Now that you're caught up, we can try to tackle this beast of an episode.
***
It's absolutely crazy to think that next week is the finale. Well, actually this week is also the finale. This is part one of the two part conclusion. If I had to guess, JD must be a Harry Potter or Infinity Wars fan.
I decided to structure this week's post a little differently since there was no challenge. Everyone is prepping for next week's big performance to determine who will sign to So So Def. Since everyone is grinding and focused, there was no challenge. There were many telling moments and revealing glimpses, however. And with no challenge, there was no hit list. But thanks to some carefully taken screenshots, I've unlocked the hidden ninth hit list before next week's decision.
Hidden Hit List
Like last season with Supa Peach, Lil Key and his mom have been recording the hit list in the room. Here's some snaps of it:
Some quick math will give us the following for the average for the eight weeks:
- Lil Key 2.375
- Nia Kay and Prince Of New York 2.625
- Mani 3.25
- Jayla Marie 3.375 (I gave her a 5 for the week she sat out)
Now this is a somewhat cold way of ranking all the kids, so let's look at the artists behind the numbers.
Lil Key
As I said before, I'm rooting for Lil Key to win. As much as I admire his talent, I admire his essence. For someone still of high school age, he's a very humble and wise kid. This episode alone he said "No matter what obstacle, I'm jumping over them". Acknowledging that people would go into beast mode now that the pressure is on, he remarked that they “should have been going hard like from day one, I’ve been going the hardest that I can”. His hunger is so evident and his work ethic is so admirable. Most times it seems like he is the only one who consistently extracts lessons every week.
But I did notice one hiccup. His biggest appeal rapping wise may be his biggest drawback. Last week during the versatility challenge, he came out the gate charging, but when the beat changed, he tripped. The aggressiveness of his rapping balances well with his disposition, but he's always the aggressive rapper. Thankfully he took the advice given to him to smile more, but when you're always start with your intensity at 100, it becomes expected. The last thing you want from a listener is to develop a tolerance and potentially a boredom because they know what you're giving them before you even get a chance to give it to them.
Yet, that seems like more of a long term problem (something JD will definitely have to consider when deciding who to sign). In the short term, I think the aggressive, turn up style he's stayed true to will work in his favor at the concert. And because there's a big stake tied to this challenge (as I outlined he needs last week), I don't think he'll mess up during the performance at all.
Nia Kay
I firmly believe that Chicago is one of the Mystical Groves of Hip Hop. I mean it gave us Chance, Vic Mensa, Kanye, Lupe, Common, and many many more. So I was extremely excited when I found out Nia Kay was from Chicago. She had such a powerful audition; completely held her own in front of Snoop Dogg; and like Key, has topped The Hit List three times.
That being said, I'm not her biggest fan. She suffers the same issue as Key: stagnant flow. JD even commented that her flow is always the same. And worse than her cadence never changing, her signature thing is the woo-ing and dabbing. But it's just annoying, frankly. I won't even pretend that an artist can't have a signature move or phrase, but it should not be so irritating that it turns me off to you performing.
But again, in much the same way as Bmore's own, when it comes to next week's performance, I don't think it'll be detrimental. Nia Kay is a strong performer who's energy can connect with the crowd. And no shade, but the flow she has is familiar, so I think the crowd will only vibe with her more.
Prince of New York
Oh boy.
Da Brat likened him to a mad scientist during his audition. Strangely enough, his story was the classic NY artist mythos flipped on his head: instead of heading to the Big Apple with only his hopes and dreams, he hailed from NY, but with arguably the least experience in the group. His flow is absolutely ridiculous, like a Twista Jr but with way more Afro. He quickly became a favorite of mine and he's continued to prove so. He won the photo shoot challenge and landed on the cover of Hip Hop Weekly. Last episode, he absolutely killed the formal challenge in versatility and slaughtered the informal challenge during the Rap Battle.
Now before we can get to the important part, we have to address our visit from Uncle Flo.
Jermaine invited Flo Rida and all the kids were so excited. Now I don't think Flo Rida is anything amazing, but like Darius from Atlanta said "Moms need rap too". All the kids thought they would be performing with Flo the next day, but Mr. Rida and Mr. Dupri had another surprise in store: gym class. I could not shake the feeling that this was a Play 60 plug and the wonderful Michelle Obama was going to walk out and speak to the kids. But in actuality, this was suppose to show the kids that there's a physical component to rapping and performing, and there is conditioning to prepare for it. I might not be a Coach Flo diehard, but I did notice some terrible form on these kids' pushups that needs to be addressed. So, there was some good from his visit.
After the pushups and laps, Coach asked all the kids to spit because as a professional, even when you're exhausted, you still have to perform. And this is where everything spirals out of control. Mani's dissection will come later, but it's worth noting that he actually volunteered to go first. But Prince hyped up on feeling himself and adrenaline just butted in. You could argue that he was being assertive, but I think assertive can be truncated to get to the real behavior...
It's amazing because I noticed that compared to last season, this season is a lot more amicable. Usually it's the managers who stir up trouble, but even they were behaving better (for the most part). But lately PoNY has become a little diva and hasn't been playing well with others. On the field with Flo Rida, he and Jayla would not stop bickering. I'll put most of the blame in his court because he was being extremely rude, cutting people off, refusing to let anyone say they were better than him. Again, "But he SHOULD think he's the best and blah blah blah". Bye, he knows better. For Prince, the Rap Game has become the Rep Game because even one perceived iota of disrespect is enough to set him off now. Everyone basically had to get in between Jayla and him because the arguing was getting heated.
He's even talking back and snarling at Yovanka, his manager, but more importantly his MOTHER. Let me tell you, I was truly scared for that boy. (By the way, when Prince asked for critique and Yovanka said he could do better and the music in the back scratched in the back, I had trouble catching my breath from laughing).
Even with the sudden attitude shift, Prince has been doing a lot of things right. He noticed that everyone (including himself) has been spitting the same rhymes lately, so he took it upon himself to write a new one. JD commented last week that Prince's mic holding was atrocious, so he walked around holding a microphone to practice. Prince may be the wettest behind the ears, but he's a powerful rapper and I think he's gonna impress the crowd come time for the performance.
Mani
I want to root for Mani. He's like a mini Snoop Dogg, which is great for him because the last baby Snoop was signed to So So Def. Mani is a real cool cat, and even though he didn't do great during last week's versatility challenge, he switched up his flow when he rapped for Flo Rida. When JD asked all the kids what kind of beats they wanted, Mani was the only one who requested something outside of what he would be expected of him, which I think deserves recognition.
But I think the biggest obstacle Mani faces is Mani. When the kids switched managers, Key's mom asked Mani "Who is Mani?" and his response was a verbal shrug. Mani, along with everyone else, says he's just Cali laid back, but I just don't think he's committed to this competition. In fact, it often feels like his mom wants this win more than he does. She did a whole exposition on how he came from the streets (which I'd think he'd know...) and has shown more passion for him winning than he has.
Except when he performed for Ms. Mariah.
I won't speak too long on Mariah because I don't have too many nice things. Mariah has had an incredible career and is known for the amazing range she was gifted with. But recently, she hasn't been holding up. I honestly forgot about her 2014 Christmas performance (I apologize in advance), but was swiftly reminded when she struggled to hum a few notes.
But this show (thankfully) is not about her. Mariah's visit definitely got the kids excited and she even remarked she saw something special in Mani.
What will Mani be like next week? The only concern I have would be how the crowd receives his energy. I may think Mani is too chill for his own good, but with the way people love turn up music right now, I fear he'll have trouble connecting to the crowd and getting the response he wants.
Jayla Marie
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Jayla shouldn't be on this show. Jayla is not a rapper, she's a performer. When she and Prince were arguing, she stated that he couldn't sing like she can. One, this isn't The Voice, so whether he can is irrelevant unless he's exceptional and can pull off an Anderson Paak. B, Jayla can't sing. Multiple people have told her not to, or that she wasn't on pitch. This is a rap competition. She's had trouble memorizing lyrics she didn't have to spend time writing, even under the same time constraints as the other kids. She even skipped a challenge week.
Can Jayla perform? Yes. Does she have the potential to be a popular child star? I honestly think so. Next week, I think she'll do fine, but I doubt she'll get signed.
***
And that's that for this week. Excited to see who comes out on top of this 10 week musical journey and gets that So So Def gold chain.
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