[oats]

Trap: the deployment of references to John Legend/Common/Kid Cudi
tracks was effective in evoking Kanye, which worked given the title (I
immediately think of the song when I read "the good life"). They never
forced the flow, either, which is commendable; it's easy to start
squeezing shit in there for the sake of the approach and compromise
your rhythm in doing so. The flow here was on point.

That being said, the content of the verse was pretty thin. I imagine the word "gimmick" will be tossed around a bit, and rightfully so. There wasn't a whole lot going on beyond the song/album references; the actual narrative was pretty thin. Also, despite the rhythm and flow being on point in the verse, the wording was clunky at times - the lifted/shifted couplet stands out in particular.

Overall, this wasn't a bad verse. There was plenty to like about the ease of the flow and accessibility of the content. But at this stage in the tournament, I can't see this being too successful. It was more of a word association exercise than an actual topical verse, if that makes sense.


Kannon: at first, I must admit that I rolled my eyes a bit at the incorporation of the song "the good life" in the topic "the good life." Though that could have been a bit of the hangover from the feeling of trap's verse. In any case, you didn't linger too long on the song title, and you built a strong narrative off of it that subverted the topic effectively. I really like your storytelling. This is no exception. The simplicity of language belies the humanity of the characters, and it's easy to connect with. Add smooth flow to the mix and it's a great combination.

The only qualms I have here are small instances of wording. "Rapping of songs" was a little campy to me, and "the back pain" and "the oxy" instead of "back pain led to oxy" being the only examples really. Nothing major, nothing that could possibly tip the scales against you, but for the sake of offering something useful, those were my two cents.

Vote: Kannon got this comfortably in my opinion. Trap's verse could have potentially carried him through in one of the earlier rounds, but not enough to compete with Kannon's well-rounded showing. This was a good match, and I hope both of you guys stick around for the AOWL when it pops back up again.