You may remember that we have an Inturnt, Jonny Empire, and he knows a thing or two about battle rap. So we asked him to jot down his thoughts and favorite lines from the Total Slaughter Pay-Per-View event from this weekend.

July 12, 2014, will go down as a legendary day in the hip-hop culture. The world welcomed battle rap to Pay-Per-View, giving it one of the biggest platforms the form has ever seen, run by one of hip-hop’s elite MCs, Eminem. It’s even got noted non-battler Lil Wayne talking about it on Weezy Wednesdays. The Total Slaughter event at Hammerstein Ballroom showcased four high quality battles leading up to the main event between Hollow Da Don and veteran Slaughterhouse MC Joe Budden. Not only was this an amazing event for fans across the world, but multiple legends such as Kid Capri, Busta Rhymes, and Kool Herc were in the building to witness the historic night. And also, Budden got booed.

Arsonal vs. Big T: The first battle of the night featured two incredible lyricists and performers. New Jersey’s own Arsonal, and Big T representing Chicago. These two MCs have become a couple of the main faces of battle rap today, and it's apparent why in their best lines from the bout:

Arsonal: “What happened T? You used to be the man killing them, bars was heavy but you got lighter over the years, Aunt Vivian. You at the bottom of the totem pool, T’s an amphibian, you fat you black you dirty and feminine.”

Big T: “You act like you own UW, you are nobody, you’re Zordon, you’re just the face of it. Made up and paid Lux and Hollow while they gain nothing, bankrupted so you change the name of it, so you’re like a car rental service, because it hurts your enterprise when you can’t budget.”

Winner: Arsonal

The judges decided to give the W to Arsonal three rounds to zero, despite Big T’s confident delivery and metaphorical approach.  "A prepared Big T is one of the most dangerous battlers on Earth," Royce Da 5'9'' noted, but even some of the best have bad night.

T-Rex vs. Daylyt: The second battle of the night was between Harlem’s T-Rex and Compton's Daylyt (the final two battlers on Road To Total Slaughter). This was a matchup everyone was curious about due to Daylyt’s antics in the past, but will he switch it up and be professional on Total Slaughter? Doubtful. Surprisingly dressed in a Spawn costume, Daylyt immediately grabbed the crowd’s attention.

T-Rex: “I spent my whole time in the crib thinking about what he gonna wear or what he might say. I hit my niggas like 'Yo, I got Daylyt' and they’re like 'Cool, it’ll be a light day.' I’ll have my niggas tap his heart twice, they will light day, I’m Ice Cube, I’m gonna get rich after I fry Day.”

Daylyt: “Lets have a conversation, you feel like you a folk? Well now you can find the spaceships. Lets put the medal down, I want all my believers to settle around, congregation. Look at all the shit I got stuck in, constipation. But you’re still gonna see an animal in the stars, constellation.”

Winner: T-Rex

In the 3rd round, Daylyt decided to start his verse with the line “To come up with this third round, it took a lot of dedication. Y'all see this? (Holds an empty medicine bottle) this is the prescription for my schizophrenia and as y'all can see I’m all out of medication.” Directly following that line, Daylyt ended up stripping down to his boxers and going into a minor panic on stage. At times, Daylyt’s incredible rhyme schemes put him in reach of winning, but in this case, the third round didn’t help solidify a win.

Loaded Lux vs. Murda Mook: The rematch between Murda Mook and Loaded Lux was one of the most anticipated battles of the night. Their first matchup took place over a decade ago, and Loaded Lux recently gained an extreme following after his battle with Calicoe, while Murda Mook was trying to impress the people that said he “lost it.” Both MCs had something to prove.

Loaded Lux: “King of Harlem motherfuckers, I don’t entertain opinions. They’ll be no more victories saving victims. Wish him well judges and all the paid admissions that came to aid the mission. I don’t lose to these lost niggas attempting, only thing you’re gonna take is attendance. You’re just an intermission, I’m on a mission, it makes a difference.”

Murda Mook: “How you throw shade on Daylyt about using gimmicks with all these gimmicks that you got. I remember, it wasn’t about the signs, the vines, the pickets and the props. It was about your rhymes, your lines, and the shit you spit was hot. All of this dressing up like other people, that ain’t for niggas from the block. The only time we in disguise is when we finna get the drop.”

Winner: Murda Mook

Several people have compared this battle to Mayweather-Pacquiao, and after a duel filled with punchlines, personals, rebuttals and more, Murda Mook ended up taking the W in a 2-1 decision. Murda Mook showed the world that he is one of the best to ever grace the battle rap stage, and both are responsible for many of the styles we see today. That's why Total Slaughter is so important, because the rap world needs to continue to shine a light on legends like these.

Hollow Da Don vs. Joe Budden: Ending the night in pure class was the battle we’ve all been waiting for that tackles the question that has been asked for years: Can mainstream rappers cross into the world of battle rap? If you excuse the Canibus vs. Dizaster disaster, then we aren’t really sure. Slaughterhouse member and veteran MC Joe Budden decided to take matters into his own hands here and battle Hollow Da Don. This was battle rap history, people!

Hollow Da Don: “We live and breathe this shit, CEO’s they just get stats and read the shit, hundreds of millions of views off of battles? We need this shit. We’ll take 85 percent, fuck an 8/4 split, who knows but they’ll read the script, but what about the battlers in the house? Eh, we’ll toss them a couple G’s and that’s it. Wow, G’s that’s it? Jimmy Iovine, die please and Rosenberg eat a dick you fat piece of shit”

Hollow knows what to do or say to make fans happy, so he knew he had to go hard from minute one. He even stopped the battle mid-round, threatening to knock Joe Budden out if he ever hit a woman again. One of the many talents Hollow possesses is putting on a great performance, so it was easy for him to clown on Budden for sounding like he was reading his rhymes off paper. The crowd seemed a little in and out as far as reaction went, but Hollow clearly wasn't fucking around. Budden had some bars that packed a punch, but it was nothing compared to Da Don in his element.

Joe Budden: “You asked me where’s my last hit, nigga where’s your first one?”

Winner: Hollow Da Don

It’s clear that Budden was putting his career on the line the moment he accepted this battle. It isn’t everyday that a rapper can go from hits on MTV (almost 10 years ago) to the biggest stage in battle rap. Despite a few technical difficulties, Joey looked pretty comfortable in his bag. Some would even say he took the first round. In the third, it all came to an end when Joe started receiving boos. Threatening the crowd that if they continued to boo he would stop rapping, Joe eventually put the mic down. You’re an artist with over 12 years in the rap game, you’re going to stop rapping after a few boos? That is not acceptable. Shit's weak. After being forced to finish his verse in the third round, the judges decided that Hollow Da Don won this battle, obviously. Budden received a decent check, but you can't put the mic down and disrespect the crowd like that.

Overall, this was the battle that made Total Slaughter possible. Changing the face of battle rap for the better, proving that mainstream rappers aren’t afraid to step into the ring with some of the best battle rappers in the world. Though they could be scared off by Budden's awful finish. Anyway, right now it looks like it's 2-0 with battle rappers over mainstream artists. Can't wait to see who will be the next star to enter the Total Slaughter ring.

–Jonny Empire

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