KOTD and GZ Battles recently treated Vancouver to an event that will go down as one of the best in Northwest battle history, as a quality group of battlers descended upon the Red Room for La Sparka’s birthday “Surprise Party” on Nov. 7. A lively crowd of more than 275 people packed the venue to see Dizaster’s Vancouver debut and the rest of the crazy matches on the card. Here are the breakdowns.
Lil G vs. Dizaster
Ok, first of all, if you're not familiar with the legend of Lil G, check out this vlog to get acquainted.
Many were curious to see how Dizaster would approach Vancouver fan favorite and blossoming cult figure, the Gawd Lil G, after incredible recent performances against Gjonaj and Dumbfounded. While Lil G’s approach could be anticipated well in advance (three rounds mostly filled with jokes about how big his dick is), the question on everyone’s mind going into the last battle of the night was: what was Dizaster going to do?
Diz joked and clowned on Lil G all battle, including several Lil G impressions that had the crowd dying. One of his standout quotables was “Your shadow looks like Roger from American Dad”. Lil G responded with some great comedic moments including “I can’t tell if you’re an Arab or a white man, but if we are on the same flight, I’m switching my flight plan.” This battle was extremely entertaining and will have a ton of replay value.
Mike Wiald (Wildcard) vs. Ape Yola
The co-main event after Tricky P pulled out did not disappoint. While neither of these guys have fully broken into the consciousness of mainstream battle rap audiences, this was an important battle for Vancouver. Blunt Force (Ape Yola, DDSS and Pigsty) have dominated the Vancouver scene for a couple of years now, although Mike Wiald (formerly known as Wildcard) has been putting in a ton of work to claim that throne.
This was his first chance at a Blunt Force opponent, and he took full advantage of the opportunity, taking shots at DDSS and a disapproving Pigsty after making fun of Ape for his girl leaving him for Cody the Catch. “Your girl left you for Cody the Catch/ Looked at you, and at him, and thought Cody’s the catch” was probably his most accessible quotable, but he was punching all battle long.
Ape was clowning on Wildcard heavily for his weight while simultaneously showing Wiald he could more than match his aggression. Ape had a line about Wiald hiring a manager and asking everyone to only book him through that manager that went something like “You hired a manager to manage your so-called career, so they can handle that one phone call a year”. This battle has been called 3-0 both ways, 2-1 either way, and too close to call, so I think it’s safe to assume it’ll be debatable on footage.
Dennis Good vs. Cander
The final judged battle of the night actually produced the only questionable call. Washington native Dennis Good, riding the wave of wins over Dikulz and Blasphem-E (I always find a way to write myself into these things), was on the card against Grand Prix quarterfinalist Cander. Cander opened with some hilarious Asian jokes, then had some great material throughout the second, before making fun of his own Asian jokes and doing a great Dennis impersonation in the third.
This was also the first time KOTD has seen Dennis really stumble, as he came out of the gates lacking all of the normal wit and delivery he’s become known for. While he picked up steam towards the end of the second, it looked like he was going to get completely outclassed this battle.
Then the third round hit. Don’t ask for quotables, as quotables don’t do Dennis’ style justice. When he gets going he gathers so much momentum. It was also Cander’s weakest round. This is the sort of battle that will reopen the debate about whether an emcee can win a match despite losing two rounds.
Copasetic vs. Civic
This battle was incredibly entertaining. Cope was up to his usual antics, showing up dressed as a mechanic, complete with a wrench and grease stains on his face, before unleashing an incredible first round entirely based on car word play. Cope has an interesting style, where he shows he knows conventions in battle rap before completely ignoring them. He appeared to be choking in his first round, and said a weak line about an audience members’ hat, before following up with “right now y’all think Cope is a dope writer, and he frees (antifreeze),” which took a moment for the audience to get before they collectively lost their shit.
Civic had some great material addressing Cope’s character, discussing how Copasetic – who brags about his incredible losing streak and claims to lose on purpose – only does it because he’s afraid of trying and being judged as a loser. In the end, Civic took this battle in a 2-1 decision, but it was fun the whole way through.
Dekstone vs. Patch
My choice for battle of the night — this battle had everything. Dekstone is absolutely insane with bars, and has been for a couple of battles. His weakness has always been his performance, and that changed this time around. He was engaging with the audience, charismatic, and managed to deliver intricate material in a way that still resonated with the crowd.
Patch was on fire this battle too. He had a bunch of lines about Dekst’s girlfriend, drinking, and dead father. He also flipped a previous scheme from Dekst where he had talked about Canadian coins, and adding a hot 16 to make a 357. There were some incredible bars from both sides, and great comedic moments (Dekstone asked Patch to name the elements of hip-hop, which Patch was unable to do). When you see this battle drop on GZ, make sure you watch it.
The Ginger Bred Man vs. Bizzy Mind
This was arguably the only real 3-0 of the night. Bizzy Mind wasn’t bad by any means, and he had some good lines like “Without a soul, how can you have a soulmate?” However, it wasn’t a match for Ginger, who is a walking quote machine: “The word level backwards, I’m on a whole other level,” and a set-up about how each of his rounds was a different style, leading to the Pokemon reference “I’m bringing you a different beast in three rounds like Professor Oak.” Ginger was bouncing back from a hard loss in the Smoked Out Battles GP and looked like he had something to prove all battle long. Ginger will be a threat going forward.
Whoompthereitis vs. Sirreal
The opening battle of the night featured a double KOTD debut. Whoomp has showcased an original, comedic style on Smoked Out Battles, whereas Sirreal had a solid debut in his first battle on Big Valley Battles. Both came together for their first KOTD match, making for a solid battle. Whoomp came out firing in his first with some hilarious material, whereas Sirreal appeared extra nervous in his debut.
However, he bounced back to take the second, with the battle coming down to the third round. Unfortunately, Whoomp’s third round was interrupted by a technical screwup by an incompetent DJ currently moonlighting as a recap writer, but by that point, the match had likely been decided. Sirreal took the match 2-1.
Overall it was an incredible night. Shout outs to La Sparka and Willie B for their work creating this event.
All images by Phoenix Flash Photography for KOTD. See the full set here.
Were you there? Let us know your thoughts on the event below.
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