According to Eurgh in his recent interview with BattleRap.com, New York emcee Bonnie Godiva was given a list of names from the Don’t Flop roster and she cherry-picked Enigma as her target of choice for her U.K. debut. The London battler is not one to shy away from saying horrible, horrible things about both women and every conceivable ethnic or religious group, so it can only be surmised that Bonnie is about to give him a stern talking to.
His last "Birthday Weekend" performance was against yours truly (and my now-wife). Enigma and his doubles partner Eek used the opportunity to verbally defile the two of us moments before I asked the woman for her hand in marriage. Enigma said horrible things about me being Jewish and her being a woman, and yet George Kelly, the human face behind the character, was nothing but sweet, supportive and generous outside of the battle.
The barrier lies distinct between the coarse ideology of the Enigma character with his intelligent, loving-if-a-bit-sweary Facebook persona and the real-life George Kelly. The standard of his clashes against both P Solja and Locksmyth mark an evolved battler. One who is slightly shying away from (but still very much including) the bile, instead focusing on Ginsu-sharp angle construction as first seen in his devastating third round against Cee Major in 2012.
While he is no longer a frequent performer in battle rap, choosing instead to focus on his fiction writing (which shows a whole different side of Kelly), his advancement this year has not seen him lose his controversial edge and his careful battle selection has led to sharper writing and an improvement in consistency.
While I still think Bonnie’s sensibilities are in for a horrid time, I think this might also be some of the most incisive material she’s come up against. And I don’t think she’s expecting it. Bonnie’s last battle against a male (Uno Lavoz at KOTD’s "Blackout 4") saw her donning a judge's robe and bringing up rape accusations, but that won’t work against someone who frames the awful things he says against a healthy family life.
She is only three battles in for 2014 (Ms. Fit, Shooney Da Rapper and Uno Lavoz), so momentum-wise she is in a similar place as her opponent, but she doesn’t seem to have shown the same progression stylistically. Her wordplay is well constructed, and the laid-back nature of her delivery will give us a welcome respite from the sound of Enigma’s ill-natured, high-pitched yelping.
I feel like a year ago this match-up would have been a closer fare. They were at similar places and hadn’t fully molded their styles yet. I think now, however, Enigma will walk this. Bonnie is a strong writer but just too easy to deconstruct, and is too easy a target for both the disgusting and analytical sides of Enigma’s approach.
Still, if Bonnie can start on a forward foot, she could pull the rug out from Enigma. Sometimes the best way to beat an analytical approach is with an emotional one. If Bonnie can get the U.K. crowd on side her before Enigma launches into a vitriolic rage, then his attack may appear unnecessarily cruel and over-the-top.
Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments section below.
{{ comment.author.name }}
{{ reply.author.name }}