the good the bad and the ugly
nome4 edition By The Crow
A year in the battle rap realm is like
a decade in the real world...
This time last year, things
were completely different for Smack
& Company. Battle rap’s most visible league was operating in traditional fashion, watching an everexpanding audience grow impatient
— as they witnessed Top Tiers give
lackluster performances with little
to no effort. We were led to believe
that the backlash would help create a new direction designed to
ultimately benefit the fans — and
that’s exactly what happened.
Ever since NOME3, the
URL has been in “revamp” mode.
SM3 ushered in the “Bars Over
Names” theme, which was great
until a name shut the event down.
NOME4 is the first mega-event
of 2014 and the new age of URL.
The card looks great and added
a “grudge” concept as the backdrop. It truly was a Night of Main
Events.
Then the ending happened…
As in life, there are GOOD
times, there are BAD times and —
with punctuality and the URL on a
collision course — things are bound
to get UGLY...
THE GOOD
Shoutouts
● to Smack White, Beasley,
Norbes and everybody at
the URL for pulling off a
GOOD — albeit incomplete — event.
● to every battle rapper on
the card and in the building.
● to JadaKiss for being the
10
●
●
●
●
unofficial host.
to DJ Kid Capri,
DRC,Ceasar and Dutchess
(of Black INK fame),
Joe Budden, Graph, D
Chambers, 40 Oz. Jess,
Drect and all the other
guests in the building.
to everyone at 100 Bars
Magazine.
to the 5 boroughs of New
York city.
to very poster on OTBVA
and all the other battle raprelated forums.
The Slaughter Line
Total Slaughter made its presence
known from the onset of the event.
Total Slaughter personnel were
handing out fliers and requested
fans take pics. I declined their offer,
but it was a smart and GOOD tactic (the Total slaughter event is less
than a month away).
Good Atmosphere
I’d never been to Irving Plaza
before, but the atmosphere was