[Certain]

These verses are so weirdly interlocked that I am going to step away from my standard-format vote for a second to philosophize a bit on what a 10-line topical should be. Split and Mike Wrecka approached this topic the exact same (rather unoriginal) way, only from different (and, again, predictable for each) vantage points. And while I generally lean toward the experiential (Split) over the judgmental (Mike Wrecka), content wasn't going to be the deciding factor when the approaches were so similar. No, this battle is all about structure.

OK, maybe we'll do this the traditional way.

Mike Wrecka: You wrote a traditional verse. This had an introduction, a thesis, a proof and a conclusion, all contained to 10 lines. That's impressive over 10 lines and made this verse very good. But what you essentially did was take what you would have written over 30 lines in a normal battle and compress it. The writing was fine but no tighter or more fluid than what we expect from other Mike Wrecka verses. That's not what I'm looking for a 10-line battle, and perhaps that says something about my own expectations for this relatively untapped branch of topical battling. I would add that you didn't seem too concerned with the audience, getting a bit preachy but also delivering things we know. The explanatory nature of parts of this verse was condescending, and you could have done with a more subtle hand. That all comes back to structuring this like a longer verse, only shorter. You could have used that exposition to show off more lyrical prowess in a longer format, but here, some of that space seemed wasted. Still, the way you handled your limited space was impressive because the verse felt so complete.

Split: You, too, wrote the same verse you might have in a longer format. The difference is that your verses all have this poetic-slice feel to them. It's almost as if your verses come on ripped hardcover pages found draped over sewage grates. But that's not the whole truth, as is the case here. You do complete your thoughts, and your tight wording and subtlety are perfect fits for short verses. This verse, though, shows where you do need to adapt. In truncating but keeping things full, you made your character a bit too generic for your ideal form, not by image but by depth of character. Part of that surely comes from the concept of the character representing an entire generation. But I also think you missed a chance to humanize a bit. The slant rhymes really work for you, and though Mike Wrecka always was going to have the more traditional rap cadence (as he always would have the more traditional verse, in general), I really liked how this flowed. Along with the lack of humanization (and the emptiness that came with it), my other qualm was that I think you were trying a bit too much with the last line. But I think your structure functions much better here, and by showing rather than telling and avoiding condescension in such cramped quarters, you win.

Vote: Split