Top Moments From URL's "Summer Madness 4"

Now that the dust has settled on URL's "Super Bowl of Battle Rap," let's take a look back at the moments that defined the weekend.

Hitman's First Round

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This was easily the best round of the weekend. Hitman started cooking early in it but created absolute pandemonium with a remix that involved his brother Showout stepping to Surf himself. Just watch how everyone on stage starts jumping.

Want to know what people were saying about this battle as it happened? Check out our Live SM4 Updates article.

Shotgun Suge vs. Charron

The rivalry between these two polar opposites was one of the longest in battle rap, starting before they were supposed to battle on KOTD in the summer of 2013. After all the shit-talk, the battle lived up to the hype with both of them doing what they do best in front of an attentive crowd.

Suge gave us three rounds of vividly painted street imagery and aggression and Charron came with bars, comedy and freestyles.

And as much as we don't condone violence in battle rap, it was still pretty awesome to see some real tension between the two emcees, with Suge pocket-checking Charron into dropping his water bottle and then Charron jiggling Suge's belly after a line about pudding. At one point when Charron was snapping, Suge turned his back on him, and Charron grabbed his shoulder to turn him and shouted "LOOK AT ME WHILE I'M KILLING YOU."

Suge got in his face and backed him across the stage before Smack jumped between them. Obviously if things had gotten out of hand, this write-up would be different, but the entertainment value of what actually happened is through the roof. If marketed properly, this battle's potential to go viral online is huge.

For our thoughts on this battle when it was happening live, check out our SM4 Warm-Up Updates article.

Charlie Clips' performance

Pretty much everyone we spoke to after the event said Clips had the best performance on Sunday night. Several people called him "the best in the world right now" and we're inclined to agree. We'll wait until the footage drops before calling his performance "legendary" but we will say he had one of our favorite one-liners from the weekend: "I call my nigga Jenga, he pull a piece and leave the whole block shook."

T-Rex & John John Da Don Showing Up

In the days leading up to the event, both T-Rex and John John were hit with personal issues that jeopardized their battles. Before a lackluster performance against Charlie Clips, T-Rex announced that his nephew had died that weekend. John John was less specific about his own family issues when he tweeted that he was considering cancelling his battle against Aye Verb.

With Arsonal backing out of his battle with Ill Will, and then "mystery opponent" Math Hoffa pulling the same move on short notice, only five battles remained on the card.

Had Rex and John John cancelled only three would've gone down, torpedoing the event into another massive debacle for URL.

Cassidy & Goodz

Between battles, Cassidy got on the mic to hype his Dec. 6 battle against Dizaster. He and Goodz then traded shots and Cass said he'd consider a rematch for the right amount of "chicken."

Goodz threw down a wad of cash and told him they could do it right there.

Loaded Lux & The NYPD

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In a building full of VIPs, the man we saw get the most love as he glided through the crowd was Loaded Lux. At one point as he stepped past venue security to access the backstage section, a uniformed NYPD officer stopped him -- to dap him up and take a picture together.

The Rise Of The Reach

Stretched wordplay -- known as "reaching" -- has become a lightning rod for ridicule ever since Tsu Surf tried convincing people that "urn" and "ash" made "Nash" and Proving Grounds newcomer Dot rhymed "umbrella" with "um ... beretta."

Whenever the crowd thought an emcee was guilty of reaching, they'd shout and extend an open hand to the sky. It's given the crowd a new tool for hating on a line without having to resort to disruptive, momentum-killing boos. It's also forcing emcees to tighten up their pengame or risk the wrath of an ocean of outstretched arms.

The Weather

Technically Summer Madness 4 happened in the fall, but you would've never known it by how perfect the weather was. Each day was sunny with blue skies.

The Schmoney Dance

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The song that swept the summer also swept Summer Madness. Bobby Schmurda's "Hot Nigga" track and Schmoney Dance were referenced (and played) repeatedly through the weekend, setting off arm-swaying and hat-tossing each time. It added a fun and loose feeling between battles.

Emerging Talent

Tay Roc

Tay Roc isn't new to URL's top tier, but his performance against DNA will raise his stock even higher. His material was the perfect combination of everything that is hot in battle rap right now: wordplay, cold bars, punches and aggression. The crowd ate it up.

Uno Lavoz

Lavoz is already a fan favorite in multiple leagues, having entertained main-stage crowds in the U.S., Canada, Australia and England. Here, against legitimate threat Young X, he convincingly showed he's able to tailor his content to rock a URL crowd too.

Tink Tha Demon and Gjonaj also had star-making performances at Friday's Proving Grounds event, which you can read about here.

Any questions about the event? Ask them in the comments below.