventures outside of BR and his many near retirements.
“Every business you started failed: podcast, word war, TV shows you’ll never be rich
You retired every year from Battle Rap, you can’t even successfully quit.”
All this angling while bringing it back to his successes in the industry, merch, etc. With one more closing angle about Verbs’ consistent disrespect of women, he ties that to a Bank and Helicopter scheme, a piece of layered writing that’s so complex yet catchable it highlights Mickey at his best. Verbs 2nd in response also is his best round of the battle, where he starts saying “It’s ShowTime, for this whole round slowed down” a strange but clear message to start the 2nd. Once again, Verb 2nd isn’t very content-based but really about how it’s rapped. Lots of alliteration to start, with a section using “car” as the starting syllable often. Towards the end once again Verb picks up his flow and aggression but the gap in content is still large if not larger in this 2nd with Mickey not just rapping good but saying so much more bar for bar. Better 2nd from both but with the same result of Mickey up 2-0 clear.
The final round is probably the weakest of both. Mickey starts with some light callouts to Iron Solomon and B-Dot, before once again getting at Verb directly. His Mark McGuire/Triple Play bar was decent. Once again touching so many topics, Mickey has bars at Verb for his connection to Yoshi G as well as his notably odd Kid Chaos battle, a nonstop attack on all Verb-related topics. For the rest of the 3rd, Mickey gets into a bar-heavy bag punching his way to the end, a solid way to close off his performance and show the full skillset. Verb’s 3rd in response has more of a real approach to it, starting by addressing Mickey’s students (Pendulum Ink related) and explaining how as good as Mickey is he had to come back to the battlers to truly test himself and get paid. Verb works on the angle of how the industry of rap is painful and how Mickey doesn’t tell the full story, being stuck in the industry cycle of bad pay and little exposure. Cool concept and one of Verb’s best sections of the battles but lasted a very limited time before rapping the round up quickly with a shot at URL at the end. Solid battle, with a great Mickey showing and a Verb who was going through the motions. A great example of someone who came to battle and attack and another who showed up just to rap. 3-0 Mickey, nobody, in what may be the best Full Circle battle so far.
