This battle was essentially billed as the top pen in the U.S. versus the top pen in the U.K. There’s a ton of room for debate on those superlatives, but that was definitely part of the allure.
While the outcome doesn’t quite measure up to the surreal heights it could have reached, it’s undeniably significant and makes for a damn solid back-and-forth. If your experience is anything like mine, this battle will force you to choose between two highly technical approaches that look shockingly different next to one another.
Full disclosure: for whatever reason, this crowd is a little sleepy. Chilla goes first, and the drowsiness is noticeable in the top of Round 1. His wordplay is of its typical caliber (fire), but it feels like the gun bars he sprinkles in catch the crowd off guard. Still, this is just about who can manipulate words better, so there’s no reason to disqualify “street” content. This isn’t the most haymaker-packed round we’ve seen from Chilla, but the way he leans into his lines shows how far he’s come in projection and aggression.
From the jump, Tony is more contemplative in his approach, which can be both a vice and a virtue. Rather than pointing out a character trait as a setup and departing from it to deliver a punch, Tony usually makes them one and the same. He does this masterfully most of the time, but in Round 1 there’s a slight unevenness to his pacing, accompanied by an abrupt mid-scheme comment about how he’s losing his voice. That sounds nitpicky, but Round 1 is so close that there’s no way around it. Chilla edges it.
Remember what I said about gun bars? In Round 2, they nevertheless start to seem like a questionable approach for this particular battle. Make no mistake — Chilla’s shit still hits, but the headier stuff seems to hit harder against Tony. If you’re going to stretch words, it doesn’t get much better than what Chilla does here. Aside from an awkwardly repeated setup, this is another strong offering from Chilla.
In his second round, Tony really starts to distance himself from Chilla’s style. It’s a pretty jokey exercise, which will end the battle at 2-0 Chilla for some fans, but it fills a void Chilla largely leaves open. He starts his round with an (almost definitely unintentional) homage to Carter Deems, parodying Chilla’s style with the (ab)use of the word “intuition.” As Chilla’s appreciation shows, the joke/bar blend he uses throughout is highly effective. Tony takes this round.
Frankly, Round 3 is something of a swing and a miss for Chilla. He starts by announcing an angles-only tactic and swears that Tony, “like Rex,” is a registered nurse. Tony addressed his past profession in our post-battle interview, but the crowd’s non-reaction and Tony’s genuine confusion in the battle make it seem like everyone in the room already knows it isn’t a viable angle. This and another oddly repeated setup make this Chilla’s weakest round.
Tony’s third is solid, but it’s something of a mixed bag. In contrast to his other rounds, his personal attacks take a backseat to wordplay and schemes in terms of how they land. You get the sense that he wanted to really pull away with lyricism in Round 3, and he just about pulls it off. He lands punches consistently and arguably out-writes Chilla with schemes that seem designed to be fully appreciated only on camera.
So that’s it. It’s extremely debatable, but for the moment I’ve got Tony D taking it 2-1, which I didn’t expect. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
This battle is available via Don't Flop's on demand pay-per-view. Check the site for the official release when it drops.
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