Ultimate Madness 2 Thick With Upsets … Bill Collector Issues Shutdown Notices

The second-round bracket of SMACK/URL’s Ultimate Madness 2 tournament happened over the weekend and it proved that in a competition like this —where $25,000 is on the line— anyone can catch that “W.” 

UM2 saw some super popular contestants fall flat, while others emerge as contenders for the grand prize and slot on Summer Madness on Sept. 19 on Caffeine.TV.

40 B.A.R.R.S., Tony Bro, Goodz (replacing Iron Solomon), and Method Man were the gatekeepers this week and as judges they had their work cut out for them: the talent at this level was at an all-time high. Champion’s Jay Blac and Battle Rap Trap’s D.I. da Hennyman were the hosts, along with the league owner Smack White.

Holmzie the God tackled Emerson Kennedy in a highly debated battle that left the judges split. One of the best back and forths of the night, HTG was able to talk to EK in a way few have on the URL stage. Clearly, a URL darling EK possesses all the makings of a top-notched league star. His lyricism has people whispering his name with the likes of JC and B-Dot, however the Afro-Puerto Rican did not have the SAZON to take it too that next round. Holmzie did. His aggression and energy translate well. But also, refreshingly, his bars have a level of creativity that many from his class have yet to master. 

Remember how unbelievable it was when Eminem’s character in 8 Mile stole the win over Anthony Mackie (you know Hawkeye) during the final rap battle scene of the movie? That is exactly the gritty feeling viewers had when North Carolina’s Nunn Nunn bested Brooklyn’s Mr. Wavy. Yes, both lyricists came to the competition ready to go for broke. Wavy pushed through the popular notion that he is all performance and light as a wordsmith to display a comfortable mixture of the two. But Nunn Nunn, in this particular battle, didn’t have those obstacles.

After already breaking through the obvious “white boys can’t rap” rhetoric, he came to the set with his mouth salivating like a ravenous dog fiending for the victory. It is that unpolished energy and the prowess of his pen that got him to the next level.

 

Danny Meyers might not be related to Michael, but the way that he did Tink the Demon was most certainly a horror show. Despite Tink’s choking, Danny verbally hatcheted his opponent, showing that in battle rap the only scary thing that an emcee can ever face in a contest is a well-prepared rapper, who loves to rap. Basically, Danny.

In the battle, Tink learned not to ask another grown man for water (that’s not on your team). Danny ran and got the bottle and rebuttal getting his friends the drink. The audience and the judges loved it. The only thing that Danny did that did not go over well with one judge was mentioning Method Man’s name. Meth told the rappers that they would not get any brownie points for doing that.

Still, the Bar God felt cool enough to slip in that he should “Slap Method Man for letting ‘How High 2’ get made.” The Wu rapper definitely took offense and checked Danny for what he saw as a sneak diss. It made for good TV as viewers tried to determine if he was playing or being sincere.

 

 

The last battle was between Mike P and Bill Collector. This battle invoked the spirit of Mike’s last two battles: Ryda and Th3 Saga.

If you remember in the first round of the UM2 series, Ryda’s battle mentioned a tryst with Pulice’s girlfriend. Well, Bill Collector brought that up and was able to shake his confidence with lines like “Mike P unfollowed all us n-words and that won’t erase that she swallowed all of those n-words.” Now how does the Sensei factor in … Mike P … Mr. Big Stage … choked. Like a Saga-NOME-X choke. While this was not the battle of the night, this battle definitely had several moments of the night.

 

 

The winners that will go on to the semi-finals are Holmzie the God, Nunn Nunn, Bill Collector, and Danny Myers. Tune in next time to see who will get to rock on the Summer Madness stage with URL’s most elite stars.

Shout out to Battle Rap Stats for this breakdown.

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