Total Slaughter Reaction

Let me start by saying, the battle is a test of skills, will, preparation, and ultimately delivery. However, you gotta be a true head to really be checkin for what an emcee is doin lyrically and that is the crux of what battling is. So I don’t think the battle will ever be mainstream because the average music fan is not checking for what the artist is doing lyrically so much as the overall feel of the song as a whole, with most interest hinging on the actual music. Therefore, there was only so much light this event could bring and I tend to believe that there were very few, if any, fans that watched this event that had never seen a battle event prior. However, it is possible that the hype machine promoting this event caused some fans to do research on the culture and perhaps become interested in the culture beyond this event. But I doubt it. Battling is a niche culture and there is really nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. I like being able to go find battles when the mood hits me as opposed to being blasted with artists and events even when I’m on something else; as the pop culture machine tends to do. So I do want them dudes to be able to make a living off the culture but I cant say I wanna see em where millions is on the line. That kinda money attracts parties interested in the bottom line and not the culture itself. History has proven this is a recipe for disaster and ultimately the demise of the initial catalyst. But I digress, so lets get into it… While Total Slaughter did bring some light to da culture, and I do mean some light, it proved URL has truly figured out the formula for putting on battle events and getting the best out of em. Just like an emcee who’s strength and focus is songwriting tryin to jump into the top level of battling, Total Slaughter experienced the growing pains that the top level has already surpassed. Unfortunately, the performances added to the mediocre appearance of the overall event. Arsenal had a strong showing and Mook had the strongest showing of the entire event by far. But the rest didn’t really come off. Big T seemed out of his element the entire series and it culminated in a subpar performance at the final event. Now perhaps the expectation was too high and they did what they normally do but the event was too big, too mainstream. But I can’t go with that. I have seen strong performances from T-Rex, who was definitely the star of the Total Slaughter show, but he too was a bit lacking in his bars at the final event. T-Rex had a fairly easy time combatting a Daylyt that seemed to be seeking an opportunity for a Saturday Night Live appearance than for building his brand as a battle emcee. If he was gone do that I would rather he tanked his battle with Dizaster and let Diz go for it against T-Rex. What Daylyt did in that third round was probably the worse thing that could have happened for the event outside of a riot. He did not spit a bar…not a single line. I know he thinks that what he did will cause him to be the most talked about persona from the event but Mook aired that idea out and the main event battle surpassed it as well. Daylyt is too dope of an emcee to be reduced to the mascot/court jester of battle rap…but how can you tell a nigga not to be what he wants to be. I just hope he attains whatever level of success he is seeking…I would hate for all those striptease moments to not amount to anything. To the co-main event… Loaded Lux apparently did not do his homework and watch the Mook and Iron Solomon battle. Mook is even better than Lux at breakin an emcee down because he goes from the perspective of the majority whereas Lux attempts to educate and enlighten. And that’s cool, once. But niggas don’t be tryna hear all that, it is evident in the music and the television depiction of blacks. Niggas love ignorance, an unfortunate but realistic truth. And Mook is a genius at presenting his intellectual case under the disguise of “understood ignorance”. Lux showed up thinking he was the people’s champ and believed the battle was won on arrival. Maybe it was the “you on get this work” tweet from Jay Z, which I still don’t understand why a tweet from him is such a big deal. It’s a tweet homey, till he reach out for a feature and give you light in a song I prefer you say thanks and go about your way, but that’s me. In any event, Lux didn’t give Mook the preparation he deserved and he paid dearly. Lux is now going to have to change his whole get down should he continue battling and that is all thanks to Mook. And I’m not even a Mook fan but I give props to all dope emcees and Mook massacred Lux. To the main event… Joe Buddens started incredibly strong but the taper was more of a freefall for real. And me personally, I don’t wanna hear about how joe on and hollow not. I wanna hear bars. Besides, Joe stepped into Hollow’s world. I don’t care what city you run, you can’t show up on a nigga block where he king and expect to get his royal treatment. That ain’t how this work. Also, Joe looked so outta place on that battle stage. He seemed unsure on how to deliver his bars. Should he rap to a rhythm or just try to go with varying paces like most battle rappers do? He seemed conflicted from line to line. And though it is about the bars, it is also just as much about how you deliver them. From the BET cyphers I knew Joe was going to have a problem in this area. And boy did he ever!!! The lack of strong delivery really took away from the moments that Joe did have with powerful shots. But again, he was outta place. Hard to win when you practice on a hundred yard field when the touchdown is a hundred and ten yards away. Hollow really did what I expected him to do however, he seemed to suffer from what the other battle emcees (except for Mook/Arsenal) suffered from. On one of the biggest stages he has been on thus far, this performance, while not bad, was not his best at all. He had some moments but he had more filler, more setups and not enough punches. I feel Hollow possesses the skill and showmanship to completely body Joe and Joe in my opinion did nothing to impede this. But Hollow just made it closer than it needed to be. Joe got off that first round because he had the bars in the right place. Everyone in attendance and/or watching on tv/internet was waiting to hear Joe first round. To hear what this “mainstream” artist might say. And he brought a couple lines that landed solid. But once that was out of the way, the fact that he was an amateur on this type of battle stage was glaringly obvious. And this is where Hollow should have bodied him. Joe putting the mic down, not knowing how to handle the boos further proved he was all the way out of his element. And let me add I do not like the fact that they didn’t let Hollow get off when he picked the mic up. Damn that structure, that moment could have been historical for the culture as a whole in the same vein of Jay putting that Summer Jam screen to use first. This is proof of how wack the mainstream element is and how limiting and stifling it can be. In any event, I gave Joe round 1, hollow round 2, and hollow got round 3 because joe quit (his round 3 wasn’t really goin anywhere anyway). Hollow had a moment that struck me hard… “you don’t think you gon get beat bet a band joe (banjo), you talk about all dis practice and you aint got no dough joe (dojo), well dat aint enough to buy swag you gon need some mo joe (mojo)…..one of the dopest moments in the whole battle. Overall, I think Shady should have let the professionals handle this event. I am not a fan of Smack as an individual at all but I do dig what he has done for battling and the light he has brought to it. Had he and his team been tapped to handle the event I think it would have went much better because they have a clear understanding of the culture. Really, Shady shoulda teamed with URL to get this off. Not doing so, looks like a money grab/promotional opportunity for Shady more than for the culture. But time will tell if they are truly invested. Let me know what ya’ll think. Peace.