Battle rap is essentially dead now. Deader than dead. But this is a battle I watch probably twice a year. Most battles have references to things you have to be a battle fan to understand but most of this is straight to the point and them flipping each other names. Twork is special in this battle but they both snapped

Bonus battle - this was gonna be the best battle ever probably until the fight broke out. Energy dies out after that but that first half of the battle is insane. “Yeah I got a napoleon complex, cause I keep an arm inside the coat” is insanity

@heyJosh

Yeah this is a classic. Twork might be the last like big star or whatever in battle rap before this s*** died. Also always been a JC guy too

@op why you say it's dead?

Just is. Caffeine era was the last moment when it felt relevant. Now the gossip be bigger than the battles. Smack not putting battles on YouTube really hurt. It’s rappers that debuted on caffeine that momentum got hurt cause they don’t have battles on url YouTube. Your honor battle “I dress better than you, I can get a dollar quicker than you” that’s a meme on Twitter is not even on YouTube. There’s certain matchups like lux vs hitman that get people talking but battle rap as a whole is in a far less relevant place than it’s been in years

Twork damn near was like Oba to me. He was the next big thing in my eyes that I thought was gonna be a superstar. His choking really derailed everything

Man this second round from Twork is incredible. I legit don’t know how you can beat a round like that. Cause not only is the bars insane, his performance is better than legit any battle rapper ever here. I’m taking this over a hit man performance any day

All that vaulting battles s*** finally caught up to bald ass Smack.

That an app-exclusives.

Yeah man it sucks to see the state battle rap in. I remember being in high school hyped af to see battles dropping and just the general hype around certain battles.

I agree that paywall hurt but (to play devil's advocate) that money rush during caffeine era everybody including smack and the rappers should've known that wasn't gon' last long-term after covid restrictions lifted up.

I think everybody got too comfortable thinking caffeine era was forever. Caffeine spoiled fans too because we could watch the PPVs for free. Caffeine did hurt because battlers couldn’t post their clips on social media cause caffeine would copyright strike it. So even back then, they was limiting battlers exposure to the casual battle rap fan

Side note, Twork rebuttal in the second battle in OP at the start of his 1st round is so crazy

I just think battle rap is gonna always just be too niche to really be a sustainable thing.

If RAP itself is going through trouble, battle rap is majorly cooked.

Yeah battle rap is for sure cooked for the time being. You got Tay roc tryna become a wrestler now. We just gotta appreciate the good ole days cause those not coming back any time soon

I remember being hyped about the UFF tournaments they were doing on 106&park lmao. I remember thinking that and total slaughter was gone take battle rap mainstream. UFF had some classics tho

This a dope little archival video bout what you talking bout

I aint know total slaughter didnt even fill out all the seats

Yeah at times it did seem like he didn’t really care about the s*** even though he really is great and got the love from everyone.

im strappeddinnnn

Gonna watch this later

s*** ain’t been the same since e what happened with surf

watchin twork battles always reminds me that execution is just as important as the bars.

lotta s*** be goin over my head but feel like ive seen better from him

first jc battle ive ever seen so thank u for pmo. just off the pen he won the first round no doubt, other two were a toss up but still his favor. twork good but the few animated haymakers he throws will easily get an already biased audience on his side. Loved the good sportsmanship daps between them too

ur point about battles not being on youtube is key to this whole "death" narrative. more clips circulate on twitter/reels than new fans ever get a chance to see the s*** full length (if not months/years down the line). & nobody finna pay netflix prices for a battle rap ppv app in 2026 either

all the far and few between next gen talent (kyd slade, jey the nightwing, first lady flamez, etc) tryna make names for themselves r getting shafted by this model

compounded by the lack/downward trend of "lyricism" in hip-hop in general + elderstatesmen not caring enough anymore to actively/materially support the medium, if not openly besmirching it. s*** is cooked

Jey the nitewing is so different. I could see him narrating things. Very unique voice and approach.

But yeah there’s so many Twitter clips of battles that get used that aren’t on YouTube. So if somebody wanted to see that battle, they’d have to pay. Why would a casual pay for that when they don’t even watch battle rap? I get smack want his bread too but it really messed over the new battlers who don’t have that fan base. Even somebody like Eazy Da block captain got a prominent role in Bel Air because the director seen his battles on smack. Those days are over.

I used to love battle rap man. Shout out to Nick cannon I would’ve never watched battle rap but I f’d with wild n out so when they came back they had a little teaser introducing the new members and that’s when I heard of conceited. Went down that rabbit hole and been a fan for years now

Ain’t really kept up with the latest s*** though.

Ya know, I never thought about how many people got turned onto battle rap because of wild n out. Cause to Nick credit, he made sure he put battle rappers on like conceited, Charlie Clips, Hitman Holla. But I bet you not an lone in being turned onto battle rap cause of wild n out

This lowkey a big part too @op

When some of the premier niggas keep going in and outta jail (e.g. surf and now geechi smh) it’s hard to keep some figureheads