We are back with another Summary report for the 2nd quarter of 2024. We are halfway done with the year; time sure does fly. We have seen about 15+ other events between various leagues. The year is starting to shape up all of the following things media should be paying attention to, like who your front-runners for COTY/WOTY are, who’s had some of the best, memorial, and most impactful battles, who’s been under the radar, and who is having—a breakout year. Also, some not-so-great highlights, like who is declining or struggling this year. We’re going to highlight as many significant transactions as we can track!
Read until the last transaction; you’ll get a treat for some of the issues we address, which I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
Transactions ranging from 4/1/2024 – 6/30/2024
Writers: Francel Brito, Justin Smolenski, Titus Majors
Tay Roc is Still The COTY Front Runner And Is At The Brink of A Career Year.
What more can you say about the first half of the year for Roc. His activity is at an all-time high, with nearly ten battles done. While also battling often, not only is he giving multiple shots and traveling to different leagues. (Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it to his Los Premee battle after his 3rd cancellation on iBattle.)
In Q2, Roc had maybe his toughest challenges yet: A competitive battle with Bill Collector that was critciclly acclaimed as one of the best this year, followed up with battling Loso & A.Ward on the same weekend and then battling Jerry Wess on NOME 14. Roc is now not only an extreme favorite early in the year for COTY 2024 but, at this point, is competing with his own legacy with maybe the best year of his career.
Eazy, The Block Captain, could be on a 3 battle-losing streak.
From late 2020-2023, Eazy had one of the greatest rises and overall multi-year collection of battles with game has ever seen. He was dissecting every vet and, at the very least, not losing clear for a nearly 4-year span. This all, of course, came to an end vs. Geechi Gotti in iconic fashion and then followed that up with a much better but debatable battle vs. JJDD that the majority leaned the other way towards the opposition, something that hadn’t really happened to Eazy in years by that point.
His intro to 2024 is battling Charlie Clips on his league, The Trenches. Seen as an overwhelming favorite, it was the most shocking L yet to one of the better Clips we’ve seen in the past couple of years. While Clips was good, this wasn’t a nuclear or unbeatable Clips, just a formidable one. Eazy choked in the 2nd round of this battle, and just as some errors were nonexistent when he was on his all-time run. For the first time in his career, Eazy admits defeat and says in his post battle interview, “He got me.”
Swamp Shines In His Biggest Moment
There may be no battler who gained more in Q2 than Swamp, and he did it with 2 major battles. First was finally getting the grudge match with Aye Verb set up, and Swamp took his talents to Chrome 23 and brought maybe his best 3-round performance and made an example of Verb, winning clearly (2-1/30) and giving one of the best rounds of his career in the 3rd.
Following that, he gets Ms. Hustle on NOME 14. He provides another good performance in a high-pressure situation, with him and Hustle having a good quality and competitive battle, with many again arguing the victory for Swamp, this time in a tighter 2-1 result that could be argued either way.
A Legacy is Brewing
The ending of Coffee Brown’s 2023 and her 1st Quarter of 2024 have been excellent production. Her Q2 in 2024 has been no different. Kicking things off with a clear win over Arsonal as the headliner for Civil War 4. A body bag win vs Jade on Chrome 23, good/debatable battle with Jaz The Rapper on her NOME debut, a result that less than a handful of female battle rap legends have pulled off. Top-tier, mid-tier, intergender, international: it hasn’t mattered. Crowd engaged or not? Also, it hasn’t mattered.
Coffee is competing and at times beating legends, she’s doing it in any environment, and with a WOTY and a runner up WOTY finish to her name with yet another big year building, it’s time to acknowledge Coffee is cementing herself as maybe the best female battler of her era.
Fonz Is Top Tier, End Of Discussion
The title of top tier changes depending on who you talk to. The truth is, rarely do you see someone truly get crowned a top-tier battler in real-time; they just become so undeniable at some point, people all agree, then go back to history to argue what battle of theirs was “the one” for that did it. For Fonz, it’s been a long road. For many, especially after Danny Myers on SM12, there were questions about what held Fonz from top-tier status. Can he compete with top competition? Ever since that battle, all Fonz has done is answer these questions with a yes.
At NOME 14, Fonz beats Geechi Gotti in a high replay value battle, and while not on a big stage, it was a big moment and a great showing for his legacy and status. He’s one of the best in the league, and currently pound for pound in the world.
One Of T-Top's Best Years of his Career
While Tay Roc’s early and active first half of 2024 has taken up most the headlines and attention, anyone really watching across the board knows T-Top’s work rate and results haven’t been that far behind.
T-Top has nearly 10 battles himself in the year, with a variety of competitions and a number of rounds. Starts off with a 1 rounder against up-comer Dice. Then followed by his 3 rounds for Chef Trez, which not only rank as some of the best of the year, but for his whole career. Less than 24 hours after Chef Trez, he flies to another country to headline against Gemini and ends the quarter with an arguable win. Danny Myers on NOME did not the highest quality performance, but the work is undeniable.
Bullpen Staying Heavily Active & John John Is Rolling
Bullpen Battle League is having another active and successful year, hosting numerous high-profile events. One of the biggest cards of the year was “Politics as Usual,” where all the battle rappers walked away with high five-figure paydays. The event showcased some of the biggest names in battle rap,
Most importantly, John John Da Don secured another dominant win in his illustrious career, defeating an all-time great in Calicoe at this event. Major legacy Win for John John while his league is thriving.
Ave Hasn't Lost In A Suspicious Amount Of Time.
Ave is overpowering and clearing his opponents this quarter, In beating Don Marino, Big T, and Rosenberg Raw in a short period of time this quarter, and hardly any rounds being competitive. Not just punching but also performing and angling a bit, Ave is showing a super polished game. While you could argue most of these names would be below his weight class or outmatched, we end the month of June with a banger announcement: Hollow Da Don vs Ave going down on The Trenches anniversary. A series of wins for Ave, followed by a legacy battle on the way.
(Also worth noting is that Ave filled in to do a 1 round battle with J2 on 10 days of prep.)
Saflare Sole Is Rolling
Saflare Sole is fresh off a competitive battle with Kyd Slade, which premiered on URLTV’s YouTube channel. And Before that he found himself with a clear win over Th3 Saga on the Gates vs OSBL Card. The wins are stacking up for Saflare, and he’s in the right groove for a big battle soon.
The Resurgence Of Franchise
Franchise buzz in 2019 was that of a promising talent with possible star aspirations, with some explosive big stage moments and good showings vs vets. A combo of COVID making travel an issue and a handful of performances that may have been lackluster or below par to his peak, slowed down and almost fizzled him out. Still, I found some momentum between a couple of solid KOTD performances from 2023 that carry over into a three-battle run in Q2;
Franchise is firmly back in high-level battle rap. His showing vs. Yunus on The Riot is the key piece, with a masterfully judged Win and the Performance of the night of The Riot’s Monopoly 2. Before that battle, he had a good performance vs. Hansel in the Civil War, And this led him to make his NOME Debut and find himself with a clear victory vs. Swervoo, although that performance may be the lowest quality of the 3. He’s been consistent for a little longer than you realize.
Elijah Strait vs Footz: The Future of Punching
In the clear Battle of the Night from the GOTG vs. OSBL event, Footz vs. Elijah will probably end up as a cult classic that does one of the best jobs of emphasizing new talent over the last couple of years.
Two talents from the Crucible. Elijah Strait quietly is one of the most creative punchers in Battle Rap, having a reference pool and level of wittiness that very few in Battle Rap possess. While Footz is one of the more tantalizing and unique voices in recent years. Their Battle is a traditional bar fest, both using rapid fire punching all 3 rounds and with an almost endless list of haymakers from both. Every round of the battle is very debatable, with both matching each other content wise while performing great in 2 different ways.
Rum Nitty vs Loaded Lux Was An Instant Classic, Mission Accomplished.
We live in a culture where the term “classic” and “Battle Of The Year contender” is so oversaturated that for many it loses its value. Classic is something that 95% of the time needs to age to become one, as careers move forward, and the historic value and trajectory that is sent to the battlers gains more significance. However, very rarely, you get a battle that reaches peak quality and impact at the moment, and you get the undeniable feeling that a special battle is occurring. Rum Nitty vs Loaded Lux is that battle for us in 2024.
NXT Is The Champion Of The West World Tournament
NXT did find himself with a bye week in the first round of the West World Elite 8 Tourney, with Saynt not showing up. Then, he had a competitive split decision victory over The Kid Clutch. He went toe to toe with his brother Foet Dev and was able to last the distance to secure a win.
The West Coast battle circuit still has a plethora of names that are still looking for that next-level breakthrough, and NXT coming out on top of the pack of this talent pool is deserving, commendable but not surprising; his experience has got him to this point of his career, and it shows. Fresh off his victory, he calls out Tay Roc for a battle.
Oppa Defends The Headband | Oppa vs Febou: King Of Ibattle
A topic that we at LTBR started contemplating in the 1st Q of 2024, the hierarchy of the iBattles roster, is one of the most interesting things about a league that has specialized in homegrown development. With a top 3 of Los Premee, Oppa, and Febou being the center of discussion, was great to see Oppa vs Febou happen on Takeover 6. A good battle that started with an extremely competitive, punch heavy 1st things opened up as they should between a battle between 2 of the league’s top talents. As the battle went on into the 2nd and 3rd, Oppa’s angling began to steal the show. With a history of very real-life-based and effective 3rds, he used this with a perfect mix of approaches, breaking down and comparing both his and Febou’s careers.
Both matched each other’s approach with career talk angles in the 3rd, which gave the optics of a true dialogue going on through the battle.
Although Febou gave a respectable showing, Oppa showed clear separation again vs another main stay on the roster with a clear win in the 2nd and 3rd. Oppa track record since bein on iBattle. Also worth a highlight Oppa has a headband defense this quarter as well against Jay-R.
Rainefire Moon Brings In A Storm.
Raine Fire Moon unleashed an avalanche of momentum in her recent performance against Kausion, delivering a dominating one-rounder. It marked as one of the most powerful and commanding performances of Raine Fire’s career. She’s quietly been consistent and winning this year, and performance was the biggest takeaway on a big card in North Carolina, stacked with talented names.
Rainefire’s delivery of this loss to Kausion couldn’t have come at a more detrimental time. She was the first one to present the vicious angle thats currently looming around Kausion, and boy did it hit. This is the type of battle rap script you can’t write.
Kausionary Tales: A Ghost Writing Allegation
“I have never had a ghostwriter; imma tell you what I Do. I have sparring sessions, and some are more intent and intricate than others. Nobody never wrote no bar for me that I have ever spit on camera.”
It is a quote that Kausion gave in response to the recent allegations of her having a ghostwriter. Amidst some of the chaos going on with the Bricks at RBE, a handful of them, like Jay Breed, Luck Dollaz, and Peachez, have come out publicly to confirm they have helped Kausion with the material. Whether the allegations are true or not, this is a damaging blow to Kausion’s brand, as now many speculate whether she has been authentically writing her own material or not.
Calicoe: The Land Is Sliding
Two battles for Calicoe this quarter, 1 of them was his performance vs Reed, while he was running his league’s (Black Mafia Battle League) first event. It was the rare unclean performance Cal showed, which could be expected (even though not accepted). However, he followed this battle only a couple of weeks later with a battle vs JJDD on Bullpen. On a marquee card and judged with money on the floor, Calicoe delivered another rough 3 rounds, this time in front of an opponent punching back with John John delivering a high-quality performance.
With back-to-back bad outings, I’d say this leans more towards situational than a real conversation of Cal dropping off. These are the situations where his prep process becomes more complicated, and while many battlers have the ability to do battles on shorter prep or even rap while running their events, a battler with a more historically spaced out schedule isn’t used to it and it is definitely not an overnight ability to gain.
However, 2 bad showings are 2 bad showings, and with one of them being a body-bag loss, it makes whatever Calicoes next battle is, a little more critical.
Good Newz for Bad Newz
Bad Newz is having himself an impactful 2nd quarter. Bad Newz battled 2 top-tier names in Arsonal and JC. While the JC battle is unreleased, the Arsonal battle is one of Newz best accomplishments yet. Not only did he get win a victory over Arsonal, (which many have as recently), but they also won with $30,000 on the line. With a good performance and vs one of the more focused Arsonal’s as of recent, Bad Newz gets the trio of a good showing, good W, and winning money ontop of it, all vs a legend. Doing nearly 250K views already it also sits as one of the most watched battles of the quarter as well.
Loso Survived The Sacrifice
Battles in high volume are challenging; Not every battler can battle twice in 2 weeks, let alone twice in 48 hours. Loso found himself with 2 battles in 3 days. Now, what if I told you the two opponents in question were Tay Roc and Geechi Gotti? Dummy mission right? Well, Loso did just that between the BullPen and Riot events in April, and as expected, was predicted to lose by a large margin in both matchups. Now both battles were judged, and results-wise wise he did come out 0-2 by the votes, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
Roc vs. Loso was a high-quality battle, and one of it, not the most competitive battle Roc had this year, and it came down to a narrow, split decision. The Geechi battle is the more controversial, with Loso, staying consistent and actually catching what appeared to be a clear victory vs. Geechi. Judged votes once again didn’t go his way, but in a much stranger and questionable judgment. He brought some of his best work when doubted most, something you have to respect in any sport let alone one as unforgiving as Battle Rap.
Tru Foe Is Fighting Back For His Spot
Tru Foe’s momentum since the UM4 tourney has been the textbook definition of a roller coaster.
However, 2024, things are finding there way back to the good side. In Q2, Tru Foe added another good battle to 2024 case with a win over Snake Eyez, headlining in Chicago. Add this to a good battle that exceeded expectations with X-Factor in Detriot. With mostly clean showings, Foe has just focused on his material and is looking like the Foe we are fans of these last couple battles. With matchups vs Reed Dollaz and Chef Trez on the horizon, this is the moment for Foe to wash away the optics of a rough chapter in his career and give 2 more showings to put himself back firmly in talks of fresh and exciting new era talents.
Rocq Lee's Dominating Debut
Rocq Lee makes her debut on Black ice Cartel against Tae Doe, and I can’t say it was a flawless showing, but it surely was a dominating one. She has a highlighted explosive 3rd round that really shook up the room and Tae Doe struggled to rap 3 clean rounds and when you coincide that with Rocq Lee bombing on you, it just makes a stock raising performance and bookmark win for Rocq’s early career.
O'ffcial vs Viixen: Power Punching At It's Finest
One of the best battles in female battle rap so far in 2024, Official vs Viixen. Long overdue, these 2 faced off the day before NOME 14 spontaneously, and they both gave some of their best showings in the last few years, with Official having some of her best rapping pockets in recent memory and Viixen showing some versatility as well, with some great angle execution in the battle. With both splitting the 2nd and 3rd clear, the battle comes down to a highly contested and punch-heavy 1st.
No matter who you have winning the battle, it was a success to have a battle with this name value and that’s been asked for end up turning out about as good as it could’ve. It’ll be up there with some of the top female vs. female battles of the year and will be a stock raiser for both.
Hitman Vs Murda Mook Is As Blockbuster As It Gets
One of the best phrases in battle rap is “mega matches”. Battles that shift the culture or feel like a career will be forever changed no matter the result, the battles that draw in everyone from die-hard fan to casual. That said, there is no bigger mega-match in Battle Rap right now than Hitman vs Mook. From the many instances of trash talk, the multiple interviews, faceoffs in spaces, and a VERY public debacle over the business and hold up on the battle, all this has done nothing but feed the fire of what off-name value alone is one of the biggest battles in Battle Rap history.
We don’t know what it’ll take or what league will find a way to bridge the gap to make this possible but make no mistake that we are heading towards must-happen territory with some serious momentum for this to go down.
One Of The Biggest Body bags in 2024; Twork Is a Mismatch On Any Given Night
Following a career high 2023, Twork’s opening performance of 2024 vs T-Top left a lot to be desired. Staying mostly quiet, he ended up having 2 battles in Q2. One vs Clone, which the footage still hasn’t been dropped yet, and another vs J2, which earned him a spot on the takeaway list. Although a matchup where Twork is a landslide favorite, his performance still stands out as one of the most dominating body bags of the year.
From 1st round to 3rd is was the largest margin of victory it could be, bodying a J2 who had a fair amount of momentum before the battle. Was a good return to form, chaining haymakers with high performance as he was from beginning to end last year. Hopefully the 2nd half of the year is back on track and we can see one of our best back in some big match scenarios.
Yunus: Adjustments Are needed
Yunus has shown resilience in avoiding what you may consider a sophomore slump, but in his last two battles, he’s faced opponents delivering some of their strongest performances in recent memory against him. The Franchise has the performance of the night, and a judge wins against him. Yunus also admits to defeat after being in front of a 1 round masterclass by Holmzie Da God. His trend might indicate that Yunus sparks a heightened motivation in his opponents, challenging them to elevate their game.
However, it has also highlighted potential flaws in his own approach that he will need to address and adjust moving forward in his career to avoid this becoming a losing streak. He is extremely talented and always puts his best foot forward, but he is deemed as special, so the standard rises, and his game will have to as well.
K1NG Is Chasing His Crown
K1ng, being one of the shining prospects from The Trenches Roster, hailing from Detroit, has really made a stamp with his run in the tournament and dethroning the Tourney’s most experienced battler in J-Morr. The battle came down to a split decision, with K1ng eliminating the Tournament’s favorite to win it all.
He will be pit up against Z The Dropout in the finals, K1ng is 1 win away from wearing crown for The Trenches.
The Canadian Is Still Working
Charron is still steamrolling in 2024, and he picks up another strong performance to add to his resume for the year.
With a clear win over Emerson Kennedy on The Riot In The Raza card, Charron’s year still seems to be a bit under the radar and underrated but the wins are racking up. Expect to hear his name in Top 20 talks at the end of the year.
A.Ward Adds Another Legacy Name To His illustrious Resume
In January of 2022, A lot of A.Ward’s peers were in Twitter spaces discrediting his career-high year in 2021, and most said that unless he comes to URL, his resume will never have a bigger year than 2021. Since then, he’s battled Reed Dollaz, Charlie Clips, Aye Verb, Rum Nitty, Real Sikh, Bigg K, Viixen, Bonnie, QB, and now added to this list is Tay Roc.
He continues to add all-time great names to his deep resume while being the truest testament to independence in battle rap.
Asi Amora Is On The Radar
One of the newest female battle rappers on the scene from the Midwest was featured on Calicoe’s Black Mafia Battle League first event. She was battling while the lights were the brightest not only snagged a clear victory but made a moment for herself against one the more popular names in female battle rap in Yoshi G. This is certainly a stat for her early career and if you weren’t familiar before, you’ll be checking out for moving forward.
Nakim Wins Performer Of The Night At Recent iBattle event.
Nakim The Prophet is the Performer Of The Night at iBattles Takeover 6 with a dominate victory over Deth The Kid. Nakim was by far the stand out performer of the card.
Bill Collector delivers a Top Battle of The Year So Far with Tay Roc
Bill Collector and Tay Roc gave the Black Mafia Battle League their money’s worth and had not only the best battle of the night but also the best back-and-forth battle of the year for both emcees. Bill, fresh off the dominating victory against Chess, added massive momentum with his performance, and Tay Roc continued his paragon of consistency.
Fallen Towers
Written by Titus Majors
There are some things that need to be addressed.
ibattle had their Takeover 6 event Saturday and we covered it as well as two other events that same night. In what ended up being the main event on the card Real Sikh battled Cityy Towers and Towers showed up unprepared and Real Sikh did what Real Sikh does. Cityy said there’s zero excuses and that he takes accountability which is the correct thing to do on the surface. Yet when he was given the lightest of criticism by our platform he responded to our account with disrespect and deflection.
suck my dick if you talking about me showing up unprepared but never talk about niggas no showing for the same reason
— The Run Stopper (@CityyTowers) June 30, 2024
ask me about it when you see me in real life
That’s a really wild response from someone claiming they’re taking accountability. Accountability doesn’t come with deflection or denial, accountability is about owning your mistakes and accepting the consequences of the actions that put you in that position. Towers and even the iBattle commentary team of Chris and Dutchess who do a great job of repping the league. They all alluded to this idea of Cityy being upset that his unpreparedness is being critiqued heavily while no one mentions as Cityy said “Niggas no showing for the same reason.” We can all assume that’s alluding to Tay Roc not doing the Los Preeme battle. I can understand where Chris and Dutchess position here because, as commentators, they are faces of the league and don’t want to bash the talent. However, let’s talk about a few facts.
- We know for a fact that Cityy Towers showed up unprepared to his battle
- We know for a fact that Tay Roc cancelled the Los Preeme battle
- We have no idea what led to Tay Roc cancelling his battle.
- Cityy alluded to us being people who eat Cheetos on the couch and then talk about battlers. That’s not true, I don’t eat Cheetos I eat popcorn.
These are key factors and essential things to remember. Cityy did a video telling us how our job is to cover and write about what battlers do. He’s right about that; part of that job and responsibility is to cover what happened and offer opinions but keep everything based on facts, NOT speculation, facts. The fact is Cityy showed up with no raps; as Kendrick Perkins would say, they sent him to the Chick-fil-A, and all he came back with was napkins and straws. The fact is this isn’t a new talent or someone getting their first big moment of their career where the lights got too bright. This is a ten year veteran who has a who’s who list of names and should be above these kinds of things at this point in his career. He’s above the kid gloves treatment, just look at that card and the younger talent like Oppa, Los Preeme, Nakim, CJA, Febou and more who would’ve loved the chance to battle Sikh there because if you know your history, Real Sikh is an endgame battler for iBattle.
What Cityy Towers did was a complete joke and his behavior after made it a complete comedy festival. Just look at the names under our tweet and look at how baffled other battlers are, that was unacceptable bottom line. Now we’ve always tried to be empathetic towards battlers because if you actually read our work you know we’re always cognizant of the fact that these guys lead regular lives outside of this game and things happen that can effect performance or lead to an unfortunate cancellation. Hence why we didn’t speculate on Tay Roc because we don’t know. As a battler you make it really difficult to give any benefit of the doubt when your response to a clip of YOU admitting that you’re not ready for YOUR battle is a SMD and “Ask me about it in real life.” I think ultimately what I’m saying here is if you’re actually going to take accountability then really take accountability and everything it entails. It’ll get you a lot more respect than lashing out after.
