Daylyt has done it again.
In his highly anticipated title match with King Of The Dot champion Pat Stay, the controversial Watts rapper took to the stage wearing a "slave" costume in front of the Toronto crowd, despite saying at the previous night's press conference that he wouldn't bring antics. His hands were manacled together, the back of his shirt was ripped from repeated whippings and he was barefoot.
With him on stage came "the master" (battle rapper 100 Bulletz, carrying a whip and wearing a Ronald Reagan mask topped with a colonial wig).
Photo by Chris Mitchell for BattleRap.com
Photo by Chris Mitchell for BattleRap.com
Daylyt is well-known in the battle rap world for his outlandish theatrics, which have included attempting to defecate on stage, simulating oral sex in a battle, and releasing a diss track aimed at Young Thug where he dances around in a pink dress. And that's all just in the last few weeks.
BattleRap.com was front-row center for the battle and posted some clips to Instagram.
Daylyt introducing himself as "Number 5"
http://instagram.com/p/vu8TDIsToh/?modal=true
Daylyt "picking cotton"
http://instagram.com/p/vu84IesTq1/?modal=true
Daylyt putting on his signature skimask
http://instagram.com/p/vu-_TaMTh1/?modal=true
Daylyt chasing "the master" off the stage
http://instagram.com/p/vu_UBesTkp/?modal=true
We also interviewed both emcees immediately after the event to get their thoughts:
The battle itself shifted tone frequently (and drastically) as Daylyt flipped between theatrics and rapping. His approach wasn't all antics and in each round he brought well-crafted, densely layered lyrics with references that most of the crowd didn't catch. By that time, it was about 2:30 a.m. so it felt like most fans were either too tired or too drunk to follow along.
Pat Stay was far more direct, clowning Daylyt for his recent behavior and mixing aggression with high-level performance. Most felt he wasn't as impressive as in previous showings in Toronto, but that didn't stop him from still getting enough votes to get the judges' decision.
Click here for our curated live updates from the event as it happened.
In the days since, both Pat and Daylyt have addressed the battle on social media.
Daylyt offered an longer explanation in an interview with PSA Radio:
"Just for some enlightening information, Canada is where a lot of slaves hid and ran free. Not only did they hide in Canada, but they hid in Pat Stay's neighborhood. This is actual facts. Now this is where it gets deep. What people do not know is Pat Stay's family, back in his ancestry, are people who actually helped hide the slaves from the other slavemasters. Now this is where it gets very deep. Pertaining to the white people still paying us at the end of the day, as long as we work for the dollar bill itself with the white man on the dollar bill we're all slaves.
"But battle-wise, the slave shit was to break down to the world more so not even what I was saying, but more so at the end of the day, if I feel like I beat the slavemaster, which is pretty much what I did. I took the whip from him and whooped him off stage. I beat the slavemaster, but at the end of the day, the white man still beat me."
Listen to the full interview here:
Fans are trying to decipher the message behind Daylyt's theatrics as well, including this breakdown from RMBVA poster Casual.
1) The entire theme of him being a slave and being forced to perform based on the wants of both the league owners and the fanbase, represented by the slavemaster (everything from time limits, to styles, gimmicks etc.)
2) The second round where he did the URL bars...then the slavemaster wanted him to do multies instead...this relates directly to his early GT days where he DID have bars but people weren't fucking with him...he doesn't do multies, that ain't his thing.
3) Third round he's forced to put the mask on and the crowd was loving it...that was arguably the turning point in his career and in the performance it happened directly before he freed himself from the slavemaster. At this point he's found his niche, he can do what he wants, regardless of the league owners and fans wishes.
4) Yeah, he lost...but isn't that the point? He just freed himself of his chains...why would he want to get put back in one? Pat said it best in the Diz joint...he loses the chain he can go back to battling who he wants, when he wants, get his album on the go....but now he's stuck at home practicing for his battle with charron.
This battle, as well as the rest of the event, is available on pay-per-view here.
What do you think about Daylyt's antics? Do you think there's a message behind it?
{{ comment.author.name }}
{{ reply.author.name }}