MC Battle Blog

The battles from the Portland New Year’s Eve event were judged by myself, TheSaurus, Okwerdz, Al-One and DJ Nykon. As we were faced with some really thin decisions throughout the event, we definitely anticipated confusion with regard to the judging.

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Continue reading to read my breakdown  of the battle. TheSaurus and Okwerdz’ explanations will be available very soon.

Round 1: Ex-I came with it for sure and had some nice personal shit, but I personally felt Franco’s entire round just a bit more. He took a bit to get it going, but as always, his verse gained momentum and by the end of his round I was really into it.

“I spit it hotter, while this biter rips me off ’cause
He say he got bars but he can’t really spit the hot ones
Frontin’ like he battled, but hasn’t did it often
You get left with the cement shoes, bitch, like Jimmy Hoffa”

I give this round to Franco although it was definitely close.

Round 2: Ex-I’s best round for sure. The “nobody’s flyer” line was super ill and he stretched the rest of the scheme into another solid bit with “Toby McGuire in homely attire.” His closer was great and it was delivered super raw.

I love Franco’s style. Much like Ex-I, he gets his point across in creative ways that very few use. The concepts in his lines are executed cleverly along with excellent multis to accompany them. He comes with line after line in a nonstop approach and it works very well.

“My rhymes are all for real/ And when he’s got the writer’s block, I’m kind of hard to kill”

The entire scheme on Sigourney Weaver was super fresh to me.

Again, close round, but I think Franco edged it. Another thing that can’t be stressed enough is how lines appear in the heat of the moment at the event Vs. rewatching the vidoes at home where you can pause to analyze (in this case it hasn’t changed my mind, but it can definitely shorten the gap).

Round 3: Ex-I’s ‘Portland fans/ Orkin man‘ line was nasty. His “virus free/ Hepatitis B” line was the line of the round for me.

Franco came with a pretty dope verse, but it had nothing to do with Ex-I, thus Ex-I takes this round with ease.

OT: Franco absolutely beasted. His whole scheme in the beginning of the first round was bonkers. “What you need to do is stop talkin’/ Like you was in the presence of godfathers and mob bosses.” Wow. Every line in his OT round was a quotable.

Another sick round from Ex-I. Probably his best. The whole “Sam I Am + full retard” shit was great, but Franco wrecked shit.

So there you go. A very good battle, but I felt Franco edged the first two rounds and once it went to OT, it wasn’t even close. Great showing from both.

The other judges analysis will be coming soon so check back frequently.

	It was such a tough decision to make as a judge, especially in the moment. both performances were solid and i felt overtime was the only way to determine a unanimous winner since it was so close after three. however in retrospect, Franco’s random third verse was completely irrelevant and i can definately understand one’s argument that ex-i took it in three. but in a round for round breakdown, for me at least, i had Franco taking rd.1, a near deadlock in Rd. 2, and then of course Ex-i winning rd 3. It wasnt decisive enough for me on either side to call it then. And Franco happened to save his best round for OT which was a serious risk that worked out for him. Also Franco’s energy in the moment is really something thats better grasped in person as opposed to on camera. fuckin dope battle all around for two of the better and most original emcees in the circuit. I hate you both equally.
	TheSaurus http://www.myspace.com/thebestrapperontheplanet