Battle rap in 2015 started off with a bang and a fizzle as most leagues posted their best battles over the holiday season (as has become battle rap tradition) and then just kind of dribbled out the rest.
The exception here was Don't Flop, who still had plenty of strong, diverse content to spotlight from their two-day "Sixth Birthday Weekend" and Atlanta-based "Revolution" events in November.
There were also some massive performances that led to one-sided battles that are all worth a watch (such as Uno Lavoz vs. Young X, Rone vs. DNA and Soul vs. Unanymous), but here we're highlighting the most competitive battles from the month.
Big Kannon vs. Ill Will
Who: Big Kannon (Chicago, Ill.) vs. Ill Will (Pontiac, Mich.)
Where: RBE's "Blood Sweat & Tiers" event at Club DROM in New York, N.Y.
When: Nov. 1, 2014
Why you should watch it: The headline battle from RBE's November event was supposed to be Big Kannon vs. Arsonal, but Ars pulled out, leaving Ill Will as the replacement, who was sitting on unused content from his own cancelled "Summer Madness 4" battle with Arsonal (and then Math Hoffa). Many fans had given up on Will after his off performance against DNA, but here he shows he's still capable of the red-hot performances that first made him popular.
Kannon stays consistent for all three rounds, while Ill Will has higher highs and lower lows. Kannon makes the crowd screwface. Will makes them laugh. Ultimately the winner comes down to whose style you prefer, but it doesn't really matter because the battle itself is great.
Check out our live updates from this event and post-battle interview with Ill Will.
Ogmios vs. QP
Who: Ogmios (London, England) vs. QP (Stockton, Calif.)
Where: Don't Flop post-"Revolution" one-off at Sonny Bamboo's house in Atlanta, Ga.
When: Nov. 2, 2014
Why you should watch it: Of all the style clashes on this month's list, this is the strangest. Both emcees are definitely on opposite fringes of the usual battle rap style in terms of both delivery and writing but somehow it works.
Ogmios' laid-back approach (think battle rap Tai chi) makes its U.S. debut in Sonny Bamboo's living room after Quantum Physics no-showed the previous night. His content is filled with brilliantly original imagery, specifically the bit about Quantum Suicide and starting a crew called the "Triple Entendres" along with Chilla Jones.
QP puts on a great performance too and his subtle wordplay and start-stop staccato delivery work much better in this intimate setting than on the main stage at "Duel In The Desert."
Craig Lamar vs. Stebo
Who: Craig Lamar (Tampa, Fla.) vs. Stebo (Atlanta, Ga.)
Where: Spit Dat Heat's "Bar Savvy" in Atlanta, Ga.
When: Jan. 3, 2015
Why you should watch it: Spit Dat Heat is the top up-and-coming small league. It's not even debatable. Rising stars like T-Top and Brizz Rawsteen both launched from the Atlanta-based platform and new names like Chef Trez and Fliiko L (who topped BattleRap.com's Most Slept-On Battles Of 2014 list) are finally starting to get the shine they deserve. Here, two more of the league's talents put on an outstanding battle, helped by the fact that it looks like everyone is actually having fun.
Soon SDH will go up against the roster of We Go Hard, another smaller league that has been making noise in New York lately. Expect some of those face-offs to end up on future "best battle" lists.
Goodz vs. Ah Di Boom
Who: Goodz (Bronx, N.Y.) vs. Ah Di Boom (Bridgeton, N.J.)
Where: RBE's "Blood Sweat & Tiers" at Club DROM in New York, N.Y.
When: Nov. 1, 2014
Why you should watch it: Ah Di Boom had three battles drop in January, but the standout was this one-rounder against veteran emcee Goodz at the RBE event. Before this battle, Boom had a reputation of "reaching" too much, but here his writing is tight and his performance more focused than ever before. Goodz' strength is his swagger though, and even though Boom brings fire for the whole round, Goodz basically catches up with him within his first eight bars.
Charlie Clips vs. Marv Won
Who: Charlie Clips (Harlem, N.Y.) vs. Marv Won (Detroit, Mich.)
Where: BBG's "Power" in Detroit, Mich.
When: Nov. 8, 2014
Why you should watch it: Another one-rounder. Marv puts on in front of his hometown crowd, who are clearly riding with him. As Goodz did against Boom, Clips just kind of cruises through his performance and has enough talent to still make it entertaining and debatable. Making it look easy is an underappreciated talent in battle rap, and Clips nails it here.
Listen to Marv Won recap this battle and the rest of the event here.
MBD vs. 8R14
Who: M.B.D. aka Mrs. Black Dyamond (Compton, Calif.) vs. 8R14 (Long Beach, Calif.)
Where: Queen Of The Ring's "The Coldest Winter Ever" in Los Angeles, Calif.
When: Dec. 5, 2014
Why you should watch it: QOTR recently made its way out West and have already shone a spotlight on some solid new female talent. Here M.B.D. brings heavy aggression and dominates the stage against 8R14, who holds her own in a room full of West Coast VIPs. Several YouTube commenters called this "one of the best Sparring Session battles ever."
Cee Major vs. Chilla Jones
Who: Cee Major (London, England) vs. Chilla Jones (Boston, Mass.)
Where: Don't Flop's "Sixth Birthday Weekend" at Stylus in Leeds, England
When: Nov. 15, 2014
Why you should watch it: After a few cancellations, this battle ended up being the impromptu main event at Don't Flop's 6BW event last November. It fully lived up to expectations, so much so that it ended up on BattleRap.com's Top Don't Flop Battles Of 2014 list (even though it technically dropped in 2015...).
Check our post-battle interviews with both guys, then listen to Cee Major's new EP here.
Big J vs. Uno Lavoz
Who: Big J (London, England) vs. Uno Lavoz (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Where: Don't Flop's "Sixth Birthday Weekend" at Stylus in Leeds, England.
When: Nov. 15, 2014
Why you should watch it: Another strong battle from 6BW, pitting two of the scenes, uh, less mature emcees against each other mostly so they could insult the other's family members. Basically it's the battle rap equivalent of a "Three Stooges" episode but with more swearing. Highly entertaining.
Check out our live updates from this event and our post-battle interview with Uno Lavoz.
Carter Deems vs. Isaac Knox
Who: Carter Deems (Atlanta, Ga.) vs. Isaac Knox (Orlando, Fla.)
Where: Don't Flop's "The Revolution" in Atlanta, Ga.
When: Nov. 1, 2014
Why you should watch it: When he's not battling in Spit Dat Heat or here in Don't Flop Atlanta, Carter Deems is probably somewhere extolling his love of animals to whoever is around. A good indication of what you're getting here: Carter pulls out a long list of shoutouts for his intro that includes several different species of turtles, pants, and the person who invented shoutouts because without shoutouts he wouldn't be able to shout out the person who invented shoutouts.
Jon Rines spoke with Carter after the match for BattleRap.com. Carter invited him to Long John Silver's.
Harry Baker vs. Oshea
Who: Harry Baker (Bristol, England) vs. Oshea (Liverpool, England)
Where: Don't Flop's "Sixth Birthday Weekend" at Stylus in Leeds, England
When: Nov. 16, 2014
Why you should watch it: This is the sixth Don't Flop battle on this list, which feels like overkill, but that's just how the cards fell this month. This is another entertaining one, with an on-fire performance from veteran Oshea whose third round angle about his deteriorating relationship with DF league founder Eurgh is comedic genius.
Harry Baker comes from the U.K.'s spoken word scene and has some ridiculously good wordplay (never walk alone/never wore cologne). Days after this battle he did a TED Talk, which shows how varied DF's roster is right now.
Check out our post-battle interview with both emcees.
Chilla Jones vs. Dialect
Who: Chilla Jones (Boston, Mass.) vs. Dialect (Leeds, England)
Where: KOTD's "Flatline 3" event at The Opera House in Toronto, Canada
When: Nov. 22, 2014
Why you should watch it: This was originally supposed to be Dialect vs. Danny Myers, but Danny had passport issues and KOTD was able to scramble and get Chilla with a fair amount of notice. Both emcees had battled the week before in the U.K. but came fully prepped and got their content out despite a pretty terrible Toronto crowd. Chilla's "I don't know if I'm winning or losing" angle about not being able to understand Dialect's thick accent is gold, as is Dialect's flow.
Check out BattleRap.com's preview of this battle, our interviews with Chilla and Dialect and our picks for the top moments from FL3.
Honorable mentions
Isaac Knox & Heir Jordan vs. The Gen Waggers is a beautiful, perfect trainwreck of a battle.
KG The Poet vs. Danja Zone was the first main battle at the SM4 Warm-Up event and was the last footage to drop from it. For both those reasons, this battle didn't get the attention it deserved.
Want more battles? Check our battles section, or our 2014 In Review content.
Did we miss any good ones? Post them in the comments section below.
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