Here’s the first in what we expect will be a weekly look at the most notable battles of the week. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the latest.

LOTTA ZAY VS DAYLYT

Crazy bar fest between two of the stranger rappers in the scene. Daylyt had been gimmicking his way to the top, wearing KKK hoods and ski masks in recent battles. This time he brings some next-level word play. Lotta Zay brings props of his own, and looks a bit ridiculous, which makes me wonder if this was Daylyt’s genius plan all along. Luckily Zay’s content is strong enough to look past the gimmicks.

MARLO VS SHUFFLE T

For the last three years, Don’t Flop has been putting on some of the most innovative concept battles at their April Fool’s Day events. Literal mirror matches, three-way battles and now: the bad bars battle. Newcomers (and roommates) Shuffle T and Marlo battle each other and end up bodying all of battle rap.

THE SAURUS VS DNA

Two American heavyweights going toe-to-toe in Toronto. Both kill it. See our Vengeance recap for our impressions of the live battle.

REVERSE LIVE VS THE DEADMAN

Just a really good battle between two interesting guys from the West Coast scene. Mad quotables and proof that the best battles don’t always come from the biggest names.

DIZASTER VS LOONIE

The biggest battle to ever happen, between two of the most popular battle rappers in the world. In the same arena where Ali fought Frazier in the Philippines, Loonie makes his English-language debut against Diz in front of a massive crowd (thought I read 10,000 somewhere). People were predicting 1,000,000 views in the first week - after six days it stands just over 525,000. The only problem is that it’s not really a great battle.

Check our content from this week too:

A LAD ON CRACK: The best battle rap anagrams
Universal BBoy League: All the right moves
Who deserves the next KOTD title shot?