Tagged: Toronto

Everything you missed at GZGP Round 4 (Toronto)

A lot happened in battle rap this week: Math Hoffa KO’d Serius Jones and the remaining battles on the SM3 card. Daylyt made his URL debut by battling Smack outside the venue. KOTD dropped one of the most epic battles in recent memory. And at the Annex Wreckroom in Toronto, Ground Zero put on a hidden gem of an event for the GZGP semi-finals.

If you want “bars over names,” forget URL. GZ is where it’s at. No gimmicks, no drama, no BS, just four entertaining battles. Even with three battles cancelled, the night managed to be laid-back, relaxed and fun.

The crowd was a good size, especially for an event so soon after WD4, and there were a lot of new faces. The obscure references to the GZ scene were mostly lost on them, so if you’re bringing someone new, tell them to read this post and our recaps of Rounds 1, 2 and 3 before coming to the finals on Nov. 23.

Oh, and the “ladies-free-before-10:00 p.m.” plan worked like a dream.

STEP EASY VS WIZE GUY (Battle of the night)

Wize Guy and Step Easy. Photo by Jen Schenkel Photography via The Annex Wreckroom on Facebook
Wize Guy and Step Easy. Photo by Jen Schenkel Photography via The Annex Wreckroom on Facebook

Step took this on a 3-2 decision and moves on to the GZGP finals in November. We heard a few people loudly calling it a robbery outside the venue, though they were mostly Wize Guy’s boys and the judges who voted for him. There was so much going on in this battle it’s easy to see why opinions were so divided.

Let us break it down two ways:

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Everything you missed at KOTD’s World Domination 4 (Day 2)

Day 2 of World Domination 4 was another great night of battles, featuring a few classics with definite replay value. Like all big KOTD events, there was a contingent of assholes in the back, so a few battles were affected by an unruly crowd. Regardless, the biggest battles of the night found a receptive audience, and there were no wack performances from the big names, all of whom brought their A-games.

Once again, we watched the battles from the VIP section in front. The event popped off around 8:30 p.m. — which is probably a KOTD record for earliest start time — and it was clear that attendance was higher for Saturday’s edition.

Here’s our breakdown of the Day 2 battles. If you haven’t read our Day 1 recap yet, it’s here. Spoilers ahead:

PAT STAY VS ARCANE

David vs Goliath
David vs Goliath

The title match was significantly closer than most will admit. From the start, it was clear the audience was fucking with Pat heavy. For instance, the crowd went bananas after his first five words: “Arcane, that’s a hard name.”

And the NEW...
And the NEW…

We could see The Saurus saying “It’s over” just barely into Pat’s first round. Pat also pulled out his patented scheme: “He mad right now. Trying to log into PayPal right now. He wants to get the mobile app so bad right now.”

Credit must be given to Arcane for making the battle close. His writing was impeccable, and without the surrounding drama, he might have had a chance. There was a small slip-up in Round 3 from him, which likely gave the judges their reason to unchain him. Either way, it’s Pat’s chain now, and the league is probably relieved to put the Arcane/Caustic/Dizaster situation behind them.

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Everything you missed at the GZGP (Toronto & L.A. recap)

Notez edit
This past Saturday night, King of the Dot launched its Ground Zero tournament with simultaneous events in Los Angeles and Toronto. Both events went smoothly and were packed with high-quality performances.

TOBattleBlog saw the Toronto event first-hand (and even judged three of the GP battles), but we also have exclusive notes from KOTD West Coast’s J-Pro, who was in L.A.

(If you’re not familiar with the battlers competing in the $1500, winner-take-all Ground Zero tournament, check out our introductions for Toronto and Los Angeles.)

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