Emcee Lounge : Murder My Beats Preview Mag (Match-Ups Included)

What's up? Before we get into the battle breakdowns, I wanted to take a moment to thank this community. Text rap is not as strong as it used to be, but the craft is what got me into hip-hop. Without text, I would have never found audio and without audio, I wouldn't have started producing. October 11th will make it my sixth year on Lyrical Assault. I started this shit in middle school. The other day, I was sitting around hoping we'd have another golden era, then I realized I have to make that shit happen myself. That's where the idea to have this tournament spawned.

As mentioned before, the bracket has been randomized by Challonge, and the beats randomized via RNG.

This could have easily been the championship battle, and we're fortunate enough to see it in the first round. They have very similar styles, preferring straight bars over classic sounding beats. As an original Renegade, Neek has been doing this for a very long time, which is demonstrated by his unmatched charisma. If you've ever worked with Neek, you'll know that he's versatile enough to rap over any type of beat you send him. He's an absolute mad man.

Doom shouldn't be messed with either. His diss tracks are packed full of aggression and his text abilities showcase his wordplay. I've never worked with Doom as a rapper or producer, but I wouldn't be averse to it. He has put in a ton of time here as well.

If I were a betting man, (and I am) I would set odds for this match at near even money, with Neek getting a slight edge due to him having more experience, and I think that he can be more versatile than his opponent.

This is another close one, these guys have nearly the same amount of experience; I remember Titu voting on my first battle, and him being my first topical battle opponent. Zinaii came up around the same time. 

Most of Titu's stuff is over more modern production, which could serve him well, because I honestly believe modern production is harder to rap over compared to older boom-bap type beats. He's worked in several bigger projects and everything he has put out since I got here has been impressive sonically and technically. He might also be the best singer in the tournament which could boost his aesthetic over the other guys. When I first got here, he was doing a lot of horrorcore, which would be ill if it came back.

Zin is the motherfucking man as well. Between text, topical, and audio, he's one of the most well rounded battlers we have. I haven't heard him on the mic in a while actually, but I believe he will come hard. We had a beef a while back but we're good now.

Another close one, but I've give the slight edge to Titu in this one solely because I haven't heard Zin spit in a long time.

iLL is a beast. This man has amazing energy every time he hops on the mic, and he's got a fantastic voice for hop-hop. He sounds like Vinnie Paz in both terms of flow and sonically. He also structures his songs well. His pen game is one of the strongest in the tournament, and he has a way of making any topic interesting. I'm worried that a lot of guys will just hop on these beats and flex, but iLL is not the type to do that.

Rapper T is certainly the dark horse in this tournament. His sound elevated so hard out of nowhere, he went from one of the whackest to dropping straight heat every time he hops on. His accent makes him unique and this will be an interesting contrast. The first thing I remember him dropping was over The Simpsons instrumental lol. He was ass then but now check out that shit where he sampled Billie Eilish. 

My concern with both of these emcees, especially Rapper T, is that I don't know how they sound over trap. There's a strong chance that the winner of this tournament will have to rap over something they wouldn't have picked themselves. If their opponent is more comfortable with that one style of beat, then it doesn't matter who the best emcee is. It just matters who can do that one beat better.

I'd set the line at iLL (-130) as a moderate favorite. 

Vellum is clearly a fantastic artist, and I'm excited to hear him spit something that isn't a flex or a diss track.

Noumenon, feel free to preview some of your audio work here. No one has heard you rap and it could hype us up for your shit significantly. 

Right now, I'd set Vellum as a HEAVY favorite, somewhere along the lines of (-255).

I started this project with the idea that a shift in focus towards audio could be what this place needs to revive itself, and I'm kicking off the idea with what I would consider to be an excellent way for producers to both network and get rappers over their stuff. If a producer has seven beats, he can have two versions of a song ready to release. And they're market tested via votes. If he's willing to have a cash prize of 100 dollars, he's paying around 14 dollars per song.

Of course, the rap game ain't about money, but I know guys on Reddit making fantastic shit right now. Rappers and producers. Maybe cash could be the incentive for them to make the move. I don't really know tbh.

Thanks to everyone who signed up, everyone who's going to vote, everyone who read my shit writing. 

Battle threads go up Monday (Sunday midnight EST)

The beats to the battles are going to be DM'd to the rappers.

Seeding was randomized