In the time between the cancellation of Carter Deems vs. Head I.C.E and the announcement of Dizaster vs. Chilla Jones, JC vs. Psycoses got bumped up a slot to get more prominence on the "Back To Basics 2" card. It's an unusual but promising pairing that should shine in the pit format at the sophomore installment of the stripped down battle series this Saturday, June 27 in Los Angeles. Here's hoping Daylyt doesn't read "stripped down" and get any ideas.
JC had one hell of a 2014. He packed in roughly a dozen battles in roughly 12 months, taking on names like B Magic, Danja Zone, Syahboy and (in late 2013) Tay Roc. His stronger battles got less attention than they perhaps deserved, with his loss to K-Shine's rendition of "Smooth Criminal" doing about four times the number of views as his clash with Danny Myers, which was one of the better battles from last year.
Not one of those battles was with KOTD, and he's made no appearances for the league since before his no-show against Rone at "Blackout 4," so he will likely be looking for a memorable performance to re-establish himself. He arrived, really arrived, against Chilla Jones for URL but he has gravitated further and further away from the New York mainstage and more towards the mid-sized satellite leagues. A win over Psycoses, who is currently on a steamroller run, would be a great move for him.
Being smooth, as he usually is, will not work here. RemyD's great material against Psych at the first "Back To Basics" showed that you need more than just a strong pen game to face off with him, and projection, aggression and delivery will be the tools that JC needs to employ. It should be easier for him in the smaller room, but we'll see how he manages to absorb Psycoses' momentum. JC has a ton of experience and a lot of motivation to make a statement this weekend. If he doesn't come up trumps, he should at the very least put on a show.
Psycoses is the next name in KOTD. His dominant performance against RemyD has placed him very much on fans' radars and he could be a mainstay after taking a few bigger names in the future. JC is the first of them. He is pretty much the total package as far as battling is concerned and has nice buzz after only one upload on the KOTD's channel.
He's honed his craft in a variety of smaller match-ups on GZ Battles and JC is his biggest challenge yet. If he can show the various sides to his skill set in a pared-down setting (as he did so well against Remy) then he really could make a statement in a year that is already blurring the boundaries between vets and rookies. Where JC is moving away from his establishing demographic and finding new fans elsewhere, Psycoses is just starting to build his.
I can see Psychoses taking this with sheer energy, but I hope JC comes with material in line with his work against Danny Myers. This really could be a Top 5 of 2015 battle — both have momentum and motivation. Either way, it deserves the increased attention it got with the reshuffling of the card.
BattleRap.com will be in the building doing updates and our own Chris Mitchell will be co-hosting the live pay-per-view with Dirtbag Dan. Buy it here.
Who do you have taking it? Let us know in the comments below.
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