Contenders Match: Mr. J 4-1 vs. Nigma 2-1 [NIGMA 6-2]

[EtH]

Nigma - While Adonis felt you had a beginning, middle and and end, I saw a first part and second part. I felt the entire first part was filled with clock reference, and the second part was filled with plane crash references. I felt they seemed a little bit disconnected so for the first half of the verse I was thinking "Nothing's happening here?". I've gave you a hard time about rhyming in some other verses, but you got it down to a tee here. I instantly developed a proper rap flow like "Standing...on a flat beach...with a damp breeze...from the Black Sea...Understanding...there is past and also future thats still happening". I rapped it fast as fuck straight off the bat so for you to drive that home right off the bat was huge and really made me enjoy the lyrical side of the piece. Imagery and wording was also very well through out and prevalent throughout. EDIT: You do things off the bat apparently.

Mr J - Simple but effective throughout. You had the time metaphors going through and you used a lot of different topical techniques. Couple of syllable issues with the rhyming but nothing that really held you back or put you off. I feel limited though when reading pieces like this which has a sort of "preaching" approach. Where the protagonist is actually kind of you, Mr J, as opposed to being a character. As a result, there generally isn't a location, a plotline, anything like that. Usually it's about "points" and getting your views across. I feel like it's the difference between watching a speech and watching a movie. That being said it's a legitimate style and one I ironically used in the OM section the other day, but it's not something you can really be consumed and engulfed by.

Overall, this is a razor close battle. I felt that Nigma had the advantage lyrically and in flow, but because I didn't really put it together until the second half of his verse a lot of it was me reading back over lines to make sure I didn't miss anything so it got a bit staggered. Mr J on the other hand had me easily following him the entire time without stopping once, picking up all the references along the way. This all comes down to the writing style I like more, and I'm more of a fan of storytelling than anything else when it comes to topicals, which is why I vote the way I do.

MVGT - Nigma.

[timeless]

Nigmas slant rhymes didn't work, transitioning also needs work, hard to get into. Seen better from J but his craftsmanship was leagues ahead of nigma this week.

V. J