 "Photo: Photo by Letese Clark, Staff Writer")
Monday night, the Filmore in Silver Spring, Md. filled to capacity as hip-hop fans bobbed their heads to hip-hop favorites in anticipation of the Red Bull Emsee - D.C. free battle series. Red Bull Emsee is a freestyle battle designed to find the best free-style rappers in the country and give them a national platform to show their skills and earn acclaim.
Duclas Charles, Red Bull student brand manager, made sure Howard University students wouldn't miss out on this event. Red Bull provided a charter bus for students to attend the free event and those anxious to see a battle quickly filled the seats.
In three rounds of intense battling, eight of the areas' top lyricists took the stage to go head to head for a spot in this year's final competition in Atlanta. Among those were Ice the Villain, Adversary, Flex Matthews, Awthentik, Trigga Tay, D'Metiz, Grand Marshall and Proverb.
UGK's Bun B played master of ceremonies. Up-and-coming southern rapper Big K.R.I.T, alongside veteran emcees Joe Budden and Devin the Dude, were both judges and performers. The judges made it clear that they were looking for something authentic and original. Budden proclaimed that he was going to be the ‘Simon' of the group and throughout the night he proved to be just that with his blunt critiques.
In the first round, each emcee had to incorporate five visual cues into their rhyme. There were few hot punch lines, a not-so helpful prop by Flex Matthews and a pause by D'Metiz that got the crowd even more hype then they were. Adversary, Awthentik, D'Meitz and Grand Marshall all moved on to the second round.
Howard alumnus Anthony "Ice the Villain" Poole said, "I plan on bringing charisma, excitement, humor, and a hunger that will allow people to see that I want this more than the person standing in front of me. I plan on bringing the intangibles that others can't bring to the table." Poole brought his charisma and hunger but it wasn't enough to please the judges to push him to the next round.
Taylor "Trigga Tay" Hill, a member of the $urreal, a popular group on campus, said being apart of the battle was a great opportunity and although he didn't make it that far he has no regrets. "I did my best. Battle rapping isn't really my forte, my friend told me about it and I gave it a chance," he said.
In between the rounds, Slaughterhouse rapper Joe Budden and Devin the Dude performed. Joe Budden took the stage and performed a couple of his songs and a sample of 2pac's "Ambitionz as a Ridah." Devin the Dude had the crowd enjoying his classic hits including "Pass it To Me" and "Anything is Plenty".
With his sharp bars, catchy lyrics, and use of the required five words in round two, Joe Budden gave battler Adversary an early win, predicting he was going to win it all. Devin D'Meitz and Adversary went head to head in the finals. Going one round with a beat and one round acapella, both emcees delivered heavy punch lines by taking personal shots and getting the crowd involved. As the back and forth ended, the decision was so difficult that the crowd chanted for a third round--D'Meitz prevailed, coming out as the champ.
"D'Meitz showed up in the clutch. That's what happen in things like you have to show up in the clutch," Joe Budden said. Devin the Dude called the battle close with his final score for D'Meitz a 49 and Adversary a 48. Big K.R.I.T. agreed with the other two judges and even told Adversary he had beats so, "What's Happnin?"
Darien Holley, a 20-year-old D.C. resident, said the overall show was dope.
"I liked the format, everybody did their thing and the judges weren't too hard on those in the battle," he said.
Big K.R.I.T. closed out the show performing hits off his mixtape "Return of 4eva" including "R4 Theme Song", "Sookie Now", "Rotation", and "My Sub". He even brought out Bun B for "Country Sh@*t" remix.
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