LTBR Award Recipients
Battle of the Night: JC vs Yunus
Performance Of The Night: #1A JC | #1B Yunus | #2 Jakkboy | #3 Swervoo
The URL curated a very special feeling with the Nexus event, reminiscent of the early days of Caffeine in 2020. They managed to put on a short broadcast of four battles that ran for two and a half hours, and the battlers performed in a room where it was just them on the stage. This setting allowed the rappers to perform fluidly while keeping the crowd behind the cameras to capture reactions and maintain some level of energy and engagement from the audience.
The biggest takeaway from watching this event is how sustainable it feels for URL to produce these types of events during a period when the culture seems to be in a recession and is yearning for stability. An event like Nexus is more than capable of utilizing URL’s roster, which boasts a plethora of talented artists. Plenty of front-tier and top-shelf names can easily headline a card, many mid-tier artists who need activity to regain momentum, and numerous up-and-coming talents who require further opportunities to develop. A card like Nexus, produced frequently, opens the possibility for URL to fully utilize their roster, providing streamed events monthly and giving the app massive value for its subscription price. It’s also highly refreshing as a battle rap fan to know an event will start in a timely and not consume the entirety of my day. I know that I am highlighting a lot of the details around the management of the event rather than the event itself, but the way battle rap content is distributed and consumed is sometimes just as important as the content.
Events require a great deal of commitment from all parties involved, so whenever you get the chance to enjoy an event with a level of organization where battle rap can fit into your schedule rather than your scheduling to fit battle rap in, it makes a massive difference for someone to want to support and watch. Also worth noting is that the caffeine era changed the appetite for the culture; we were truly spoiled with 20-22 live events in a single calendar year. I don’t think we ever get back to that point, but getting a live event every month or every six weeks is a significant way to keep the consumers happy, App subscribers feeling valued, and the artist on the roster fulfilled. Big Kudos to JB, the Director, for producing another stellar event that was beautifully shot, and salute to the whole staff for putting together this series. I have a good feeling we will see more installments of this in the near future.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the raw post-battle interviews with Smack after the performers finished their battles. At the end of the event, all the performers gathered on stage to make massive call-outs, which was also dope because it can fuel continued excitement for the series.
Kid Chaos vs Real Deal
3☆ Rating Recapped by J Smo
Kid Chaos vs Deal was the battle to set off the night, and like the rest of the card, it exceeded its expectations. While the 1st started on Deal, both rounds had different approaches but could be described similarly: a slow start. Both stuck by their strengths, Deal with an angled-based 1st mainly revolving around a contradiction about Chaos preaching growth but glorifying jail. This angle really didn’t seem to stick too much or truly damage Chaos compared to other approaches from Deal later in the battle. Meanwhile, Chaos had a bar-heavy 1st, but as with Deal angles, the best of Chaos didn’t come till later in the war. Although some will say this makes it preferential, it still felt like Deal had much longer dry spots and a lack of real moments of landing in his 1st compared to a Chaos who, if even not bombing, was stringing together witty lines and slowly building momentum, leading to him going up 1-0.
The 2nd, like many other 2nd rounds of the night, saw both battlers taking it up a notch. Deals 2nd was fire, not just with higher highs but a more consistent round, staying true to his angling and comedy base and much more sound bar for bar. Chaos also took a step up and delivered his best and most likely the best round of the battle. Although the pace and animation of Chaos can be seen as over-performing at times, this round was the perfect blend of his layered writing and momentum building, with schemes that were elongated but rapped perfectly for listeners to follow along, his tree scheme mainly being the highlight. In a much better round, Chaos still showed a difference in the bars and rapping department and was up 2-0 going into the 3rd, although the 2nd was a much more competitive round.
The 3rd didn’t have a dip from either, with them closing out around the level they were at in their 2nd. Deal 3rd has a bar that speaks on his teaching career, ending the bar with “I’ve been dealing with Kid Chaos for over 15 years”, one of the bars of the battle and further showing this was the best Deal performance since coming back to URL vs Nunn Nunn, and one of the better recent Deal performances in general. Chaos 3rd stayed with his patent pen-heavy style, and while not as good as his 2nd round, he remained competitive and kept consistent with winning in the punch count of the battle. This was a good round and the closest of the battle, with perfectly fair arguments for either getting the round. Although the peaks of Deals 3rd, much like his 2nd, were some of the best bars of the battle, the consistency of Chaos round from an efficiency standpoint still stuck out, especially with a writing style that was as sound as his. Edged the 3rd to Chaos, giving it to him as a gentlemen’s 30, but could very quickly also be called as 2-1 for Chaos. A very decent opener that exceeded the expectations for a style clash many thought would be awkward. Both give some of their best work on URLs as of recently and set a solid tone for the card going forward.
Who do you have winning between Real Deal vs Kid Chaos ?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) August 3, 2024
O-Red vs Swervoo
3.25 ☆ Rating Recapped by France
The battle between Swervoo and O-Red, which had been quietly brewing for a few months, finally took the stage with the promise of being as explosive as imagined for the first two rounds of this battle. In the first round, O-Red showed why he is, particularly in smaller and controlled environments, considered to be dangerous. His punches landed with precision, his delivery is always thunderous, and he brought everything you want to see if you are a fan of Red. He set a high bar for his opponent. Swervoo’s first round was a solid effort to match O-Red’s energy and bars. While he does have a good round, I feel comfortable saying Swervoo was a few yards short of a first down. Nonetheless, it was a commendable round and a good start to the battle.
O-Red continued his intense performance into the second round. He picks up right where he left in the first and takes it to an even higher level. Red is rolling, and many of his punches are landing in the second round. This type of O-Red that makes you HAVE to step your game up to compete! After Red’s fire 2nd round, it heightens the anticipation to see how Swervoo would respond. Swervoo usually has an uphill approach in his writing, and I don’t know if I love or hate it. I can appreciate him turning up the volume as a battle progresses, but sometimes, it takes a round to hit his stride fully. True to his form, though, his second round saw him finding his groove, matching and exceeding O-Red’s firepower in the 2nd. It’s impressive he’s able to raise to that level, and this round falls in line with 2nd round for Chess, his highlight rounds for Cortez, or even his 2nd for Franchise before it all collapsed. This is the bounce back you want to see him have. As battle rap fans, we found ourselves waving both index fingers in the air, calling it 1-1 heading into the 3rd round.
However, the decisive moment came in the third round when O-Red had a choke, an unfortunate misstep given his usual reliability in such settings. Although he managed to recover and finish his round with solid content, the damage was done, and fundamentally, as long as Swervoo was clean, the round would go to him. Swervoo, sensing the opportunity, delivered a more subtle yet effective round, securing the win without needing to maintain the previous rounds’ intensity. With his Bad Newz battle, which should be released soon, and this victory, this will be significant for Swervoo to get back in line with his trajectory. It was a good win for Swervoo, and even tho Red choked in his 3rd, he still brought some fire content and showed us once again that he still performs at a highly competitive level in intimate settings.
Who do you have winning between Swervoo vs O-Red ?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) August 3, 2024
Jakkboy Maine vs Loso
3.25☆ Rating Recapped by J Smo
Right before the night’s main event, Jakkboy vs Loso went down, 3rd battle of the night. The battle started with what was a strong but flawed round from Loso. The content is very sound, showing off the pen he has, which you would expect to be the main separating factor for him in the battle. However, particularly in the 1st but something that occurred all battle, Loso stumbles and lack of cleanliness hampered his round’s fluidity and overall impact a ton. Not just a couple, and not a choke, but consistently repeating lines and restarting lines every bar if not every other bar. This opened the door for Jakkboy to take an easy 1-0 lead, and he did. Although considered a performance-based battler, it has always been an outlying situation with Jakkboy where his animation and movement are even further emphasized in small rooms. To add to this energy, he also rapped clean with peak delivery with a solid round of his own. While many say the content of this round is close, which it very much is, you would have to ignore every other factor of battle rapping (including rapping clean) to have this as anything but a 1-0 lead for Jakkboy.
After a good 1st, both rappers increased even further in the 2nd. Loso, this time, took a very angle-heavy approach, with topics like an alleged child between Jakkboy and once partner First Lady Flamez. Although an angle that the validity of immediately came into question, the execution by one of the sharper anglers in the game led to some of Loso’s highest moments of the battle. Although still noticeably stumbly, it improved from the 1st and Loso’s best of the battle. In response, Jakkboy also delivers a competitive round. While still heavy in his performance bag, this time Jakk’s material matched even more to the levels of his other attributes. It was a good round from both once again, but I still felt the stumbles in Loso’s delivery, and the clear difference in the performance and pure rapping ability told the same story as the 1st round, with Jakkboy up 2-0.
The 3rd round is the closest of the battle, with Loso delivering his cleanest round to start off. Ironically, while the material in his 1st 2 rounds may have been stronger the fact this round was clean makes it already a better round, and the material was still solid. Jakk has a solid round of his own, but there are clear dips in the energy and material, he is much more susceptible to dry spots and has some clear stumbles of his own. While it still felt close watching live, part of this could be due to the momentum Jakk already had from the 1st two spilling over to his 3rd. Letting the material sit, calling the 3rd narrowly to Loso, which was still an enjoyable showing, even if hindered from a competitive standpoint due to the turbulence. On a night of solid performances and battles this was no different, with Jakkboy getting a good 2-1 win and is now 3 for 3 vs the Horsemen on URL.
Who do you have winning between Jakkboy Maine vs Loso?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) August 3, 2024
Yunus vs JC
4 ☆ Rating Recapped by Q Moody
There are a lot of people who would say something like, “It’s way too soon for Yunus to battle JC.” Citing JC’s dominance over lower-level competition. But what we got was one of the better battles of 2024.
This is a battle that really does come down to preference. This is obviously true in most cases, but ultimately, the outcome of this battle will be whether someone prefers the potency of JC and how it felt like every other line was something potent. Or did how spectacular Yunus’ rhyming was, while mixing in angling and a faster pace, leave more of an impression?
The first round is the most debatable round of the battle for me, and even right now, I don’t know what I’d call it. I haven’t been the biggest JC fan for a while now, but from the get-go, it was very apparent that JC was prepared to put his foot down.
Yunus vs. JC is only Yunus’ third battle on URL as a real roster member, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by watching this. Yunus stood in front of a very good JC round and wasn’t rattled or phased at all. He delivered a dope round of his own.
JC’s 2nd round is one of those moments where you get reminded that he’s one of the best to ever do this. It’s a level I hadn’t seen JC hit in a long time in a battle, but that 2nd was that level of robust, room-controlling stuff that gave JC the rep he has now. Yunus, in this round, makes the same “mistake” Kid Chaos made when Chaos battled JC in taking his foot off the gas in the 2nd round and opting for comedic approaches that go on for too long. It’s not as if the comedy angles for Yunus or Chaos weren’t funny or well-written, but they may have been poorly timed. Being a newer talent and blending in comedy against JC, who is so beloved by the audience, as you are still a fresh face to them, just isn’t the best idea.
For the miscalculation, you could argue Yunus’ 2nd was; nothing was miscalculated about his 3rd. What’s even more impressive about it is he did this after standing in front of yet another great JC round. But Yunus clearly got the 3rd and quietly he’s become one of the best anglers and storytellers in battle rap in his 3rd rounds. What he’s done vs Hansel, Ms. Hustle, Klutz, and now here with JC shows the talent he has in that department and how good Yunus is at pacing himself. He writes uphill and that is something extremely rare for someone with Yunus’ experience level to be doing. Yunus clearly took the 3rd round.
This battle wasn’t too soon. If anything it was right on time. A battle that served as a reminder for people about who JC is and why he’s one of the greats and will make the next time we see him all that more anticipated. And for Yunus, we’ve all seen the massive praise and then we’ve seen the people he’s battled come with their best material for him. He’s the rookie with the target on his back. But for whatever struggles and adjustments he’s had to make in the past and he might still have going forward, the results say at his best he’s walking away with debatable wins over legends like Ms. Hustle and JC on their A-game. Yunus will be just fine.
Who do you have winning between JC vs Yunus ?
— Let’s Talk Battle Rap (@LTBRpodcast) August 3, 2024
