Few people in battle rap are more synonymous with a brand than Math Hoffa is with Smack, famously promoting himself as the person who "put the smack in Smack" (referencing his battle with Dose), and headlining the first battle event that URL had (against T-Rex). Since September 2013, Hoffa has been away from that stage, but his absence will come to an end at URL's "Double Impact" on March 26.
BattleRap.com’s Chris Mitchell interviewed the Brooklyn battle legend about his acting career, classic battles and his return to URL.
Hoffa opened by talking about his new acting career, and the popularity of the "Respect Life" web series he's featured on, which he describes as "like The Wire, but in Brooklyn."
"The web series is taking off," he said. "It’s doing over 100,000 views every episode. People stop me now and they’re like ‘Yo, you Lex from Respect Life?'”
Math Hoffa’s long standing in the battle rap scene affords him a different perspective than most fans and battlers. Because of this, Hoffa may have a different perspective of what constitutes a classic battle. When asked which battles in his mind were classics, he listed: Loaded Lux vs. Hollow Da Don, himself vs. Chilla Jones and K-Shine vs. DNA. When asked what battles aren’t classics, Hoffa responded simply: “Murda Mook battles.”
Math then shifted his focus to his upcoming doubles battle with Cortez. When speaking about "Double Impact," Math simply said of opponents Aye Verb and Yung Ill: “They’re dead” before adding, “If that’s not the best battle of the night, I don’t know, I’d be shocked.”
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
{{ comment.author.name }}
{{ reply.author.name }}