Tagged: DNA

Battle of the Bay 6 preview (Day 2)

Flyer300The West is back.

King of the Dot is bringing back Battle of the Bay, the long-dormant series of events still seen by many as the best in battle rap’s history. With BOTB5, many believed the culture had reached its apex, but with the return, KOTD hopes to prove that the West is just getting warmed up.

After the massive success of the World Domination 4 event this summer in Toronto, the league is looking to keep up its momentum with an event that already has the culture buzzing. BOTB6 pits West Coast all-stars against their counterparts from the rest of the United States.

With a deep talent pool of Cali legends and a new crop of impressive up-and-comers to draw from, it shouldn’t be long before the West reclaims its national crown. And with their scene’s reputation on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

TOBB logoThis text is from the official KOTD program we wrote for the event in collaboration with KBomb. We’ll be in the building for both Day 1 and 2. Follow us on Twitter for live updates, on Facebook for next-day recaps and on Instagram for photos. For our Day 1 preview, click here.

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DIZASTER VS AYE VERB

Diz200Dizaster
Los Angeles, California
Dizaster: the name conjures up images of chaos, mayhem and destruction – all terms that could be applied to the MC himself. One of the best-known battle rappers in the world, Dizaster has separated himself from the pack by being one of the most versatile, unpredictable, and intense MCs in the game. Coming up in the GrindTime era, Dizaster has battled fellow Fresh Coasters The Saurus and Illmaculate, and has since gone on to jump in the ring with Arsonal, T-Rex, and even Canibus. One of the hottest commodities around, the Los Angeles based rapper has traveled worldwide to battle, including visits to England’s Don’t Flop, Australia’s Got Beef?, and Sweden’s O-Zone. With his unique style, Dizaster picks apart his opponents with his incredible freestyle ability and energetic performance. Up against one of his toughest challengers to date, Dizaster will have his hands full in this main event against Aye Verb.

Aye VerbAye-Verb200
St. Louis, Missouri
A discussion on the greatest battlers of all time would be remiss without including Aye Verb’s name. One of the key players in putting the St. Louis scene on the map, Verb not only holds one of the greatest battle legacies, but also founded the Word War league, which has produced its fair share of classics. Aye Verb first caught people’s attention after an amazing performance against SB in New York, and was soon challenging the likes of Hollow Da Don, Marv Won, and Math Hoffa, each time proving his reputation as a killer is well-deserved. This battle against Dizaster is Verb’s KOTD debut and has massive potential to be a classic.

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Battles of the month: September

TOBB logoMost of this month’s best battles came out of KOTD’s World Domination 4. We expect it’ll be the same for next month too. Here are our picks for the battles to watch from September. If you’re a KOTD fan, you’ve likely already seen most of them, so share this with a friend who should watch more battles.

DNA VS CHARRON

Charron has two things going for him right now:

1. He just had a(nother) breakout performance that caught the attention of URL fans. We’ve seen dozens of people calling this a contender for battle of the year.

2. BET just robbed him of his cypher appearance.

In battle rap, sometimes robberies are better than wins. Just look at Pigsty since Cody or Lex D since Cobalt45. Yes, a cypher appearance would’ve been great exposure for Charron, but all of a sudden he’s got a whole movement behind him screaming for justice and revenge. This story has potential to break nationally and internationally too.

Charron has become the perfect example of the “advantaged underdog” and should roll with it rather than hitting the gym and getting tatted up.

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Everything you missed at KOTD’s World Domination 4 (Day 1)

World Domination 4 got off to a stellar start on Friday, with six battles that were (mostly) good to great. The event went down at Toronto’s Opera House — the nicest venue that KOTD has ever thrown an event in — and it drew a big crowd with plenty of new faces and out-of-towners. T.O. Battle Blog watched the action from the first row, and in between battles, we found time to interview a selection of battlers. You’ll hear more about those later.

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Without further ado, here’s a rundown of the six battles from Friday. And as always, be warned: there will be spoilers.

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Battles of the week: May 12 - 18

In this edition of Battles of the Week, we give shine to some sleeper hits and break down the battles fans from around the world were talking about.

CAUSTIC VS JC

The first battle to drop from KOTD West Coast’s Alcatraz event, and the highest resolution rap battle to date. 3840x 2160? 4k resolution? 16:9 aspect ratio? Using the Red’s Scarlet camera? All I know is that Avocado is the man and we can expect this kind of quality from the rest of the videos.

Props to JC for putting in work for his first KOTD battle, and props to Caustic for being the first one to finally land a solid Bargate punch.

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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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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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