I'm excited for several reasons.
One, this is my first legit post. Origin Story was like the christening of the ship, but this is the first stop of my voyage.
B: This is my first review. I love media because media is information and I LOVE information. So, there are a couple of shows I watch during the week (Atlanta, Halt and Catch Fire, Mr. Robot, and The Rap Game), new albums to listen to, articles I read. Everyone's reaction and perspective should be added to the pool of human knowledge, so as much as possible, I wanna weigh in.
Triangle, I feel some type of way about this episode so let's go.
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For those who aren't aware, The Rap Game is a show on Lifetime about aspiring kid rappers. Five kids are all competing for a chance to sign to Jermaine Dupri's label, So So Def. This season's five rappers are Prince of NY, Lil Key, Nia Kay, Mani, and Jayla Marie. Each week puts the rappers through a challenge that addresses a certain aspect of the rapping business and then concludes with The Hit List, the week's power rankings of the competitors.
This week's challenge was twofold: a rap battle and a BBQ performance with friends.
Rap Battle
JD took the group to watch battle rappers to teach them about versatility. On Jermaine's part, I thought this was a solid choice because it was a novel challenge compared to last season and just as novel an environment for the kids. Most of these kids write their own rhymes (minus Jayla), but only Prince is a capable freestyler. I could write a whole separate post on whether rappers should be able to spit off the top or even what criteria a "real" rapper should have to meet, but for now everyone gets a pass.
JD didn't even plan on having any of them battling, but Prince stepped up. It was so important that he did because last week he ranked number 5 (5 being the lowest). The fact that he rose to the challenge showed me how hungry he is to win the competition. Only one person gets signed and the fact that Prince faced this older man (Cannon ThaBeast) showed that he would do whatever he had to redeem himself. And he absolutely KILLED it. I think Cannon underestimated PoNY, but Prince showed that he wasn't some child to play with. Prince has such a fast, ballistic flow and he clearly wasn't afraid to take some shots of his own.
After Prince held his own, Lil Key was next on the mic. Full disclaimer, I'm from Baltimore and so is Lil Key, so I've been rooting for him since Day 1. Tupac is the only one big rapper who is a product of Baltimore, but he didn't even claim us. So, I root hard Lil Key. After witnessing how easily Prince dismantle the threat of rapping against an adult, I thought this would be easy for Key. But then came Bad Newz . Compared to Cannon, Bad Newz had real bars. Key took it all in good stride, had a smile on his face. But Bad Newz crossed a line: he took a jab at Key's mom. Now, this is a battle rap, a place where disses and braggadocio reign supreme. But to go after a kid's mom is kinda tasteless. Key lost his smile and unlocked the beast. Lil Key is such an interesting rapper because he's like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or Bruce Banner and the Hulk. I'm constantly impressed by how much wisdom, humility, and kindness emanates from this 16 year old, but when he raps, he's hard hitting, super aggressive, and shows no mercy. Key admitted that he doesn't freestyle, but he chose a prewritten with a lot of choice lines and got within inches of Newz's face. I admire him taking the leap despite not being a freestyler and keeping cool despite someone making crude remarks about his mom.
Mani, Jayla, and Nia all stayed behind. They took it as just a field trip and not an opportunity. Mani, with his jaw touching the floor, said that a person needs to "stay in your place". Nia said "we kids" and implied that if any girls had stepped up, she would have rapped. Now, those sound like excuses. Especially for Nia, I think being a female rapper should have been all the incentive she needed. Rap is a male dominated field, and so as female, you have to grind even harder.
Block Party BBQ
We leave the Battle Rap Club and head over to the Block Party BBQ. It's a pretty small, intimate event with the kids, their parents/managers, some of the battle rappers they met, and a couple producers that the kids have worked with. The challenge is like a knock off version of Sway's Five Fingers of Death. The DJ (DJ Holiday) changes the beat repeatedly while the kids are on a stage.
Now the mention of Sway is important because his Five Fingers videos are legendary, with his top videos getting millions of views with top name artist. I would fully expect these kids to have seen some of these videos, to dream of being invited on the show, or just admire the skills of their favorite rappers. But it seems like some of the children haev not...
Prince once again came to take the number one spot. He rapped his bars and everytime the DJ changed the beat, he adjusted his tempo and kept rapping. It was so good, it's honestly not worth commenting on. Like watching a SpaceX flight land, it was just watching him do what he was suppose to.
Jayla's been doing well the past couple weeks, coming in 3 and 2 before this episode. And she held it down during the BBQ. I'm not a big fan of Jayla because she doesn't write her own raps. There's nothing wrong with having someone write your lyrics, but it changes your title from rapper to performer. It's caused her problems in the past because she didn't have enough time to memorize since she got lyrics late or because she didn't feel comfortable with her lyrics. So I didn't have much faith in her, but I have to admit she did well. The beat stopped completely and she paused, but kept rapping until it came back.
Nia Kay started strong but whenever the beat changed, she became her own hype man. She just wooed and dabbed until she could catch herself. Unfortunately, that's the opposite of being versatile.
Mani started rapping and also got caught by the beat. The remainder his time on stage was filled and "uhh" and "uh-huhs" and one poor "let me dance it off".
We wrap up with Lil Key. His BBQ performance was both shocking and completely expected. Key came out strong but stumbled when the beat changed. He even said "Let me start over". It was shocking how he did because of how well he did at the rap battle. But then you have to remember that Key never freestyled. He did kill it, but he chose a rap that he'd written. The point of taking the field trip to the battle rap arena was to teach versatility, but you realize that none of the kids really learned anything. More specifically to Key, this had led me to develop a theory: Key can't perform unless there are stakes involved. Key excelled during his audition when it would decide whether he would get a place on the show. Last week when the kids performed at Birthday Bash, he jumped down into the crowd because he decided he needed to turn up the crowd's energy. But during rehearsals, Key has fluttered. During the BBQ, he tried to smile through and when he asked to start over, I imagine it was because being among people he knew, relaxed him.
The Hit List
This week's Hit List is as follows:
Prince of NY deserved the top spot. There was some tension between him and Jayla for who thought should get the top spot. Jayla did well this week, but the fact that she thought she was the best was insane. She used last week as more reason she should be number one, but she was partnered with Key during the Birthday Bash, so I have to assume Key wrote all, if not the majority of her lyrics. So Prince gets number 1 because he never stopped. Jayla did better than usual but her rhythm was slightly off and she did pause.
Nia Kay and Lil Key (along with Prince) are among the Top 3 strongest rappers in the contest but they weren't at their prime this episode. Nia Kay was slow on her feet when the beat changes and Key was completely jarred.
I don't think Mani really wants the So So Def chain. He's claimed he's a chill laid back guy, but my feeling is that he's using that he's using that as an excuse. He didn't rap at the BBQ when the beat changed. He even complained that the changes messed him up ... but that was the point of the challenge. So until Mani can except his own faults and his future, I don't think he has a chance of winning.
And that was The Rap Game this week. There are only two episodes left and everyone needs to evaluate their weaknesses and amplify their strengths. If someone offered me money to do what I love and all I have to do is impress JD, I would do everything I can to stand out. Hopefully the light clicks and someone does.
We leave the Battle Rap Club and head over to the Block Party BBQ. It's a pretty small, intimate event with the kids, their parents/managers, some of the battle rappers they met, and a couple producers that the kids have worked with. The challenge is like a knock off version of Sway's Five Fingers of Death. The DJ (DJ Holiday) changes the beat repeatedly while the kids are on a stage.
Now the mention of Sway is important because his Five Fingers videos are legendary, with his top videos getting millions of views with top name artist. I would fully expect these kids to have seen some of these videos, to dream of being invited on the show, or just admire the skills of their favorite rappers. But it seems like some of the children haev not...
Prince once again came to take the number one spot. He rapped his bars and everytime the DJ changed the beat, he adjusted his tempo and kept rapping. It was so good, it's honestly not worth commenting on. Like watching a SpaceX flight land, it was just watching him do what he was suppose to.
Jayla's been doing well the past couple weeks, coming in 3 and 2 before this episode. And she held it down during the BBQ. I'm not a big fan of Jayla because she doesn't write her own raps. There's nothing wrong with having someone write your lyrics, but it changes your title from rapper to performer. It's caused her problems in the past because she didn't have enough time to memorize since she got lyrics late or because she didn't feel comfortable with her lyrics. So I didn't have much faith in her, but I have to admit she did well. The beat stopped completely and she paused, but kept rapping until it came back.
Nia Kay started strong but whenever the beat changed, she became her own hype man. She just wooed and dabbed until she could catch herself. Unfortunately, that's the opposite of being versatile.
Mani started rapping and also got caught by the beat. The remainder his time on stage was filled and "uhh" and "uh-huhs" and one poor "let me dance it off".
We wrap up with Lil Key. His BBQ performance was both shocking and completely expected. Key came out strong but stumbled when the beat changed. He even said "Let me start over". It was shocking how he did because of how well he did at the rap battle. But then you have to remember that Key never freestyled. He did kill it, but he chose a rap that he'd written. The point of taking the field trip to the battle rap arena was to teach versatility, but you realize that none of the kids really learned anything. More specifically to Key, this had led me to develop a theory: Key can't perform unless there are stakes involved. Key excelled during his audition when it would decide whether he would get a place on the show. Last week when the kids performed at Birthday Bash, he jumped down into the crowd because he decided he needed to turn up the crowd's energy. But during rehearsals, Key has fluttered. During the BBQ, he tried to smile through and when he asked to start over, I imagine it was because being among people he knew, relaxed him.
The Hit List
This week's Hit List is as follows:
- Prince of NY
- Jayla Marie
- Nia Kay
- Lil Key
- Mani
Prince of NY deserved the top spot. There was some tension between him and Jayla for who thought should get the top spot. Jayla did well this week, but the fact that she thought she was the best was insane. She used last week as more reason she should be number one, but she was partnered with Key during the Birthday Bash, so I have to assume Key wrote all, if not the majority of her lyrics. So Prince gets number 1 because he never stopped. Jayla did better than usual but her rhythm was slightly off and she did pause.
Nia Kay and Lil Key (along with Prince) are among the Top 3 strongest rappers in the contest but they weren't at their prime this episode. Nia Kay was slow on her feet when the beat changes and Key was completely jarred.
I don't think Mani really wants the So So Def chain. He's claimed he's a chill laid back guy, but my feeling is that he's using that he's using that as an excuse. He didn't rap at the BBQ when the beat changed. He even complained that the changes messed him up ... but that was the point of the challenge. So until Mani can except his own faults and his future, I don't think he has a chance of winning.
And that was The Rap Game this week. There are only two episodes left and everyone needs to evaluate their weaknesses and amplify their strengths. If someone offered me money to do what I love and all I have to do is impress JD, I would do everything I can to stand out. Hopefully the light clicks and someone does.
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