A battle of Northern California greats might have flown under the radar for a lot of people, but trust me, this battle is very much worth keeping an eye out for.
1st Round
Pass is fantastic in this battle and started off strong with a very potent first round. Pass sets the tone for his performance as he would deliver his next few rounds at this exact pace and level. NXT’s first round in response is dope as well, but NXT’s round felt shorter than Pass’s, and that probably will affect how most people call this round. NXT had some super impressive lines and was heating up, and then the round was just sort of over. It’s the type of thing that leaves you wondering how the round would be called if NXT rapped a little bit longer.
2nd Round
The second we see Pass take things up another notch with what is his best round of the battle. It’s so easy to get lost in Pass’ flow and rhyme patterns, but virtually everything was landing in this round with some very well built to flips on NXT. It’s one of the best Pass rounds I’ve seen in awhile. NXT actually fires back impressively and returns with some invigorated energy and aggression, but the wave of momentum Pass created on that second was maybe too much to overcome.
3rd Round
Pass closes out the battle strongly, but NXT’s third is the best round of the battle and another reminder of how much he continues to improve. It’s still routine for people to attempt to dismiss him as a Twork/Nitty clone, but for as much as he may change voice inflections or build to haymakers, he’s become a very dangerous angler. We’ve seen that on display several times throughout the last couple of years, and this third vs Pass, calling into question Pass’ support of Northern California battle rappers, was extremely potent and got NXT the third.
Overall this is a really dope battle. It was refreshing to see how seriously both guys took this battle, and because of that, they created something great. Pass is ever reliable the times we do get to see him battle and NXT continues to build a strong case for being a top 20 guy come COTY season.
