LA Magazine: Winner KOTM Nov & Dec

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Wiggle wiggle said the bun that jiggle

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    Posted: 02 January 2017 at 10:05am
Ladies and gentledudes,

It's my honor to present the winner of the last two months KOTM challenge. The high amount of entries made me pretty happy and especially the quality of said entries. I feel everyone interpreted the picture in a different way and that made every single drop unique from each other. We had entries from seasoned vets and newbies. Both dropped heat and I sincerely hope we can keep this up in the following months.

Per usual the next topic/picture will be determined in the following days and you will have two months to cook something up in that awesome little brain of yours. With that being said, let us begin!

First off is Sammy - Illusion.

By now it's pretty obvious that Sammy is a certified beast when it comes to topical pieces. This right here was no different. He goes on to describe the picture in a mixture of explaining his interpretation and referencing to art itself. The big homie Self Activate said it best in his feedback. On the surface it is impressive but once you dig deeper you will find all sorts of clever hidden stuff. My favorite section (as said in my feedback) was definitely the third stanza. Word.


This is one of the new cats. The general consensus was that the piece was especially strong towards its ending (especially the last 6 lines) but make no mistake. The flow of the first four lines is pretty bonkers. Took me a while to work it out, but if it works, it works good. The content itself, while predictable, was presented dope. Not once in the piece I got the feeling that he was preaching or whatever (thoroughly dislike those kind of drops), so I was a pretty happy camper!


Here's a fun fact for you. I posted the picture and Chain came up to me like "yo wtf is this, how am I going to write to that stupid picture." I told him to step his bar game up and he pretty much schooled me once he dropped this right here. It came as a surprise too because I thought he wouldn't enter. By doing so he set the bar incredibly high (pun intended). I mean, what's not to like about this? There's wordplay in there, beautiful wording and that flow... Smh. That's all.


It's always fun when Rutter enters a topical. We're pretty much only used to see battle verses but man, when he does a topical he makes it work. He made me a fan in the opening by referencing Wizard of Oz and then he dropped the "sea world" bar. Fml, that shit was dope. For the rest the piece is filled with wordplay and little tidbits of knowledge. The driving force behind this verse, to me, felt like it was the fixation of mankind on the wrong issues. And as such I felt like it was delivered really well. Good job, RKB.


I haven't seen a whole lot from Spume. If you haven't either, I advice to check this one out. It's a literal lyrical journey of the picture through his interpretation and feelings regarding said picture. The overarching theme was basically us stupid little humans fucking everything up. Realizing we're messing up and still continuing it. History always repeats, eh? The flow was smooth start to finish and the "in between verse" lines were a dope addition. It kept the pace going.


Another new cat. What immediately got here was the combination of flow, alliteration and clever use of assonance to keep the pace going. This is especially true in the first two stanzas. This piece is conceptually dope in the sense that Mr. Inventor set up certain concepts and made them work. Elephant in the room and the duality lines are perfect examples of this. As a whole the piece is short but dope as hell. 


This dude is a problem regardless. One of my favorite writers on here and it always takes a while to completely take in his pieces. Pause. Whatever Mr. Self drops has authenticity and a shitload of information. All of that while still flowing like Rick Ross discovered the fountain of youth? Man, fire. This verse explain in a few words would be: Dude reincarnated, destined to live and die again, breaks away and uses prior knowledge for greatness. Obviously I'm just scratching the surface here but yeah, here you go!


Lord came extra correct here. Not once intimidated by the likes of the Selfs and The Inventors of verse he dropped his message with some very dope wording here and there. Especially in the first stanza where he literally described the man in the middle. Then he continues the trend to tell us about the guy in the picture and how he is torn between light and darkness. The flow throughout the piece is incredibly solid, especially on a beat with a high BPM. Thug shit right there!


I'll have to admit, I had some issues reading through this at first as it's written in a paragraph form but the story itself, while loosely tied to the picture, actually works. The issue to me is that it felt too short to do the picture or his interpretation justice. The story is basically about a guy who wakes up to the apocalypse and is like shit, I gotsta survive and proceeds to do thug shit but before he does thug shit, the story ends :(. I'd like HI-Z to continue this story!


It's always weird when Nigma drops a piece. Especially due to his personality. Dude comes over like he ignant to everything but then he drops a piece and it's pretty much fire. Once again, this shit right here is no exception. The interpretation of the picture is certainly different than what the rest has done but it works extremely well. The most notable about this piece is the flow. It's pretty much flawless throughout. At some places I liked the wording a loooooot. Opening stanza, last line of second stanza and a couple of times in the last stanza there were incredibly detailed lines. Dope shit, Nigma. Who knows, one day you might be a legitimate pro!


With a title like this you know that there is a second part coming up. And I certainly hope so as this piece takes us on a vivid journey of a not so good man. Well, rather a not so good God. Think of Lord Beerus in DBZ who destroys planets for the sake of balance (and to a lesser extend entertainment). Except this being does so as it has to happen. It's pretty interesting really... I wonder if we could give this God pudding to stop him from destroying stuff. Technically the piece, beyond the wording, wasn't too complex in terms of flow or whatever. But it's a good piece nonetheless.


Another new guy! This is awesome. What's even more awesome is that this guy is a goddamn beast. Somuch so that I had real problems to not break my new rule and feed his work. The writing here is exceptional. It's also familiar in the way how I like to write my stuff, make it nice little detailed stories. I had to agree with Cuba in his feedback, though. It's a piece inspired by the picture where the theme of being torn between good and bad is under represented. But with that being said one would be foolish to say that this piece falls short due to that. You had some incredible lines in there (especially the social networking one, that was a slap back to reality for myself personally). Really nice stuff.


Felt like this piece didn't get enough feed, really. While having a few hiccups here and there it's pretty good and the imagery works for me. Definitely if we take the picture into account as well. This right here is like a piece narrated by a thugged out David Attenborough. Ash had some pretty dope one liners in which she describes the silly race of homo-sapiens and how retarded we really are. So, read this shit and give the girl her feedback, bitches.


Here I was thinking that the last KOTM was difficult to pick a winner but shit, this month is even crazier. Usually I can put it down on personal preference but that only works if you prefer one verse over the other. Here I feel like the guy in the picture but instead of two extremes, there are several. 

So for this one I had to take into account several things;

a. Narrative;
b. Story;
c. Atmosphere;
d. Wording & Technique;
e. Flow.

So if we follow this a few definitely stand out. Self Activate, Nigma, Sammy, Rhetorical and Chain. I feel these guys went absolutely ham and delivered unique and very dope verses. I just have to go with Self here, though. Where he exceeded to me is delivering a compelling story which is solid on the surface and once you dig deeper. It makes you think and gives the impression that it has history behind it.

Winner: Self Activate.
#Bananas

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Cuba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 10:29am
Great work Endeeze...will be checking out a few more of these myself over coming days. Having the links in there is spot on.

Self is taking over the game right now though, if he gets in the topical twist it'll be like the wild west!!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote SELF ACTIVATE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 1:09pm
Bruh, it's 7:00 in the morning. I wish I could think of some funny shit to say. But uhhhhh yeeeeeaaaah. I got nothin lol.

Anyway, thanks for the look, E. The topic was dope as fuck and a pleasure to write to. Shout out to CHAIN tho ... it was his verse that initially peaked my interest.

And word Cuba

I might just have to do that.

Thanks again. I feel honored, bro.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Law Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 2:11pm
Nice work
and congratz to all those that participated. Especially the winners. 
Go my Minions!


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Lord Puente Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 4:32pm
Congrats to self, even tho you weren't the best choice (cough, cough... jk).

Also good job to LA on a whole. This has been hands down the most successful and most participated kitm I've seen since I joined, so really hats off to everyone who participated. Everyone brought fire.

Also threat job to endeez, there were a lot of pieces to read and I'm sure this took a while, especially to make a decision. Solid job on the full write up.

Good job LA!
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Wiggle wiggle said the bun that jiggle

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Endeavor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 5:28pm
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I really hope we can keep this trend going.
#Bananas

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Rutter knows best Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2017 at 5:58pm
Props on the work eez and props to self. Props to everyone actually. Could of went anyway.
#bananas
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote alicewonder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 January 2017 at 11:42pm
Great read and congrats Self! This one had definitely lots of thoroughly impressive entries. 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote SELF ACTIVATE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 January 2017 at 11:44pm
Lol @ LP ... I hear ya bruh

Thanks Rutt and Alice too
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Sammy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 January 2017 at 2:09am
wordup this was an epic month(s) and well deserved, Self. Shoutout to everyone that came through. lots of vicious entries!


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Nigma Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 January 2017 at 3:03am
This was dope. Cool breakdowns for an Uzbekistanian. My favorite part is where you said ignant. Congrats Self, you a beast. #Elision
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote rhetorical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2017 at 7:42pm
Congrats Self . . .

Its alot of stiff competition for this challenge. . but one day i will have this accomplishment notched under my belt along with ya. 

I wish the KOTM ran monthly instead of every 2 months. As soon as i write for them i just want to get started on the next challenge lol 

Almost forgot. . Endeavor 

Excellent job running this. If you ever want someone to post up an actual video breakdown of each verse, we can make a post-magazine out of this shit and id be more then happy to lend a hand. anyways. . kudos brotha 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote SELF ACTIVATE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2017 at 7:57pm
Good looking out fellas. Appreciate that.

The video idea sounds dope, Rhet.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Cuba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2017 at 7:59pm
We used to run both this & Word Drop monthly but having both of them running made it a bit of a ball ache selecting winners. You'll notice we're still missing the last Word Drop winner.

The participation has been amazing over the last few though & we've also expanded our general offering. So I tried to bring in that Chain Reaction as almost like a mini OM King so people could do side quests. We also have Topical Twist league & the two 'story collabs' I posted up on the Emcee Lounge.

Obviously we continue to experiment and look to expand things that work. Maybe there's something in there about issuing "side quests" in OM King that aren't judged buy are for fun. So you have multiple topics to chose from if you want to do another
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Cuba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2017 at 8:00pm
P.S. video sounds awesome
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote spume corrupt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2017 at 8:01pm
Mad respect on this one SA,
Honestly I thought everyone really shined on this particular KOTM
Really enjoyed reading them all, not a single weakling here
So props on coming out tops

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