Makes My Cypher Complete
written by Just K
written by Just K
So I’m cruising the net, looking at some more internet home videos. Sadly, that’s where a lot of the news in the hip-hop world comes from. Anyway, I came across this video of Mos Def issuing a challenge to any rapper that would dare hold a microphone on the same stage as he. The dude wants a real life, superstar filled cipher. Wow. And you know what? It’s a damn good idea.
Before I even get into it, I’m very aware of how impossible this event is. We’re talking about established acts possibly losing core fans and record sales by risking everything in a huge battle. Also, we have to take egos into account. Some rappers would be either too cocky or too afraid to take part. Understandable. Even if they wanted to participate, sensible managers will try to talk them out of it. Scheduling - all sorts of painful. The financial aspect - absolutely ridiculous. We won’t even talk about a venue big enough to hold this event. You’d have to hold it on the moon or something and charge a boatload per ticket. Then there’s this problem and that problem and…whatever. Let the games begin!
First, I propose a list of 32 rappers – established talents in the mainstream and MCs that bubble below the surface in a single elimination battle royale. Personally, (give or take a couple MCs) this is the list I think would draw the most attention:
Phonte Lupe Fiasco GZA Nas
Kanye West Andre 3000 MF Doom Tech N9ne
Crooked I Ludacris Lil’ Wayne Mos Def
Joe Budden Method Man Jadakiss Common
Black Thought Beanie Sigel Eminem LL Cool J
Juelz Santana Busta Rhymes Pusha T Fabolous
Cassidy Chino XL Pharaoh Monch T.I.
Redman The Game Jay-Z 50 Cent
Rappers would be ranked based on their overall combined record sales. This would put fan favorites like Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, and Lil’ Wayne in the higher seeds and underdogs like Joe Budden, Phonte, Crooked I, and Pusha T near the bottom; 1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, so on and so forth. Battles consist of a 45-second round and a one-minute round. A coin flip determines who goes first. There would be a four-judge panel comprised of well-respected, impartial individuals (Sway, Mick Boogie, and Tigger are a few decent candidates). After each battle, judges would cast their votes, as would the live audience; the audience vote would be equivalent to a judge’s vote. If for some crazy reason there’s a tie – a 50/50 split on the judges and a 50/50 live audience vote – there’d be an extra 45-second round.
Ok. We’re looking at a two-day event. The first and second rounds would take place on day one. The three final rounds happen on day two. Obviously it would have to be aired either on HBO or PPV. Either way, the event definitely has the potential to really boost hip-hop. MCs that would otherwise go unnoticed by the masses would get serious exposure. Established acts would prove that they are still hip-hop purists no matter how many albums they’ve sold. Younger viewers would see that just because an artist did well on Billboard doesn’t mean he is necessarily the greatest MC. It’d be a wonderful, beautiful, spectacular event filled with parties, celebrities, hip-hop, and armed security. People everywhere would be glued to TVs. I can’t even imagine what the bets in Vegas would be like, much less the bets at the local barbershop, high school, or hood. So, who’s your money on?
5 comments:
this is one of the greatest ideas ever... and it will never happen.
plus if Phonte really beats Hova, will the judges really have the balls to knock Hov out in the 1st or 2nd round?
But you're right, it would give Hip-Hop an nice little jump start and probably get more people to the record stores.
Plus think of all the rap beefs that would come out after this?
this would be crazy, but i think the greatest detractor from this would be scared MC's not even wanting to risk it. Cause you got MC's like Mos, Phonte, etc with EVERYTHING to gain and Hov, 50, and company with everything to lose and really nothing to gain. It'd be awesome though, f'n awesome.
Exactly but you know what's ill... is that if you really think ur the best, you should want to prove it - but people won't risk it at all!
One of my favorite Hip-Hop moments was when i was watching the 8 Mile DVD. Not sure if you saw this but there's a bonus scene where they showed how they made the battles. Since the directors didn't want Eminem to lose his voice, they cut his mic off and didn't let him participate in alot of the battles since they would just be edited alot.
there's this one dude that went IN on Em and the crowd started to BOO because Eminem wasn't responding. So what did Em do? He turned on his mic and tore dude up!!!!!
He couldn't stand there and have some dude rip him... it was one of the dopest things i ever saw.
Eminem would get down in a battle like this... i'm sure of it.
Oh, no doubt, there are dudes who are just BUILT to battle/rap/rhyme/make music, KANYE WOULD BE SOOOOO READY for this as would Em, shit, i think Hov would be too, just cause he's so f'n confident, haha.
But much like our society as a whole, dudes are soft and dont wanna show and prove, they love the hype and the perception but that shit is so fickle and unfounded.
I def remember hearing about that stuff on the DVD, i think i youtubed it once. It reminds me of hoops (of course it does) Tyler Hansborough is the consummate basketball player. He embodies everything it means to play a team sport and play it well but a guy like Mike Beasley (nothing against B Easy) but if he got hurt but could still collect his check, he'd be cool with that. Where a dude like hansborough would be losing his f'n mind. Talib Kweli has a great line in "Therapy" about it that sums it up, cant find it right now, but peep it.
You know, I think if Mos really pushed for it, he could get Kanye, Common, Black Thought, Talib, and maybe a few others. That might pressure some other folk to hop in. You never know.
Then again, I'm sure something like this has happened before, on a smaller scale, behind closed doors, with a handful of viewers.
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