Category: Features

Who should come to World Domination 4?

King of the Dot’s World Domination is the one annual event that unites every battle rap scene from around the globe. This year has more potential than ever as inter-league matchups reach their apex: Don’t Flop hosted DNA vs Arsonal, Flip Top flew Tantrum, Bender, Pesci and Charron to the Philippines, and Daylyt is headed to Australia to battle Manaz (for real this time).

Here’s who we’d like to see at WD4, mostly from the major leagues, with a few others thrown in. We chose battlers who are consistent, reliable, and most importantly, people we’d want to party with for three days.

We definitely left out some of our personal favourites for a variety of reasons: border issues, scheduling conflicts, ridiculously high booking costs, stated disinterest, or a lack of resources to get to Toronto. We also left out the guys who were already announced in the first WD4 trailer.

And yes, we realize it’s probably too late to sway anyone into coming who isn’t already booked, so just consider this a list of dope battle rappers you should have on your radar.

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Dream Battles (Part One)

Every battle fan can think of dream match-ups they’d like to see go down. Here at TOBattleBlog, we’re no different. Here’s our pitch for five dream battles we’d love to watch. We’ve called this post “Part One” because we plan to make this an ongoing series. As the scene evolves – and as new MCs emerge – we’d like to campaign on behalf of great match-ups, and hopefully convince the battlers (and leagues) in question to make the occasional suggestion come to fruition.

PAT STAY VS. CAUSTIC

Photos from @DontFlop & @KingoftheDot
Photos from Dont Flop & King of the Dot

Caustic wants a big battle before he goes on hiatus (or retires). Pat Stay desperately needs to prove himself on American soil and wants a battle in California. The solution is obvious: book a battle between the two at KOTD’s next Fresh Coast event. Here’s why:

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Battlers on battling: You never forget your first time

Last month’s KOTD Vengeance event was a who’s who of the battling scene. We used it as an opportunity to ask 14 rappers one question: What do you remember about your first battle?

FRESCO & RONE


Watch Fresco and Rone battle at Vengeance 2

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A LAD ON CRACK: Best battle rap anagrams

Scrabble rapAnagrams are when you take the letters from words and rearrange them to make new words. The best anagrams say something funny about the person they’re rearranging:

Michael Jackson: Manacle his jock
Elvis Aaron Presley: Seen alive? Sorry, pal!
Jennifer Aniston: Fine in torn jeans

With some help from the fine people of Rapmusic.com and the Don’t Flop forum, we submit to you the best battle rap anagrams we’ve found so far:

KING OF THE DOT: GHETTO, KIND OF

Organik: Or A King
Gully tha kid: Halt! Ugly kid
Lush One: Holes ‘N U or… Sun hole

Cadalack Ron: A lad on crack
Peter The Saurus Morris: True super-heroism star
Patrick Stay: Tacky Rapist
Dizaster: Rat-sized
Illmaculate: Clue, I am tall
Bender Flight Distance: Fetching and blistered
Al Bender: Able Nerd
Tony Madness: Nasty demons
Dirtbag Dan: Bad At Grind
Real Deal: LA Dealer
Daniel Caustic Stefani: Facilitated nuisances
Caustic homie: Autism choice
Soul Khan: An OK Lush
Tantrum: Mr. Taunt
Corey Charron KOTD Champion: Cheap crack, horrid monotony
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Who deserves the next KOTD title shot?

King of the Dot is in a tough spot. They’ve got a controversial champion who needs to prove himself against a top-tier opponent and no clear No. 1 contender. A transition to more international promo battles has left KOTD’s best prospects with vague records as of late. They could cherry-pick someone based on loyalty or performance or popularity, but that would alienate the rappers and fans who disagreed with the choice.

Charron has been campaigning for a King of the Dot title shot for as long as we can remember. And lately, he’s made a compelling case for getting that opportunity.

Just a few weeks ago, Charron won 106 & Park‘s Freestyle Friday tournament, taking home a $5,000 cheque in the process. Now, he wants to put his $5K on the line in a $10,000 title match. The other $5K, of course, would come from Arcane, the current title holder and last year’s Grand Prix champion.

In a video released yesterday (above), Arcane accepted the $10K battle. The trouble for Charron is that Arcane is unwilling to put the title on the line. According to Arcane, Charron hasn’t staked his claim as the No. 1 contender, nor has he defeated enough top-tier opponents to earn a title shot. Simply put, Arcane doesn’t think Charron deserves the opportunity.

Organik even took time from his Mexico vacation to issue a statement on Facebook:

Just for the record…

Campaigning for title shots does NOT guarantee you a title shot. We think it shows drive and we like that hunger but their are no guarantee’s until KOTD officially sets the match up regardless if the champ accepts a challenge. Also, no champion will battle in KOTD without defending the title. If KOTD feels their is a true contender and the champion turns it down they will be stripped of the title and another match will be set up for the title. This goes for the #1 contender spot as well.

The next Title Match will happen at WD4… Lets make history & let the debating begin!

If not Charron, who deserves a title shot? It’s a difficult question, as there are few obvious contenders. But we’ve assembled a short list of worthy opponents for Arcane.

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How to judge a rap battle

With battle rap reaching the competitive heights of organized sports, consistent judging is essential. When there’s money at stake and reputations on the line, a judge’s decision has to go beyond a gut feeling. But when faced with a split-second decision, a judge can often only choose on instinct and try to justify it after.

In KOTD, judges get two cards with a name written on each. They watch the battle and as soon as it’s done, they hand the winner’s card to the host. There’s no time for reflection. The battle ends, you decide.

Fans want an explanation for each vote and when they see the judgment as a robbery, they want blood. The thing is, every close battle looks like a robbery to half the fans.

U.K. battle league Don’t Flop has been experimenting with seven-judge panels and after-the-fact video judging, but still haven’t avoided accusations of bias. The URL never officially judges battles, which means the debate lives on for weeks in forums and through the battlers’ retweets.

The main problem is that judging is a subjective choice. Some judges prefer style over substance, while others reward the reverse. One judge might praise a specific scheme or line, while another will think it’s played out. It gets even more complicated when you have two different battle styles clashing. How can you decide if one guy’s jokes were funnier than the other guy’s bars were vicious?

In my limited experience as a judge (Notez/Yung Casper, Luciano Crakk/Kinaze and Chris Tipsy/StepEasy at Toronto’s GZGP), the choice was sometimes obvious and sometimes not. I guarantee that all three battles will be called 3-0 wins for both rappers by dozens of people online. Aren’t opinions great?

So for expert insight and advice, I reached out to three people who have judged some of the highest-profile battles in recent history:

From Don’t Flop - Steve “Stig of the Dump” Dixon

Winner of KOTD’s “So You Think You Can Judge” contest - Tasha “Baby T” Allen

From KOTD - Jacob “Knamelis” Karsemeyer

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