[Feral Linguist]

i was just listenin to some battles and started thinkin about how dope bill collector has been w/o any references to other battlers an shit, he is lowkey the GOAT

anyway punch out three fuckin solid battles w/o any xtra ass references to the corny ass modern written scene so we can have us a proper archive

also feel free to shit on or approve my top 3 that inspired this thread

Bill Collector vs QPSONS

Bender vs Arcane

Ty Law vs Sno

[KBomb]

this thread reminds me of how lost I was when i saw thesaurus vs. illmac the first time having known none of the background

[iamHBY]

I feel like at this point, the 3 battles I show people that are new to battle rap are Iron/Nitty, Conceited/Dumbfoundead and Carter/Chedda.

[Emancee]

Originally Posted by Feral Linguist

i was just listenin to some battles and started thinkin about how dope bill collector has been w/o any references to other battlers an shit, he is lowkey the GOAT

anyway punch out three fuckin solid battles w/o any xtra ass references to the corny ass modern written scene so we can have us a proper archive

also feel free to shit on or approve my top 3 that inspired this thread

Bill Collector vs QPSONS

Bender vs Arcane

Ty Law vs Sno

I agree a Bender battle is a good move, but I might go for one with less KOTD references than Vs Cane. Syd Vicious, perhaps?

Haha, clearly your friends are a lot rap-literate than mine if you think they'd enjoy a QP battle for a first battle, with the possible exception of QPs very early ones.

[ThaDiz]

I always show people Bender vs Arcane too. I also show people Pat vs Marv cause it's easy to understand what's going on, and Aye verb vs Hitman for the 3rd round or Lux vs Miles just cause its an example of great rapping and everyone is always impressed. Take out Verb vs hitman if I gotta be that strict on it being 3 lol.

[Feral Linguist]

Originally Posted by Emancee

I agree a Bender battle is a good move, but I might go for one with less KOTD references than Vs Cane. Syd Vicious, perhaps?

Haha, clearly your friends are a lot rap-literate than mine if you think they'd enjoy a QP battle for a first battle, with the possible exception of QPs very early ones.

i may be not recalling well but the only KOTD thang said in that battle aside from the 'chain' references was 'cane comes in a small dose' which is no big thing. vs Syd is always a good shout though

i appreciate your challenging it because this is a hard criterion to meet! mostly why I made the thread. i'd be happy if you posted more suggestions

yes i have lots of friends who are nerds and love all art including hip-hop type stuff but *I'm* usually the one to introduce a rapper, & always in the case of battling. QP is cool because not only does he sometimes say some mildly cryptic and really clever shit, but he has mannerisms and so on that amuses people. that being said, him vs Bill is really hard to topple - it's probably my favorite battle in the past 5 years

QP v Bangz is another one I'd consider, aside from "two arms in his face like Surf on the slingshot"

I was gonna say QP v Cadalack Ron since I showed a friend that a while ago but Caddy made some Fox references and shit like that

[Feral Linguist]

Originally Posted by ThaDiz

I always show people Bender vs Arcane too. I also show people Pat vs Marv cause it's easy to understand what's going on, and Aye verb vs Hitman for the 3rd round or Lux vs Miles just cause its an example of great rapping and everyone is always impressed. Take out Verb vs hitman if I gotta be that strict on it being 3 lol.

great post, Lux v Miles is a good choice. I really wish we could somehow get a "remastered" version of the footage

Verb v Hitman, you couldn't be more right on with that - Verb basically spells it all out in the battle (rightly so since he 'put blood in the game') I didn't really know either of them first time I saw it

[Emancee]

Originally Posted by Feral Linguist

i may be not recalling well but the only KOTD thang said in that battle aside from the 'chain' references was 'cane comes in a small dose' which is no big thing. vs Syd is always a good shout though

Maybe I misremembered. I actually went back and had a look at the transcript. Seems that there is a patch of KOTD material right after the 'hand of your replacement' scheme:

And you tried to fuck with Charron, why? Because of that dome line?
It was nothing to go cry about grumbling the whole time, pick on someone your own size
At least someone your own age, I'm double your whole weight but that's something you won't try
After that you knew you weren't fuckin' with Loe's rhymes
You went digging dirt with hopes you'd discover a gold mine
Desperate to go find just a couple of dope lines
But found nothing, so this puppet said "Fuck it", and told lies

I'm guessing that because it was right after such a legendary scheme that was the reason why it stuck in my head. Actually the rest of the battle is fine, so it probably is a good choice, especially as the decision itself is a good talking point.

[Feral Linguist]

fellas, i've got another top contender

Konshis Pilot v Ace Boogie (I only listen to Konshis' rounds)

lots of easy to catch or at worst learn references i.e. hillbilly catfishin, colombian necktie, dogs on my back I'm Cruella DeVille, cracker to this tongue like the Body of Christ and slick flow, plus it's only 90 seconds rounds

have any of y'all seen all of his battles? I reckon there are 5 but he's got some other alright footage just rapping

YouTube

YouTube

[Feral Linguist]

Originally Posted by Emancee

Maybe I misremembered. I actually went back and had a look at the transcript. Seems that there is a patch of KOTD material right after the 'hand of your replacement' scheme:



I'm guessing that because it was right after such a legendary scheme that was the reason why it stuck in my head. Actually the rest of the battle is fine, so it probably is a good choice, especially as the decision itself is a good talking point.

great, man, i am now recalling when I was watching these battles and wondering who the fuck was Hollohan or Charron or Fresco when they were referenced, lmao, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment

the first shit i ever listened to was Rico Slaughta vs Streetz on some Philly battle league, then thr YouTube algorithms took me to K-Shine v Big Will & T-Rex v Yung Ill - before jounts like K-Shine v DNA on URL and then KOTD - I was enthralled with the whole storyline shit in what I perceived as the "Canadian battles" this was around 2012,

but anyway, if we are treating this as a game, we can agree that Bender v Arcane is disqualified if we want perfectly battler-reference free content

I think it's dope that at least 4 of us treat it as we do though, Bender was really one of a kind

[Profess]

When I show people battles that aren't familiar, I always go with the proven classics like Lux vs Cal, Hitman vs Verb, Lux vs Hollow, Clips vs Rex or Illmac vs Bigg K. Or more likely, just the top moments from the battle. But I've heard a lot of people say Tantrum vs Dum as a good beginner battle in similar threads in the past. NOt quite sure why that is beginner-friendly though.

Now that I think about it, if someone was really interested then I'd direct them to the different leagues like SMACK DVD, KOTD, URL, Grindtime, and Don't Flop. And I'd tell them to watch Mook vs Jones, Diz vs DNA, Hollow vs Okwerdz, and Lunar C vs Mickey Worthless. After that I'd ask for feedback and reassess depending on their tastes.

If they were really into it then I'd tell them to read the Bars book that came out a year or so ago to get some history. After that I'd be curious if they figured out about bloggers and the new streaming platforms.

I don't really think battle rap is something that you turn people onto though. You kind of have to find it by yourself or be a teenager. I mostly like battles now because I've been following the storylines for so long. Battle rap is like a scotch in the sense that it get better with age, or rather it's not as good when you don't have the background. So you really need to put in sometime to appreciate it.

[Emancee]

Originally Posted by Profess

When I show people battles that aren't familiar, I always go with the proven classics like Lux vs Cal, Hitman vs Verb, Lux vs Hollow, Clips vs Rex or Illmac vs Bigg K. Or more likely, just the top moments from the battle. But I've heard a lot of people say Tantrum vs Dum as a good beginner battle in similar threads in the past. NOt quite sure why that is beginner-friendly though.

A lot of DFD's are definitely beginner friendly. Even someone with no rap knowledge can get 'you're so Asian that...' jokes. Whether you want to introduce them to rap that way is another question though...

DFD vs. Conceited, Twist, Flo, Saurus etc. are all dope battles that pretty much anyone can appreciate.

[Profess]

Originally Posted by Emancee

A lot of DFD's are definitely beginner friendly. Even someone with no rap knowledge can get 'you're so Asian that...' jokes. Whether you want to introduce them to rap that way is another question though...

DFD vs. Conceited, Twist, Flo, Saurus etc. are all dope battles that pretty much anyone can appreciate.

Right, that is a good question because is showing someone a battle that is super relatable an accurate representation of battle rap? I don't think it is, but it might be a good idea if you are just looking for middle ground with someone, or if you just don't want your company to leave. Having said that, if you are looking to mentor a new hardcore fan then throwing them in the deep end is how I'd do it. I've only showed battles to a handful of people that I can recall and I don't think any have gone on to be hardcore fans. So either battle rap is niche or I don't know what I'm talking about. Actually, before the written era I put some people on to freestyle stuff so it could just go back to the age thing so others might have a different experience. If I recall correctly, I would have showed someone Eminem freestyling on Sway and Tech before introducing them to SuperNat.

[Emancee]

Originally Posted by Profess

If I recall correctly, I would have showed someone Eminem freestyling on Sway and Tech before introducing them to SuperNat.

That epic Black Thought freestyle is another good one. Even my wife recognized the skill there.

[Profess]

Originally Posted by Emancee

That epic Black Thought freestyle is another good one. Even my wife recognized the skill there.

The BET cypher one? That one is great! Pretty sure it's the same year (2009?) as the one with Joe Budden.. I like that one too

YouTube

YouTube