AOWL SEASON 3 MAGAZINE — EDITION 7

[Certain]

Season 3, Edition 7

That Which Doesn't Kill Us
INTRODUCTION by Certain





Well, that was worrisome. I wasn't sure I'd be back here, writing this magazine, at one point a few days ago. I wasn't sure the interest was still there from this league and its members. But you guys proved me wrong, and I'm thrilled. We have a great week ahead, with an absolutely stacked lineup featuring so many new sign-ins I had to ask oats to break them all down. Otherwise, this magazine is all me. And I have a few things on my mind, so let's get to it.



WHY I CARE by Certain
This is my requiem to a writing genre that didn't exist 20 years ago and might not exist 20 years from now.





I was 11 when I wrote my first text rap on the Internet. It was in 2000, shortly after my mom finally ponied up for CompuServe. I popped my cherry on a website based on the idea that 2Pac was still alive, which is such a 2000 concept that it cripples me with nostalgia. There wasn't much to an 11-year-old's text rap verses: mostly guns, bitches and blow. I had that "Thug Life" tatted on my chest. Tell me can you feel me?

I was 14 when I first entered the RapMusic.com Storytelling/Topical League, known by its members as the RSTL. My first verse was to the topic of, "You are an inanimate object." I wrote about being a plastic bag, and my verse wove the story of going from a grocery store to a lonely man's kitchen to picking up dog shit. That ending killed me. I was 14. I won that battle.

There's something to this genre. It has hooks in me, even as someone who writes for a living and does not have any involvement in the hip hop scene beyond consuming its music. I leave, but I come back because there's nowhere else that I can express myself in this way. The demands on rhymes and complexity make it one of the most limiting genres of poetry out there. They also make it addictive, even more than the thrill of winning a big battle.

In the past when I've come back, it's been short stints under the veil of anonymity. I thought this trip would be the same, thought I'd be done at the end of the Writing Challenge League. I thought I'd be done at the end of Season 2 of this league. I thought I'd be done competing when I started this season. Yet here I am, signed back in, back on the grind, pushing my way toward 200-some-odd victories.

The success does matter to me, but it's not just that. It's this genre of writing, this form of expression. Here we take challenges and mold our art to them, around them, in a way that stimulates all of our creative energies. It's one thing to make art in a vacuum, another to be commissioned and evaluated. "The Mona Lisa" is not "The Starry Night" because Leonardo Da Vinci was painting for a rich benefactor. He had to meet the benefactor's demands while still providing something of artistic relevance. He turned an ugly woman into a beautiful painting.

The message board is dying as a whole across the Internet. Change is good. Social media has advanced to the point where we are even more in contact with our peers, and message boards are unwieldy in the modern era. Text rap still exists, on Facebook and Tumblr and where ever else, though it's not as organized and detailed as it once was.

But there's something to being the last. If we are the last, we need to make it proud. We all at one time or another loved this hobby, even those too proud to admit it. We invested time and effort and creativity into it because it mattered. Maybe it was mostly the winning for you, maybe the opportunity to explore writing in new contexts. Maybe you'd never tried anything like it before because you were 11 years old when it started, and the addiction grew from there.

I've come to approach this league, if not this season, as the last bastion. I've seen other sites, and the talent level doesn't compare. That played a major role in my desire to run this season of this league, and it's played a major role in my being willing to sign up when desperate times called for desperate measures. I'm 26 now, and I'm not ready to see this thing I've spent half my life doing just crumble and fade away.

So I'll keep trying.



Week 6 Rewind
BATTLE REVIEWS by Certain
Well, that was brutal. Only eight verses were dropped last week, though they almost all were of high caliber. The philosopher quotes were not easy to approach but served a lot of writers well. The voting was so crappy it required a one-day extension. But here we are.





1. oats beats zygote 4-3. | “Conquer yourself rather than the world.” — René Descartes
This is my favorite battle of the season. oats came with the very direct take on the topic, eschewing traditional storytelling to write about how unfixable the world we live in is and how instead the better approach is to worry about fixing ourselves and adjusting to our surroundings. The plainness of his take was augmented by the complexity of his verse. He took all sorts of forms in showing exactly what he meant, while maintaining the top-tier mechanics we come to expect. He took the broad angle of the topic, while zygote really went right at it and encapsulated the topic perfectly. In his typical fashion, he went with an esoteric approach involving two kingdoms, one ruled by Sartre and one by Descartes, each with his own philosophies. These two societies came to war over a hill and domination, but the ultimate truth lied at the end. If we think, therefore we are, what is war? Is it a part of our minds? Is that what this conquering means? oats ultimately beat zygote in the only way anyone can beat zygote: He out-wrote him. Voters favored his mechanical finesse and more advanced techniques to zygote's directness, though zygote actually rhymed really well this week. I have a feeling zygote will make another title match by season's end.


2. King Ra. beats Mike Wrecka 5-4. | “Life can only be understood backwards.” — Søren Kierkegaard
These two both had a lot to prove, so they did. King Ra. got the win largely because he thought and wrote bigger. His uniquely structured story reflected on life and its meaning, and he did so with a smooth style that included a solid flow. Mike Wrecka went with an even more direct take on the topic, writing from the perspective of someone who has had his life flash before him as he dies. Straight-forward writing does not always sit well with voters, and Mike Wrecka found that out.


3. timeless beats Adonis 7-2. | “The purpose of all wars is peace.” — Saint Augustine
To be honest, both of these writers seemed to struggle with perhaps the best topic of the round. timeless wrote about our war on Earth and the ecosystem. Though that was a clever-enough concept within the context of this topic, the content felt trite because it's been done so often. Adonis came up with a much more original idea, with God wondering why he is the root cause of war so often. But his execution really failed him, with awkward phrasing and no sense of our narrator's mystique. Writing from God's perspective is tough.


4. Totoro wins via Mr. J no-show. | “Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination.” — Immanuel Kant
Another excellent topic was wasted, Totoro at least delivered a rather nice, brief take on it. Because Totoro's verse was so short, it would be easy to underrate it. But he very carefully created a character and an existential dilemma, then smirked as he finished it off with a perfect ending. What makes Totoro stand out usually is his his word choice, but here it was more than that. When he attacks a topic with this kind of thought, he is one of the best. Too often he'll write longer verses that don't serve the topic the way this one did. Mr. J disappointingly no-showed, his second after not doing so once last year.


5. Frank wins via El Pancake no-show. | “The corruption of the best things gives way to the worst.” — David Hume
I was very disappointed this battle didn't go down. Frank wrote a very good, very Frank-esque verse about a girl who smoked dosed fake marijuana and died as a result. She seemed to have been dealing with some shit at home and lost her mind in the synthetic marijuana. I'm not sure this all made sense scientifically, but the way Frank presented was believable and interesting. He could have done more to develop both the girl and the narrator, a bystander in all this. But instead he focused on the images, which were sharp and unique. The rhyming, extended throughout the verse as always by Frank, was superb. El Pancake ducked the Season 2 championship rematch, though.


6. Just Write and YDK both no-show. | “The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.” — Karl Marx
Both of these guys claimed to love the topic. Then they disappeared.



Week 7 Preview
POWER RANKINGS by Certain
After several weeks off power rankings duty, your trusty moderator is back to give you some sense of order, albeit the kind that does not factor into anything other than this arbitrary list. Because so few people showed last week, this list will include anyone signed in for Week 7 who already has participated in the league.





10. Adonis (3-3)
Our favorite California pervert (sorry, Fig) knows how to bounce back. Last week he let his writing fall apart on him despite a good concept. I expect him to return to form this week, though he has been a bit up and down all season.


9. Mike Wrecka (2-4)
My co-moderator is not happy. He thinks his record should be 5-1 right now, and his point is substantiated by the vote totals against him: He has two one-vote losses and one two-vote loss, along with a no-show. But his verse last week was very good, and he should bounce back.


8. King Ra. (3-3)
The other half of Vetwork now gets to go against his mercurial partner. This will be a big test for King Ra., a talented writer who often goes for big approaches. Can he write a verse that feels bigger in scope than Frank? King Ra. has proven himself with wins against Mike Wrecka and Mr. J already.


7. timeless (4-2)
Through vigilance, creativity and smooth rhyming, timeless has landed a spot in the championship match. Now he has to face oats, who beat him earlier this season. But timeless' evolution continues and makes him a growing force to be reckoned with.


6. El Pancake (2-2)
It'd be easy to say the Season 2 champion has underachieved this time around, but he actually has written very strong verses in all three weeks he's shown. There's no doubt El Pancake can return to the top of these rankings and this league. But he drops for ducking Frank last week, whatever the reason..


5. Vividlyvague (4-1)
I was disappointed to see Vividlyvague drop out after a very strong effort in the title match threeway against oats and Frank. But he's back now, and ever verse he writes seems to tighten his style and improve his rhymes and narrative focus. He's improved quite a bit since joining us.


4. dead man (0-1)
The effort level is the only reason dead man falls this low. He no-showed in Week 1, but that was understandable with The Winter Topical championship match overlapping. Now he's here, and that should scare all the other writers. It's easy to see him ripping off five or six wins in a row.


3. Frank (5-1)
He feels wronged by his loss to oats and now may be a week away from getting his revenge. And Frank always is much better with motivation.


2. zygote (4-2)
I don't have much to say here other than, this man is our most creative writer and does not seem to get the respect he deserves.


1. oats (6-0)
The champion's record speaks for itself. But what has been most impressive about oats is how he has stood out in every element of writing. He has it all and is the most well-rounded writer on this site. It's good to see that manifest in this unbeaten league run.



WELCOME PARTY by oats
With the boatload of newcomers, I figured it was worth it to have someone introduce us all. Who better than the champion to offer hospitality?





Fig (0-0)
More known for his presence in the discussion, Fig is a deceptively talented writer. Admittedly, I had to do some research to discover that, but his complex use of language and ability to write a smart, emotionally compelling verse is impressive. He probably relies a little too much on his rhyming, which, while good, can sometimes create lines too dense to make much sense of on their own. In any case, he has a poetic, imaginative style that will likely turn some heads.


fraze (0-0)
At the time of this writing, Fraze has 2 posts: one vote in the Adonis - Timeless battle, and his post signing in last week. Not a whole lot to go off of, but it definitely smells like an alias to me. Based off his name, I’d say he is a modern-day street poet with a knack for clever phrasing and urban insight. The misspelling of his name is purposeful, believe it or not, and serves to give him street cred in a place where spelling will never be as cool as it should be.


Split Eight (0-1)
The prodigal son returns. After his much-maligned disappearance from the site, Split looks to reclaim his spot as one of the top topical talents NC has to offer. He has an elegance to his wording, and excels with metaphorical musings with heavy emotional undertones. It’ll be interesting to see if his time away will help or hinder his writing, or if he will lean too much on the usual tropes stippled across his writing.


Witty (0-0)
We last saw our Irish hero in an epic no-show meltdown co-starring Rawn, so it’s safe to say that all judgmental eyes will be on Witty to see if he cries wolf again. Fingers crossed that he does show, because when he is on his game Witty can be a force. I’d have to imagine such tags are getting tiresome for him; the “talented underachiever” eventually just fades away into “the underachiever,” so Witty has a lot to prove here.


dead man (0-1)
The Season One champ returns. In any league, Black is shortlisted as a favorite to win, and for good reason. He’s achieved a degree of mastery in this niche of writing, coupling seamless rhyme schemes with unparalleled imagery into larger allegories, often excelling when he delves into human psychology. His loss in the Winter Tourney final showed how he can meander a bit too much at times, and can lose traction with the reader if his imagery overpowers his sense of narrative movement.


Certain (0-0)
The shipbuilder/captain is now a passenger as well. Certain is an all-time talent and well-respected veteran with a smooth authority over his words. He possesses a refined quality that is rare among topicalists nowadays, also making him a formidable opponent. Certain’s writing is as good as it gets, but his verses could stand to improve with some strategic risk-taking conceptually.


Rhetoric (0-0)
I originally tried to recruit Kayge at the start of the league, only to be denied due to his other obligations. To me, he’s in that same boat as Nigma where he’s a few big wins away from throwing his name around in that nebulous “top-tier” pool, making his participation in this talent-laden league a big opportunity for him. He has all the tools: strong rhyming, unique and dynamic angles, and a creative wit that adds depth to his writing. It’s been a while since I’ve read a Kayge verse, but I expect him to make an immediate impact should he stick around.


Bladed Thesis (0-0)
Much hullaballoo surrounded the re-emergence of Bladed Thesis, a highly-regarded legend of yesteryear. It’ll be interesting to see how his style meshes with the trends of the current topical scene, but judging by his verse in OM, he seems to be right in-step . I’m not sure if he’s been active anywhere lately or not, so rust may be a legitimate hurdle as well, especially in the context of consistent participation, but only time will tell what kind of run he has in store.


Vividlyvague (4-1)
Vivid has made a name for himself, and a week removed from a loss in the championship match, he should be back better than ever. He’s a wildcard because he continues to make adjustments that improve his writing, and it’s scoring points with the voters. In the chat thread he has admitted to not having the attention span/patience to edit his work, which seems to be an obvious place to start for his continued development, as his work can sometimes be a little loose and sloppy (just how he likes it).



PREDICTIONS by Certain
We return to story leads for the final choose-your-own-topic week of the season. And we get a huge boost of new blood, with top writers from around the Internet joining us, hopefully to stay. And Witty promises to show. We shall see.





Week 7 championship: oats (6-0) vs. timeless (4-2)
These two gentlemen faced a few weeks ago, and oats won resolutely. To be blunt, I don't see that changing this week. timeless has made progress with every verse he has dropped, but he still lacks his own style and the kind of confidence in handling topics that oats has, as the veteran wordsmith. oats also is on a complete role and seems to have the voters in his corner to a degree, which is not to dismiss any of his wins. And there's that seemingly fated one-on-one rematch against Frank hanging in the balance, though that would require Frank winning as well. Prediction: oats 70-30.


Week 7 contender match: Frank (5-1) vs. King Ra. (3-3)
It's the Vetwork story-off! Let's be clear here: These two gentlemen have very, very different styles but both come up with epic concepts and writing approaches. For King Ra., it's all about the polish. He tries to maximize everything about his verses, often with all sorts of intri***ies defining his work. Frank's enormousness is purely based on his bombastic writing. He stretches rhymes for entire verses and does all sorts of crazy storytelling. He writes like he's Ghostface Killah but the acid made him lucid, somehow. The key here will be for King Ra. to match or top Frank's creativity. Prediction: Frank 62-38.


zygote (4-2) vs. Vividlyvague (4-1)
BATTLE OF THE WEEK CANDIDATE! I love this battle, and I'm glad it's finally (to my knowledge) happening. All three of the losses for these two have come at the hands of our current champion, oats, so let's not read too much into the records. The styles are drastically different. Both are creative as hell about how to approach topics. But Vividlyvague tends to let the rhymes guide him in his storytelling in a style that seems to meld Frank and maybe ThisIsDAM or some other multi-heavy writer. zygote, on the other hand, only rhymes when he feels like it but can do so with ridiculous ease. He's on a tear, and I have to favor him. Prediction: zygote 54-46.


El Pancake (2-2) vs. Split Eight (0-1)
BATTLE OF THE WEEK CANDIDATE! Please show. Gentlemen, we are friends. Show because if you show, this is the best matchup of this incredibly strong week. El Pancake and Split Eight both have very fragile writing styles, full of so much grace and featuring words put together in such specific orders. El Pancake is the much more polished and versatile writer, and he seems like the more natural fit for the straight-forward storytelling typically required by story leads. But Split Eight may be the most talented, if unpolished, writer around when he really tries. If he can dig down, he can pull the upset. Prediction: El Pancake 57-43.


Adonis (3-3) vs. Mike Wrecka (2-4)
Comparing these two writers is very tricky. Both are coming off tough losses, with Adonis knowing he could have cleaned up his verse and made the championship match while Mike Wrecka wonders if he needs to increase his complexity. The thing that initially had me leaning toward Mike Wrecka here is that he seems better built for story lead topics. But in Week 3, Adonis posted one of his best verses and nearly upended Vulgar, while Mike Wrecka no-showed. My best guess is that Adonis works in the abstract with one of the more vague topics, while Mike Wrecka spins a more creative and substantial story. Prediction: Mike Wrecka 51-49.


Totoro (0-4) vs. Witty (0-2)
Witty promises to show, but I'm not commenting on him until he actually does. Totoro probably should drop votes for once, as he would be 2-2 if he had done his required voting every week. He's one of the best, and he's much more likely to show than Witty, which is crazy to think about. Prediction: Totoro 59-41.


dead man (0-1) vs. Bladed Thesis (0-0)
BATTLE OF THE WEEK CANDIDATE! These two apparently go back a ways, which I hope will motivate them. Bladed Thesis dropped his verse already, but I haven't read it. I did read a verse of his in Open Mic, though, and it's clear that he has a great grasp of flow. He rode rhymes hard in that example, but it worked for what the piece was, and I'm interested in seeing if he can do it while tackling a topic. dead man, as we all know, is one of the very best to ever do it. And the interesting thing here is that dead man can't really be outrhymed. Story leads week isn't up his alley as much, though. This prediction comes with a tinge of ignorance toward Bladed Thesis, but I would pick dead man against almost anyone. Prediction: dead man 66-34.


Certain (0-0) vs. rhetoric (0-0)
Certain is mediocre at best. He thinks punctuation is writing. He writes about womanly topics. He tries too hard. He isn't very original, not like he used to be. He has fallen off hard in the past decade. rhetoric apparently also goes by the name Kayge and has a reputation as a good writer. My guess is that he will show and probably beat that overrated fatty. Prediction: rhetoric 100-0.


fraze (0-0) vs. Fig (0-0)
I have no idea who fraze is, and he only has two posts total. This makes it very unlikely he will show. Fig, though, is guaranteed not to show. He is cute as a button, though. Are buttons cute? I've never thought about the cuteness of a button. Prediction: fraze 50-0-50 (double no-show).


Brian Bryan (0-0) vs. MMLP (0-0)
Brian Bryan is Baron Mynd is Lars, and therefore Brian Bryan was The Winter Topical's champion and is in the conversation for best topical writer on this here site and the Internet in general. He is an established veteran known for his versatility and ability to completely strangle any topic. I have read only one verse by MMLP, also from a battle with Baron Mynd. He used a fairly simple but nontraditional rhyme scheme and showed no interest in that particular topic, so hopefully he is more inspired this week. Prediction: Brian Bryan 73-27.



Only Makes Us Stronger
CONCLUSION


First, I want to thank oats for his part in this magazine. But mostly I want to thank all those who signed in, or at least all those who signed in and actually plan on showing up and voting. I'll keep my effort level high for as long as you make it worthwhile. Thanks.

[King Ra.]

Salute @Certain.

[Witty]

This was greatness, good job fellas.

[Witty]

Certain vs Kayge is also a botw contender btw...if both come correct then it will probably be the best battle of this week imo.

Died a little at the prediction for it tho lol

[dyedinthewool]

Bon iver and Chrvches though? >.<

You be knowing.

I wish i was in this week. With the batch of writers doing their thing this week, how can I not find the inspiration.

Great magazine guys, as usual!

[Split]

had my verse written and Safari crashed so there's that.

[PancakeBrah]

Call me fragile again m8 see if I don't wreck u

Nah jp my nigga

Good work certain! Will read in full post work

[Certain]

Originally Posted by dyedinthewool

Bon iver and Chrvches though? >.<

You be knowing.

I make the music choices without thinking about the others, but this week ended up really hipster-y.

Next week will be all trap rap.

[dyedinthewool]

Originally Posted by Certain

I make the music choices without thinking about the others, but this week ended up really hipster-y.

Next week will be all trap rap.

Do you my g.

[Bladed Thesis]

66/34.

[Brian Bryan]

Originally Posted by Certain

keep trying.

Script was me in that link you posted.

[oats]

Dope mag, enjoyed the op Ed a lot.

[NYCSPITZ]

yo oats is a faggot LOL

[oats]

Originally Posted by Totoro

yo oats is a faggot LOL

:/

[NYCSPITZ]

jk oats is smart and handsome and will live in asia!!! :] we r bros because u eat rice

[Witty]

i eat rice too!

[NYCSPITZ]

Witty is a very very Western euro with an affinity for GUINNESS and likes drugs by the look of his avatar = ]. I like foxes too Witty yaaaaaaaay

[Witty]

U know me so well <3

[NYCSPITZ]

LESS THAN THREE

[Witty]

lmao