The Saurus vs. Ness Lee

This weekend’s "Takeover 3" battle (or Takeov3r if you enjoy spelling things like Prince) has iBattle Worldwide giving us two straight days of hard hitting match-ups like Daylyt vs. E. Farrell and Cityy Towers vs. DNA. Additionally, what’s interesting about this huge event is not only is it taking place in two different venues, but in two different major Connecticut cities as night one is in Hartford’s Eightsixty Custom and night two emanates from New Haven’s Joker’s Wild, showing how strong the battle audience is today in Connecticut.

But with the excitement of "Takeover 3," it’s interesting to look back at the battle that made the first Takeover back in 2012 such a must-see event with The Saurus vs. Ness Lee. Yes, we’re as surprised as you that this was already three years ago. Time is a merciless conveyor belt. Also merciless is Saurus and Ness locking horns in a bout many consider amongst the most underrated showdowns of all time.

Saurus and Ness knew each other very well by this point. So much so that, on Saurus’ then newly-released debut album, Ness was one of the features. As seen in other battles between long-standing battle rap friends, there’s a certain understanding that nothing is off limits and both can go as brutal as possible, with The Saurus referencing Ness Lee’s house burning down right out of the gate. But this battle has more than just the brazenly bold lowblows, with everything from funny impressions to outstanding wordplay, even the set-ups here were getting massive reactions from the CT crowd that seemed to understand that they were seeing the league's first hit unfold in front of them.

While nether The Saurus or Ness Lee are on this weekend’s cards, their tremendous influence in setting off such an event shows to some degree, they will be in the building. “Believe it or not.”

Every Thursday, BattleRap.com posts a classic battle that you should know about, or at least be reminded of occasionally. See them all here.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.