Battle rap strategy made a slow monumental shift a couple years ago from using personal angles to vanquish your opponent, to seeing who could simply write and rap the best. Creative punchlines came to the forefront as “real life” attacks faded. Clever angles still pop up here and there but they're slowly going the way of the dinosaur. The viewership for battle rap seems like it is thirsty for a higher quality level of wordplay and creativity, rather than hearing a story about some emcee’s true-or-not-true one-night-stand with a tranny.
Every once in a while though, you get an emcee who reaches back to the previous era and chooses to build a beautifully crafted angle against their opponent. When used well it makes you ask why that style ever got eclipsed. The ongoing debate will forever be, which reigns supreme: bars or angles? The most recent evidence in this argument is the aptly titled “Battle Of The Gods” from LABattleGroundz — The Figure Of Figueroa, Danny Myers, vs. promising upstart B Dot.
(Watch the battle here.)
You always know what you're gonna get with Danny Myers — clever punchlines delivered with intense aggression. He comes out in the first two rounds doing what he does best, punching the lights out of B Dot. He touches on everything from B Dot’s role models being frauds, to the obscure references that he’s so good at, with most of his content connecting with the crowd.
B Dot is calm through his rounds and goes to his well of un-lost nigga bars. These are always a risky play but the LABG crowd loves B Dot so the approach hit. B Dot is intertwining knowledge of black history and activist rap, and if you aren’t familiar with the subjects, you might take his set-ups as long droughts that lead to decent punches.
I have great respect for B Dot’s style even though many have thrown shade because of its similarities to that of Mr. Beloved Loaded Lux himself. Either way, it takes stones to get up in a battle rap scene and not give the people what they are so accustomed to: gun bars and threats of violence. Having said all that, Danny’s relentless punching still has him squeaking out the first two rounds. Then … it happened.
The fitting last round of the battle and of the night is on B Dot. It's in this round that he chooses to use an immaculate angle on Danny Myers. B Dot starts by letting the crowd and viewers know that although he appreciates the attention from women that he’s been getting, he is happily married and plans to stay that way. Right after that statement he dives directly into the topic of Danny Myers’ numerous baby mothers. Then he parlays that into the amount of kids Danny has (10, according to Danny). He directs his attention to the women and clearly distinguishes himself from being the type of man who is just going to use them for a short-term connection and sex. He claims Danny is guilty of treating black women like the women they have been improperly portrayed as due to years of white men’s damaging ideals. B Dot finishes the damn-near-perfect round and caps off a truly unique battle and performance.
I’m in the minority who thinks one great round can win you an entire battle. I know that’s not a popular opinion but hey, I’m a Lux fan. Sorry Calicoe. So my final ruling is, Danny 2-1, but I still have B Dot winning the battle.
Check out our 20 Questions interview with Emerson Kennedy battle and his PG battle with Cali Smoov.
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
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