Nino Bless, who participated in the original "Slaughterhouse" song, says he has many expectations for Joe Budden's Total Slaughter battle against Hollow Da Don.
"I know Joe is a competitive emcee in spriit and I know how far that root grows more than others who don't understand why he accepted this battle," Nino Bless says to BattleRap. "Before Slaughterhouse happened and slightly after, we'd talk about competing as an emcee and I would tell him, 'You have nothing to prove and you're an emcee thats beyond punchlines and proving yourself.'"
Budden's response?
"He literally said, 'Fuck that...my fans get the real me, but this Slaughterhouse shit is real competition for me and for the culture.'" I didn't even think he needed Slaughterhouse as a group and in fact most of his fan base thought he was headed in a different direction, but everything he told me personally was that he loved the competition. He needed to be tested in more ways than one, especially at the stage of the career he was in."
Bless says Budden's entering a new world with this Total Slaughter battle.
"I know he says, 'I came up as a battle rapper,'" Bless says. "But in that era when they battled, dudes just met in a studio or on a block and spit general verses off their mixtape that were battle related. None of it was personalized. It's sort of like Cassidy versus Freeway, a different era. Cassidy was just spitting shit off unreleased mixtape tracks. In this era that Hollow came up in and practically helped shape, these guys don't spit mixtape writtens. They actually write an album about your life, breaking you down and performing it on stage with choreography and all of that. Joe is at an extreme disadvantage because Hollow not only understands the subtle nuances that it takes to do well in that field. He evolved while being involved with it. He got a first-hand look and he was on the frontlines seeing everything."
This puts Joe Budden at a disadvantage, Nino says.
"It's such a tough challenge for Joe," Bless explains. "I think he'll show up ready and he's fooling everyone with this lack of preparation shit. I know Joe talks about 'these guys don't know how good I rap.' The battle culture isn't just about bars. It's part bars and part spoken word sparring match. Look at Loaded Lux. The way he projects his voice is on an all-world level on stage. He's not all bars. His presence is without a doubt on a higher level than almost everyone. Hollow is the wild card of Battle Rap, literally the most unpredictable dude in it. He has angles, can freestyle, go personal, jokes, has punches and schemes, and more than anything, he understands the choreagraphy aspect. When he's writing a rap, he knows exactly where to stand, what hand motions to do. He's writing while practicing his movements. That is extra shit Joe is probably preparing for, but Hollow actually knows significant details that work."
While he believes in Joe Budden's skill, Nino says that may not be enough.
"Outwriting Hollow won't cut it," he says. "He could 3-0 you and you'll write the best battle writtens of all time. It's just just too serious of a task for Joe. Was it a mistake? Probably not because Joe likes the culture and it also adds on to what he's done in this game. He's super competitive and has a belief in himself. I predict a long night for Joe. Everything Hollow says to Joe will instantly be much more impactful because of the direction he's aiming his words towards."
As a result, Nino Bless says Hollow will win.
"Hollow 3-0 unless something fluky happens," he says, "but I expect Joe to earn a ton of a respect from the battle culture and movement. He won't embarrass himself at all."
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