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However, rap is no longer a game dominated by African-American men. In New York City, I was floored by the rap genius of Chocolate Tai, who besides having a great name, also has a tight flow. Her story, as a single mother, looking for a big break, despite the fact that her mother and grandmother are very much against her career choices, left me pushing for her victory. However, she was up against Diabolic, who is a White rapper from Long Island, with a killer flow and a vast vocabulary. This classic battle of rap minorities, was hot. MC Lyte and Eminem were just some of the rappers discussing what women and White men had to overcome to make it in the rap game, adding to the intense battle that ensued. Chocolate Tai was the victor, using a killer line that I thought was off the hook (If you an atheist, then I’m going to send you to a place that doesn’t really exist). That was deep and right there, I wanted to see her win. She did and advanced to the final five.
In Los Angeles, Detroit’s Quest M.C.O.D.Y, Atlanta’s Ness Lee, L.A.’s Spit Fiya and Philadelphia’s Young Blake joined Chocolate Tai in a friendly rap battle. Everyone here deserved to be recognized, but in the end, Spit Fiya and Chocolate Tai set the standard. I was impressed by both their work and so were the judges. Chocolate Tai already displayed her skills as a strong woman with a depth in her vocals and a good use of words, but Spit Fiya showed us why he got the name as he spit lyrics at rapid speed and brought Hip Hop back to its old school sound with some new school flavor. As he said, Compton is back!
Spit Fiya controlled the mic by just breaking down his opponents and taking each victory one at a time. He told Ness Lee “You couldn’t be off the chain, if you was a runaway slave.” and “If his girl gave me a hand job, he still couldn’t beat me.” Tai was defeated, but able to move on and eventually faced Ness fresh off his defeat at the hands of Spit Fiya. Tai had to overcome odds as Ness tore the woman up, stating that she was a dude with breast implants and stating, “My titties are bigger than hers, when I’m spitting my rhymes...oh God, she’ll probably pull out a dick that’s bigger than mines.” Tai didn’t have to go for the jugular, but showcased better rhymes and won out. Spit Fiya tore up Young Blake, with a backhand battle rap insult. “I’m gonna give this guy props, he can really spit it, too bad 99% of his rhymes were all written,” he said to advance to the finals. Blake couldn’t get himself together and would lose out to Tai, too, setting up a battle between Spit Fiya and Chocolate Tai.
This was a great battle. Fiya told Tai, “Your rhymes ain’t hot, you just got halitosis.” Tai was hot, too, keeping up and forcing the judges to ask for one more round before they determined a victor. Tai seemed to have it locked up, proclaiming victory, calling herself the American Idol, “Hell no, you can’t win, got your shoulders on the mat, 1-2-3 pin.” However, Fiya saved the best for last, “I’m so addictive, they call me nicotine,” he said before expanding on the statement with, “You’re like Marlboro’s cause you just got smoked.” Taking a page from Eminem’s book, he finished Tai off with the line, “My style’s not feeling you like Christopher Reeve’s legs.”
Overall, it was a great battle. I had Spit Fiya picked to be a winner, but Chocolate Tai was definitely worthy of going to the finals and could have won it against anyone else or if Spit Fiya was off his game. In battle rapping, it is anyone’s game. If you don’t come correct, if you don’t have your vocabulary down, if you aren’t ready to take some heat and come back full throttle, then you are already a loser. These rappers are pioneering the return of the battle rap scene and it is something that this article does no justice to at all. Battle raps, specifically those found in this Showtime special, need to be seen and heard. Check your local listings, because the show is still getting play, before it eventually comes out in DVD format. Turn off the radio and stop listening to the same old nonsense…real rap is back in the Next Episode.
Send your comments and or questions to JMinners@ybfree.com.