Chris from TOBB joins Jeremy and PJ on an episode of Battle Addict to break down the battles from KOTD’s Blackout 4 and UW’s High Stakes. They also discuss their thoughts on the newly announced Total Slaughter reality show.
Against all odds, Saturday was a great night for battling. Despite the no-shows, the chatty crowd and dead energy on Friday, Day 2 featured some outstanding battles, bringing the much-hyped Blackout 4 to a satisfying close. You can read our Day 1 recap here.
First off, a quick note on the no-shows. Six battlers did not show up in Toronto this weekend. (Organik went into specifics in this RMBVA post.) Here is the list of them, along with their opponents in brackets: RemyD (Osa), JC (Rone), Ill Will (Real Deal), Aye Verb (Shotty Horroh), Rich Dolarz (Loe Pesci) and Big T (Bender). It sounds as if King of the Dot is trying to make Shotty/Verb and T/Bender happen soon, even if that means sending Bender and Shotty to the States. Stay tuned.
Back to Saturday’s battles. Credit must be given to the MCs on the bottom half of the card. They set a good tone for the day and did a fine job of engaging the crowd. Speaking of which, the crowd for Day 2 was not only better than the previous day’s, but was arguably the most respectful KOTD audience in Toronto in some time. It’s amazing the degree to which a receptive, engaged crowd can enhance the quality of the battle.
Now, onto the battles. And remember: there will be plenty of spoilers.
You can also check the battles yourself with the KOTD pay-per-view.
[All battle photos are from Dan Gibson. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.]
The Great Experiment has finally arrived. King of the Dot’s much-anticipated Blackout 4 kicked off last night in Toronto. The card features arguably the deepest roster of talent ever assembled for a single event, plus it also boasts a novel concept: the majority of battles are being announced live at the event, rather than weeks/months in advance.
Last weekend King of the Dot put on the biggest battle event the Calgary division has seen yet. There wasn’t as much hype over this card compared to the anticipation of BOTB6 and WD4, but from what we could tell from updates on RMBVA, most of the battles turned out well and at least a few verged on greatness.
T.O. Battle Blog caught up with Tricky P (henceforth known as Trick Stephens) over the phone while he was in line for fried rice at the Calgary airport to get his thoughts on the event.
Well, KOTD did it again. Even with the bar raised so high from WD4, the West Coast stepped up and put on an event worthy of the BOTB name. We have a lot to say about the event itself, but stay tuned for all of it in another article and/or podcast.
For now though, let’s get right to the battles.
The legendary Battle of the Bay series returned to Oakland last night, with a card that gave us a glimpse of some new West Coast talent.
Day 1 had a solid crop of battles, with a few breakout performances from guys making their KOTD debuts. None of the battles were judged, because, as Lush put it: “Who ever liked a judge before?”
References ranged from all over the world of North American battle rap, from KOTD Toronto, to URL, to the long legacy of the West Coast.
We’ve got another full day of coverage coming for Day 2. Follow us on Twitter for updates. Also check our Day 1 and Day 2 previews if you’re not already up to speed.
These battles are available to watch for free at KOTDTV.com.
This battle was the best from Day 1 and everyone knew it. After one round we were tweeting that it had potential to be battle of the night and after the second it was clear we had a classic on our hands. We don’t disagree with the people we heard calling it “the West Coast version of Chilla Jones/JC.” It’s not as densely layered as that battle, but it does have the same small-room excitement once everyone caught on to how good it was turning out.