Asylum The Crow vs. Hyphen

Who: Asylum The Crow (Little Rock, Ark.) Hyphen (Galveston, Texas)
Where: New Orleans Battle League's "This Is Battle Rap 3" in New Orleans, La.
When: Feb. 13, 2016

Both Hyphen and Crow are fairly new to battle rap and with this as their debut on NOBL, few knew what to expect.

Hyphen is most recognizable from his battle rap parody videos featured on YouTube and WorldStar, where he records himself ordering fast food battle-rap style. It’s pretty fucking hilarious. He has traits of a true entertainer and his content has generated hundreds of thousands of views.

Crow, on the other hand, has been more low-key, working to hone his craft with Southern Slang Battle League in Arkansas. Veteran emcee 4kus vouched for Crow early on so this was his chance to validate the co-sign.

In this one-round match, Crow was chosen to go first and didn’t waste time establishing his presence on stage. The Arkansas-born lyricist performed with a subtle delivery, but with bars that awakened the room. He brought his hometown to the battle with lines like, “If I go Hog Wild, I’ll razor backs (Razorbacks) until spine show.” Crow showcased his style of slick metaphors and heavy punchlines, ending his round with, “That dumb shit will get you a long cap, on some dunce shit/ or play Cinderella and watch how I send a fella and end this bitch night off of one slip.”

At this point in the battle, most believed Hyphen faced an uphill battle. Not only were they performing to an unfamiliar crowd, but Crow had just delivered a flawless round, setting the bar incredibly high. Nonetheless, Flatline’s newest recruit opened his round with the bravado and poise of a veteran. Hyphen combined witty lyricism with charismatic delivery, giving a high energy performance that resonated well with the bar-hungry New Orleans crowd.

The standout line from Hyphen was “Y'all I promise, he finished/ but let him talk reckless, I’ma let him talk after the 9 like free minutes/ Nigga I been with it/ that’s why the ink from my pen fuckin up his whole life up like Denzel rockin that chinchilla.”

This battle, in my opinion, is the most debatable one of the entire event. Regardless, Crow and Hyphen set a great tone for the night, earned due respect as skilled lyricists, and catapulted themselves to the forefront of the South’s new faces. These two are definitely ones to watch and I look forward to seeing how far they progress.

Pretty much every battle we post on the site is either notable or excellent, but occasionally we want to pay extra attention to footage that deserves more love than it's getting on YouTube. See all our "Don't Sleep!" battles here.

Who won? Let me know what you think in the comments.