On a starry night in Amsterdam, Dirtbag Dan took hallucinogens and battled in one of Don’t Flop’s “freestyle royal rumbles.” At a certain point in the video, you can almost see his dilated pupils overcome with an intensely profound realization – to bring the royal rumble format back to the Zae.
Although the inspiration is clear, don’t mistake this move as a bite. BOTZ’s 8-man royal rumble is an entirely new and different animal, organized into three one-minute written rounds that unravel into a 42-minute battle. Although it’s long, this battle is nothing short of pure entertainment, and the emotional rollercoaster of energy that I witnessed live luckily translated very smoothly on camera.
The battle (which you can watch here) features a slew of Fresh Coast emcees, including Fredo, Reverse Live, Pnut, Madflex, Deadman, and BOTZ mastermind Dirtbag Dan himself. DBD made sure to include two non-battlers as well – Chuuwee (an underground rapper whose mixtape The South Sac Mac was recently featured on Complex’s top albums of 2015) and Abel Abilities (who you may recognize as the guy who is regularly too high to speak on "The Dirtbag Dan Show").
In the past, some have referred to BOTZ’s talent pool as “Grindtime Then” – a collection of vets who've had trouble reinventing themselves in the modern era. This battle is the perfect rebuttal to that claim, as each battler brings layered writtens and fiery flows that are a reminder of why the multi-heavy West Coast style will always have a place in battle rap.
The reason this battle worked so well is because, as a viewer, it feels like we are voyeurs to a giant inside joke. In recent years, much of battle rap has been overly serious and many match-ups seem to be motivated by money and politics. Here, it feels like we’re watching a bunch of friends trying to impress nobody but each other.
For the same reason "The Dirtbag Dan Show" has gained so much popularity, the rumble was so amazing because it makes us feel like a fly on the wall of a stoned-ass roasting session. Whether they’re clowning on Abel’s hairline, Reverse’s man-bun, or Deadman’s general lack of shirt-wearing, the eight of them reacting is as hilarious as the bars themselves. Where else could Reverse Live complain about Madflex not letting him smoke weed in the rental car on the way to "Back To Basics" and hear half the crowd erupt?
Overall, Madflex and Reverse won in the building, and to me, it was the same on camera. I can also see you giving it to Fredo or Deadman depending on style preference.
The logical next question is: What’s next for the royal rumble format? Could we see it transfer over to the street battling style the same way 2-on-2 battles have recently? Think about the potential for "gun so big" lines when there are seven other people to shoot. Overall, I think this format will work best at smaller events, where there is enough of a culture and history that the audience feels like they’re in on the mayhem.
Who do you think won? Leave your comment below.
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