Outside Day 1
Event Rating
Event Recapped by France & Moni
URL Outside Podcast Recap
LTBR Award Recipients
Battle of the Night: Ms.Hustle vs Myverse |
Highlight Rounds of the Night: NJ Twork 2nd | Ms Hustle 1st | Myverse 2nd | Ave 1st | Fonz 1st | Jade 3rds | NXT 1st
The biggest win of the Night: Ave over Tru Foe
Best Individual Performances of the night: #1 Nu Jerzey Twork | #2 Ave | #3 Ms.Hustle | #4 Fonz | #5 Jade
Don Ladyii vs Jade
A battle originally scheduled for the ladies’ Volume went down on the Outside Day 1 card. Don Ladyii vs Jade. Don Ladyii is coming off a debatable battle with Yoshi G and a judged win over Lu Castro. Jade comes off a fire 2022 as she dominated on OSBL, Showtime Battle Arena, etc. She battled Official, Jaz in a 2 on 2 and other tough competition. Two different styles. Don Ladyii has the “bully” archetype, while Jade is a puncher. This makes for an exciting matchup.
The truest definition of what we would label a preference battle. Don is displaying her veteran ship and experience with her command on the stage. She stepped the bars up for this battle and is giving the feel of Queen Of The Ring Nostalgia with the feeling she brought to the stage. Her performance was stellar and if you are a Don Ladyii fan, you got your money’s worth and more.
Jade is always showing progression in her pen. Her punches have been potent for years, and she still finds a way to keep her writing sharp and her punches hard-hitting but even more impressive, her command of the stage and ability to control the crowd. Jade has always been a great writer but her project, delivery, and performance in some of the bigger rooms was something that was in question. And that question was answered this weekend. She rocked the room and had a laser-sharp focus on delivering her material to a much wider audience and it was well received. She was clicking on all cylinders. It gives me the edge for Jade in this battle. This was a unique style clash due to the fact, both emcees’ strengths and weaknesses were contrasted with each other. And in this battle, the gap between the contrasting traits of Jade & Don Ladyii, was bridged.
Fonz vs Mackk Myron
Mackk Myron makes his return to the URL stand for after a 3-year hiatus from the league and is welcomed to a grueling battle against one of the most prominent punchers and top talents in the league. A punch fest for the Midwest takes the center stage and Mackk Myron sets the tone for the battle.
Out the gate, he gets into a chain-punching sequence and he’s setting the tempo for the battle. And while setting the tempo, he doesn’t necessarily blow the gasket off in the building. He has some solid lines throughout the battle and a few haymakers, but the pacing in his flow and content didn’t allow much of a breathing period for the audience to register with any of his punches. Mackk is a pure puncher in his essence with the ability to provide comedic relief and masterful impersonations of his opponents. But it was evident that this audience posed an obstacle for him. In the first round is not able to really establish his presence again at any moment due to the fact that this flow is all in one gear. He does have a much more Vigilant effort in his second round and presented an interesting angle in his third but he lacked explosiveness, and crowd control and his flow became Monotonous. While I would say he certainly had some lines that were slept on, it was his job to wake the crowd up.
The majority of his battles over the last 2 years have been in intimate settings where he’s able to project much more powerfully in a small room, Also he’s often in a room full of rappers. The environments that he’s gotten used to, have some long-term hindrances to his ability to display crowd control. Rapping on a stage vs a pit full of people automatically puts you in performer mode. The way you project and perform for a crowd will have implications on your momentum.
Fonz on the other end was able to establish his presence and impact out the gate in his first round and showed the significance of connecting with the crowd early. Fonz is a dynamic puncher, for the fact that Fonz can punch in a multitude of ways. He can chain punch, 4 bar build-ups, quick 1-2 jabs, can punch within schemes, and can present an angle for the objective of a punch line. And this variety of attacks is also complimented by different rhyming pockets. Which makes Fonz captivating and difficult to deal with on the stage.
Fonz showed the levels in content but showed an even more glaring level within the performance in this battle. It was as if Mackk prepared his material to solely center his focus on Fonz, and Fonz prepared his material to focus on a URL stage & his opponent. Mackk was welcomed to the league and will have some growing pains but once he adjusts his style to cater more to the audience while stepping up the punchlines, he will make all the necessary adjustments.
Ave vs Tru Foe
We got the “Shark” versus “Big Solid.” Another anticipated matchup on the card. Ave makes his return to the URL stage, since his performance versus Danny Myers at Any Given Sunday. A dynamic performance at that. Tru Foe is coming off a strong 2022, from judged wins against Drugz and Geechi Gotti to just improving overall as a battler. Ave is the heavy favorite coming into this battle and Tru Foe seems to thrive in these types of situations, with his back against the wall.
Ave wins the coin toss and picks Tru Foe to go first. I’m unsure whether it was the nerves, but Foe’s energy wasn’t high compared to the high level of energy in the previous first rounds of the night. He slips up a few times early in his round, but no chokes. He landed some dope bars here and there, but it wasn’t a smooth round for Foe. Ave on the other hand, starts his first round with a high level of energy as he opens the round with his intro, “They finally put me face to face with this b*tch” Ave gets into his round and this man punches, landing bomb after bomb. He lands some witty punches, along with some fire Foe name flips. One of the bars that caught my eye in this round was when Ave said, “This Vice b*tch ain’t do nothing-Kamala Harris.” He would continue to land some heavy-hitting punches throughout the first round and I had Ave up 1-0 clearly.
Tru Foe responds with more energy, definitely a step up from his first round. His punching and writing is more potent as he lands some fire bars. More importantly, his delivery is cleaner and smoother. It’s a common theme to flip your opponent’s bars and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. Foe takes it upon himself to flip Ave’s infamous improper fraction bar and it lands. He continues to cook and a heckler from the crowd throws Foe off his game a bit. He is visibly irritated with the fan because he wants to get through his material and she keeps chattering.
*Transcription of Interaction with Fan*
Tru Foe: Shorty you throwing me off please stop talking
Fan: BOOOO !!! BOOOO N***A
Tru Foe: I will smack you bitch!!!
Tru Foe then proceeds to apologize to the fan but this back-and-forth banter created a moment as she was removed from her section and as Tru Foe dismissed her, the crowd cheered for this moment.
Nevertheless, the battle continues and the argument causes Foe to lose a bit of momentum and eventually closes the round out not as cleanly. Ave comes out in his second with pretty much the same elements in his first. He retains the same energy with heavy punches back to back. He continues to land some bombs and it creates a clear separation. While this was Foe’s best round, I have Ave taking this round comfortably. Going into the third, I have Ave up 2-0.
Foe starts his third with similar energy as his second round. He mixes some personals with punches and directs bars about Ave’s career. Unfortunately, almost halfway through his third round, he chokes. He is visibly frustrated with himself and pulls out his phone-but changes his mind and puts it away. Foe is just so frustrated and fails to get it back, signaling the end of the round. Ave takes the infamous “Talk to Smack” approach, as he talks to Smack about the opportunities he receives and the amount of work he put in over the years. He speaks on how he deserves more because of his level of talent and dedication to the game. A pretty effective round from Ave, and he takes this round clear.
This was a pretty one-sided battle. Ave showed levels every round from the writing to the execution. Tru Foe had some fire material here and there, but it just wasn’t enough. Not to mention, he was extremely choppy this battle. I’m not sure if it is a nerve thing or a flaw in his preparation routine. Hopefully, Foe can figure out this chink in his armor and come back stronger his next battle. He is a talented rapper and very much capable of replicating his performance versus Geechi Gotti. As far as Ave, Ave is back! Straight like that!
Nu Jerzey Twork vs NXT
A highly anticipated matchup for many reasons. One being the fact that this battle had been brewing for over a year. When NXT first got his start on URL, the battle rap culture often compared NXT’s performance style to that of Nu Jerzey Twork. This ignited the fire and it’s why we are here today. Nu Jerzey Twork vs NXT. Twork is coming off a redemptive 2022 from the Snake Eyez performance at the first half of the year to the Real Sikh performance to close the year off. NXT also had a pretty good year in 2022 with some dope showings like having a BOTY contender with Hansel and a win over Mack Myron. However, he has yet to fully find his footing on the URL stage, so they gave him the ultimate test. Twork is NXT’s toughest competition on URL, and possibly the toughest competition he’s ever faced.
First round, it’s on you Twork! Twork starts his first round by punching out the gate. Twork was electrifying, moving around the stage and barking on NXT. Twork looked like his normal self, high energy with powerful punches to match it. One of the bars that really shook the building in his first was, “Slide on the plant like a caterpillar then butterfly NXT/next” Twork had some creative plant bars and this one of them. He set the bar really high with that first round. After Twork’s electrifying first round, there’s no secret it became an uphill battle for NXT. NXT comes out the gate with some fire material. The crowd is very receptive to his material and he begins landing some dope punches. He has some dry spots here and there, but he continues to remain aggressive and comfortable. However, he failed to land a bomb-and Twork had multiple. Twork’s first round was just too much, so I had Twork 1-0 comfortably.
Twork comes out in the second round with even more energy. He is landing bomb after bomb after bomb. He introduces more intricacy in his rapping ability and gets into different pockets. This was without a doubt, the best round of the battle- debatably round of the night. Twork is so comfortable in this round, he looks to the crowd mid-punching and asks, “Should I stop?” Twork completely left Earth in that second round with little to no dry spots. NXT responds with a good round. He is definitely fighting back as he attempts to match Twork in aggression and energy. Again, he has some good punches-but the dry spots bring the round down a bit. This round was pretty easy to call for Twork, there wasn’t much to debate. I have Twork up 2-0, pretty convincingly.
Twork takes a more personable approach in the third round. He goes into depth about the parallels in their careers. Twork took the vet move in this round and delivered with some creative punches and high energy. Similar to what he did in the second round, he asks the crowd, “Should he stop or keep going?” Near me, I hear Suge and Twork mention how he didn’t need to use a strapped-in. That was interesting to hear to say the least. NXT also takes a personable approach in the third round. He takes a pretty solid angle, “Why would I want to be you?” He compares himself and Twork, talks about their differences, and says he doesn’t want to be anybody but himself. While it was a dope approach, it could have been structured a little better so he could land more in the third. In a nutshell, Twork took this round clear as well.
Overall, this was a dope battle but Nu Jerzey Twork showed levels, respectfully. A dope approach from NXT, but Twork was just on one in this battle. When this guy is 80% or better, he is one of the toughest guys to beat in battle rap. Twork was amazing as ever. He set the bar high for performance of the year so far. Now, this is not to say Twork “bodied” NXT because that just wasn’t the case. He just won every round. NXT fought back and this was NXT’s best performance on URL by far. The test for NXT was to perform well, and I think he did just that. He passed the test, so I’m interested to see what’s next for NXT.
Result: Nu Jerzey Twork 30, convincingly
Ms.Hustle vs Myverse
A quantum leap and a very challenging test for Myverse. She is pinned up against one of the most dangerous females in the game right now. Ms. Hustle is performing at her absolute apex.
Myverse first round was very lacking in punchlines. There was no direction in her attack and she aimlessly wandered into bars for Hustle that didn’t register with the crowd. It was very silent in the first round, to the point you could literally hear a pin drop. And Hustle’s first round was as explosive as it could get. She’s landing haymaker after haymaker and is extenuating all of her punchlines with full commitment to her performance and aggression. It honestly got kind of spooky in the first round and Hustle creates a very comfortable lead and control for herself in the battle. She maintained this level of rap throughout all 3 rounds. 13 years in the game and I can confidently say, Ms.Hustle is in the prime of her career. Her punches are more potent, she punches at a much more rapid rate, her performance is electric, her presence is felt the minute she walks into a room, she gets direct with all of her opponents and she doesn’t let up.
And just like that, Myverse does a complete 180 from her first round. It was almost like day and night to see her have two completely different structured rounds. One completely connected with the crowd while the other round completely flopped. Myverse second round was filled with versatility as she was implementing angles, jokes, had much more punchlines, some dope flow pockets, and great lyrical acrobats and Multis. The full Myverse package was on display in this round and in high-pressure situations, she was able to showcase her resiliency to her full capacity. She is starting to become recognized for her second rounds.
Myverse is a rapper’s rapper, and she has a deep variety of skills in her bag. She showed a ton of potential in her second round, and while she found a writing formula that will lead her to the most success, she falls short of this battle in her first and third rounds. This is the growing pains that people anticipated Myverse to go through once she got more active as a battle rapper. As I watch her second round, I walk away thinking that Myverse would have much more success as an angler, as opposed to trying to be so pen-heavy. In her two battles on URL over the past 2 months, she walks away with a powerful 2nd round and responds back well to pressure. And she even has the best battle of the night both times. There isn’t anything to hang her head on, but rather review the game tapes and build upon what has rendered success thus far.
Ace Amin vs Kitchen Qleen
This battle made for an interesting matchup because of the polarizing differences in styles. Kitchen Qleen is a charismatic rapper who slicks talk his opponents with jokes and street talk. Ace, on the other hand, is a rapper’s rapper. From the multi-syllable rhyming to the intricate flow pockets. Qleen is coming off a dope 2022 as he made his official return to URL. Ace also had some dope performances in 2022. So it’s not surprising to expect a fire battle. Unfortunately, this battle was very one-sided and lackluster as a whole.
This was the last battle of the night. Ace starts his round with an intricate pocket and layered writing coupled with some witty punches. He lands a big bomb in the first round and continues to cook. Qleen starts his round with some comedic elements and some dope lines here and there. However, this round was very “pauseworthy.” The crowd paused nearly every line and Ace Amin was enjoying every moment of it. He also failed to land a bar or haymaker that resonated with the crowd. With that said, Ace takes the first very clearly.
Ace comes out the second round cooking. He retains similar energy as his first round and continues to display his rapping skills and writing. Midway through his round, someone from Qleen’s entourage heckles Ace on stage and talks through his rounds. Ace addresses it during his round and steps to the guy. Other battlers start to approach Qleen’s side and it’s a mess from there. Security comes onto the stage to deescalate the situation. After about 10 minutes or so, the battle resumes. Ace picks up from where he left off in the second and finishes strong. Qleen starts his second but he looks so disinterested. I wasn’t sure if he was choking or he was just “over” the battle at this point. He cut his round short and it was back on Ace Amin. Their third rounds were forgettable. Ace got through his material but the energy had already been sucked out of the room. Qleen’s heart just wasn’t in the battle anymore, he looked almost defeated. He spit a couple of bars and ended his round, and walked off stage immediately.
Overall, this battle was extremely underwhelming. The scuffle sucked the energy out of the room and affected both mc’s-more of Qleen’s performance than Ace’s. Aside from the scuffle, a big takeaway from this battle was Ace Amin displaying his incredible rapping ability and multi-syllable rhyming.The caliber of his writing was amazing in the first as well as his second round. I hope to see Ace Amin in more competitive matches this year. As far as Qleen, he has Swamp on the URL’s next card, so he has to go back to the drawing board and clean up a couple of things.
