Summer Impact: a perspective and a primer for the best event in Battle Rap history

I intended to write about the myriad ways in which I have been influenced as a thinker and writer by the goddess Toni, or to fire a necessary salvo out over the hordes of our various supremacists, our supremacist in charge, and all those who we enable to engage of hatred of other and self, in our own lives. And, I will. I will come back around for all of those, and all that we continue to live with in our society, soonest. I wanted to tackle all of them, and felt emotionally heavy, reluctant, and obligated, so I chose this week to write up a bit of joy, to recharge, and get back on my grind. Today, for just a few moments of joy and sanity, we will discuss the gorgeous monster that is battle rap, and its most perfect event, coming to us this weekend.

I have shared a complicated relationship with battle rap, and our community. I vacillate between some manner of love/adoration and disappointment/confusion, when I consider the overall being that is battle rap. The sport, the art, the community, is always a shifting tableau of inconsistent belief and genius creativity. It is evolved hubris and childlike logic, and insecurity and limitless potential. All at once.

I’ve suggested before, and will here, and will again, that battle rap is the most rapidly evolving of all of the many growing elements of hip-hop. The craft itself has to be, as battlers must meet the demand of adjusting their style and content to what is current. Battlers must take the art of the fight, and present it in some new way for each opponent. The approach of a successful battler has to be updated every few months, otherwise they face extension. With these demands, consider that battle rap sees extreme evolutionary shifts every 2–3 years, as opposed to every decade. Generations are close developmentally, and like many other combat sports, the legends refuse to leave without being violently ejected over three rounds.

The evolution is a demand of the craft itself. Battlers are required to have varied skill sets. It is not nearly enough to have bars. There is a mob to be fed. They are investing emotion, money and attention. As such, battlers must have stage presence, performance, believability, aggression, humor, content, delivery…in many ways, battlers are required to perform more like mixed martial artists than boxers. Further, unlike their over-the-beat colleagues in rap, battlers must create three new, individual pieces of art for their next opponent. All of their next opponents truly, as they must also fend on imitators, stagnation, exhausted crowds, relatively meager battle purses a landscape crowded with competitors. Battlers must evolve, as the battle rap community is always at odds about who should stay and go, and who is ready for extinction.

That last may sound cruel and unforgiving, but such is the nature of battle rap as a sport and endeavor. There are no true “wins” and “losses”, which appears to make it attractive to those personalities among us that love the sport. We crave the analysis of the performance, we examine the ebb and the energy in the battle. Some of us wish to tether our emotion to a single hero, and favor the fact that we can argue that they have never been truly vanquished. Not in our eyes. It is a fascinating, but damning, reality.

At its finest, and best, battle rap is a war of words. It is a narrative battle. It is brutal verbal sparring, made art, and potential masterpiece, that is, in part why we watch. We want to witness the collision of two disparate skill sets, wielded by masters, and see which would be the better, as we know, styles always make fights.

And so to Ultimate Rap League’s Summer Impact card.

While the most important card in the history of battle rap remains Summer Madness 2, as it formally introduced titans and grew the culture and felt outside of battle rap, I maintain that Summer Impact is the best overall card in the sport’s history. Summer Impact is a full card showcasing the greatest collection of talent on any single card, coupled with the added pressure of performing with a teammate. While Summer Madness 2 would serve to elevate the profiles of legends Loaded Lux, Calicoe, Hitman Holla, Aye Verb T-Rex and Charlie Clips, it also gave birth to a new star in Jon Jon Da Don, and provided us with the heavily anticipated matchup between Murda Mook and Iron Solomon, which while the de facto main event, was a relatively disappointing battle. Summer Impact is pulling together a few of the above while they are in God Tier status (Mook, Lux,), it is also setting them in opposition of the greatest present talent in the sport, some seeking redemption, and many wishing to slay kings to ascend to divinity themselves.

What makes it best, is the sheer enormity of each of these actors on this stage. There is no filler, and there is greatness everywhere.

Of note here, is the women’s battle on the card. Summer Impact features an all women’s battle featuring four of the top 6–7 competitors in battle rap. A case can be made that Jaz the Rapper is the best ever, while E-Hart and O’fficial would also occupy space in that conversation. I would suggest that having this battle, featuring four of the best women to ever battle, and who have battled one another, raises the overall profile and stakes of the card.

While 2 on 2 battle cards have come to be thought of as “all star games”, that won’t take away from the gravity of this card. Each of these teams will have to find a way to create more significantly awe inspiring moments than their immediate opponents, and all other battlers and teams on the card. With this collection of talent, an obscene, but necessary, demand to make of these competitors. It is the card, the air around each battle, which suggests that none will leave anything in the chamber, and none in the quiver. There will be greatness, and some will be carried out on their shield.

So you are prepared for the card, yes? Like me, you purchased your ppv, yes? Like me, you no longer go to events because you refuse to purchase a ticket at premium prices to stand in place for 7 hours, yes? That last must be addressed as the spectator experience becomes a primary concern for battle leagues. You are ready for matchups and predictions, yes? Good. Here they are, in the order that I care to discuss each:

The Monstars (Nu Jersey Twork and Shotgun Suge) vs Marv and Quest: This is an interesting battle, and has the potential to be the most competitive on this card. Marv and Quest are one of the most accomplished teams in 2v2 battle history. They are solid, at times spectacular, but they have never appeared to be at a significant disadvantage in any battle that I have seen them in. Youngsters shouldn’t play with them, as they shut down a very talented Chess and Steams duo, and did so convincingly. With that being said, Twork is a force. When he picks up momentum, his delivery, creativity and performance become indelible marks in a battle. He can heat up and render the opposition’s offense moot. He is rather like Anakin Skywalker in many ways, supremely gifted, but as much a threat to himself and team as he is to his opposition if he is not prepared and diligent. I believe that he will be the difference in this battle of crafty, skilled veterans versus a team capable of making moments on camera and in the building. This will be a goody. I favor the veterans with my pick, give me Marv and Quest with a 2–1 edge, but Twork and Suge will have some room shakers…and a choke or two.

NWX (K-Shine and DNA) vs EFB (Geechi Gotti and Rum Nitty): These are four of the best and most accomplished battle rappers working today. NWX are quite literally, the gold standard in 2v2 battling, and that is including the beating they took for one round from Guntitles. They have excellent chemistry, great schemes and bars, creativity with content, and are charismatic when engaging the crowd. Their experience always makes them the favorite in these settings. However…Rum Nitty and Geechi Gotti are a problem. A huge problem. There is no one better with punches than Rum Nitty. No one. His punches come rapid fire, on and off topic, from odd angles and with authority. In a sport which values aggression and believability, no one has more currency banked than Geechi Gotti. Aside from being a talented writer, he is arguably the most believable of all battle rappers with is background as a Crip from Compton. He says it, you believe it. That is a skill set in battle rap. I am going to favor experience here again, as the elder NWX are still active, current, and dangerous. Close 2–1 decision to NWX, but I see a debatable battle coming, and some amazing punches flying and landing for all 3 rounds.

Jaz and O vs E Hart and 40 Barrs: I’m a battle rap fan, so I’m just going to have to say certain things and tick you of and we then debate, call one another names, and agree to disagree. That’s likely to happen here. I don’t believe that 40 Barrs is the best fit for this matchup, and the pairing with E Hart feels like an odd one when facing performance heavy punchers like Jaz and O’fficial. These four have some history. Jaz bodied 40 Barrs, badly. Jaz and Hart was close. O’fficial beat Jaz 2–1, clearly. E Hart and O’fficial had an exhibition, and as recently as last weekend, E Hart beat O’fficial battling over a beat (verbal War Zone is a dope league, go get some), E Hart and 40 Barrs had a debatable. While Hart and 40 both have bars, neither is known to shake rooms and produce the moments with haymakers that Jaz and O do. I could see Hart and 40 having a ton of bars in their three rounds, and losing this battle convincingly as they wont have the standout moments to top Jaz and O. Performance and energy matter. I have Jaz and O, 2–1, clear.

Charlie Clips and Goodz vs JJDD and Hitman Holla: I refuse to use whatever names have been gifted to these two teams, they deserve better. With regard to the battle, these are four greats, and were there to be a battle rap hall of fame, all four would be first year, first ballot. Charlie Clips, for a time, was on a “best ever” trajectory. All four bring a particular “battle rap superpower” to the fight. Clips can freestyle entire rounds. Goodz controls crowds. Holla may be the best ever performer in battle rap. JJDD constructs brilliant schemes and angles. Each wiave moments to shine in this battle, but this is the one battle with absolutely no stakes. There is no animosity here, no resume building, no apparent ramifications, and the very real possibility that one of the rounds regresses to playing the dozens. Still, this will likely be the most entertaining and skill heavy battle on the card. I can’t pick a winner here, debatable 2–1, either way. Just have fun with this one. Its a scrimmage.

Murda Mook and Calicoe vs T-Top and Brizz Rawsteen: Interesting battle at first glance. Mook and Calicoe are all time greats, while Brizz and Top are perennial all stars at this point. Problem being, this game is being played right now, while Briz and Top are in their prime. And while battles are war of words and not physical skills, the ability to deliver bars and perform as current are essential. Calicoe has demonstrated generally, that the game has not passed him, but Mook showed a bit of rust in that battle versus Aye Verb. And yes, he lost that battle. Full stop. Mook ad Cal will get a round due in part to being able to talk their history ad standing to Brizz and Top, and the crowd loving the novelty, after that though…Top and Brizz, 2–1.

Hollow Da Don and Loaded Lux (Loaded Hollows)vs Tay Roc and Chess (Gunz and Cake): To begin with, I have to take a round away from Tay Roc and Chess, due in large part to the team name. It is unsightly. That will be the same round that the crowd, and we watching at home, are struck by the sheer magnitude of two of the greatest ever battle rappers, Loaded and Hollow, teaming to bring their particular brand of thoughtful battle rap to us and blessing us. They are gifted, and both can still go in today’s game. What concerns me will be the accumulation of punishment. Roc and Chess are going to be landing gun bar punches, with creative and powerful consistency, over the course of three rounds. There are several things to consider. Is Chess ready for this moment? He has replaced Tsu Surf in this battle, and while performing well of late, has a relatively recent history of choking during battles. I doubt that Roc lets him come in unfocused and unprepared, but it is a consideration. Have Lux and Hollow had to make critical changes to their material? This can impact their comfort and the delivery of said material. Will Roc and Chess have chemistry? Will Lux and Hollow be able to wield their seniority as a weapon past one round? Ultimately, I expect a phenomenal battle. Whether you believe Chess deserves to be here is academic at this point. He has had some otherwordly performances in his history, and is still evolving. This incubator of a battle could birth his next evolution, and we might see greatness here. Roc is always best in his biggest battles. I see speed and skill versus power and aggression in this one. Give me Hollow and Lux in a very close battle, 2–1, and the resulting battle giving us the best Chess we have ever seen.

I am glad that the card is upon us, and that of all the chaos in our immediate spaces right now, something as messy and lovely as battle rap makes so very much sense. Come find me tomorrow and let me know how your predictions turn out. I’ll be back to do my part to heal the world shortly.

Be good out there.