Despite the global pandemic, battle rap as a culture has thrived.
The year saw some of the culture’s favorite artists thrive, while it also saw so many fall off … miserably. AllHipHop.com has had a front seat to some of the biggest (and some of the smallest) events of the year. As a media platform that celebrates our fans, we’ve tapped them, some battle rap influencers, owners, media outlets, and also emcees to come up with a fun list of the most exceptional talent of the year. We are calling it our “Battle Rap Superlatives” list.
According to their collective votes, here is what we were able to deduce … K Shine, B Dot, and Chilla Jones are probably the most incredible emcees the culture has ever seen. Everyone is in agreement that Eazy the Block Captain and Viixen the Assassin are stars, and Tay Roc and DNA are still competitive in an era where folk throw talent away for the newest hot jawn on the scene.
We see that Gates of the Garden is a breeding ground for talent, that there are a whole lot of battle rap media outlets out there covering the culture, and that no matter what you think … Yoshi G, Casey Jay, and Fiirst Ladii Flames are probably going to have the year of their lives in 2021.
Fan Top 10 Favorite/ Preference Battle Rappers of the Year (Female and Male)
The first category, “Fan Top 10 Favorite Battle Rappers of the Year (Female and Male)” allowed fans to say who they simply like the most. A co-ed preference list, this top ten seeks to give space for people to be honest about those lyricists that speak to them, make them scream at the YouTube or App because they are so fire or always has a vibe that makes you want to root for them.
- K Shine
- B Dot
- Chilla Jones
- Daylyt
- Ill Will
- Geechi Gotti
- Tay Roc
- Holmzie the God
- Viixen
- Eazy the Block Captain tied with DNA
Top Female Battle Rappers of the Year
The second category, “Top Female Battle Rappers of the Year” is self-explanatory and looks at the women who have come into the year — ripping the roof off of it without breaking one of their pretty and perfectly manicured nails. Congrats to many of them, who have been grinding for some years, have finally proven to the world that this is a sport of brains, not brawn.
Consider the names on the list that took down some of battle rap’s biggest names with a smile.
- Viixen the Assassin
- Casey Jay
- O’fficial
- 40 BARRS
- Fiirst Ladii Flamez
- Yoshi G
- Coffee
- Lady Caution
- RX
- Ms. Hustle
Top Male Battle Rappers of the Year
This list, “Top Male Battle Rappers of the Year,” was the tightest of all of the lists. So close were the votes, ten additional votes could have shifted the top three slots. No one is shocked at the top five, as fans have been saying all along that these names are the most elite battlers of the year.
B Dot could be called the heir to the Lux throne and participated in some of the biggest battles of the year. While Chilla Jones, the 2020 Champion of the Year, made us recognize that his ability to translate in different contexts, varying rapping skill sets and his agency (that allows him to be him all the time) is to be saluted. And at the same time, K Shine remains the most dangerous artist of this era — harnessing an atomic gift of wordsmithing and entertainment that is actually more magical than people care to admit.
- B Dot
- Chilla Jones
- K Shine
- Ill Will
- Geechi Gotti
- DNA
- Bill Collector
- Eazy the Block Captain
- Danny Myers
- Kid Chaos
Top Emerging Talent of the Year
What keeps battle rap exciting? New Talent!
Check out the new faces and voices that have “emerged” this year as some of the top emcees in the world. Like all of the other lists, the competition was stiff. Fans included female rappers right beside the guys, even including one tie between Fiirst Ladii Flamez and Quban.
Rapper NXT did receive honorable mention, receiving exactly 2 votes under the tie. His hustle has us looking and watching to see what really is next.
- Jey the Nitewing
- Saynt
- Eazy the Block Captain
- Viixen
- Real Sikh
- Kid Chaos
- Yoshi
- Fonz
- Lu Castro
- Fiirst Ladii Flamez and Quban tied
Top Battle Rap Event of the Year
2020 might have been the “Year of Clarity, Chaos, and Corona.” But in battle rap, this was the “Year of the Woman!” As fans look over the year, resoundingly Queen of the Ring’s impact on the year dwarfed every other major event. People enjoyed the entire card. People were excited about the card. Stars were birthed out of the card.
Indeed there were other great events of the year, AllHipHop.com has to “give it up to the ladies” for showing out.
- QOTR/URL “KINGS vs QUEENS”
- URL “NOME X”
- URL “Ultimate Madness 1”
- URL “Summer Madness 10”
- URL “Rookies Vs. Vets 2”
- The Riot “Da Vision”
- KOTD “GRAND PRIX FINALS”
- QOTR “Watch the Throne 4”
- QOTR/URL “Royalty”
- Rare Breed Entertainment “The Get back”
Top Battle Rap Media Outlets
This virtual season saw the rise of battle rap media outlets that were just as impactful to the community as the artists that they covered. Simply consider the conversation of “Low Tier” vs. “Top Tier” media and the conflusion (conflict and confusion) that it caused. At some point, we thought that some of the vloggers were gonna jump in the ring and go at each other.
For you ill-informed, battle rap media consists of a few different styles of coverage: Analysts, Reporters, Op-Editors/Vloggers, and Talk Shows. With the rise of Caffeine, Discourse, Clubhouse, Twitch, and YouTube, new voices have emerged and older voices have had to adapt. Check out our list based on our fans’ votes.
- Jay Blac, the Champion Brand, and the URL Events Coverage team (Tsu Surf, Nunu Nellz, Hennyman, Anwar, and Reda)
- HipHopIsReal with Knowledge tha God, featuring NooBarzz and TR4 French
- 15MOFE with Uncle Rah, featuring Anwar
- Vada Fly featuring Shotime SP
- Black Compass with Tony Bro, Polo the Bar Guy, Midwest Drizz, James Posey, and Yung Cola
- Battle Rap Trap with HennyMan Sland
- Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion with Knowledge tha God and Ms. Fit
- New Era Podcast with Ben Swayze, DamnImWild, Lil Freddy, Dutch KIB, and Big Lola
- Let’s Talk Battle Rap with France
- Restore Order with Swave Sevah, Ike P, and Heavy Bag
Honorable Mentions are as follows: Angry Fan, Jimz to Gymz to Gemz, Three Letterman Breakfast with the Champ, What’s Goodz, Piper Boy, ARP, Battle Rap Stats, and the return of Chris Unbias.
TOP BATTLE RAP LEAGUES OF THE YEAR (SMALL, MEDIUM & LARGE)
Shout out to all of the leagues that have kept their heads up during the pandemic. It was through their hard work and constant innovation and ability to adapt and flip on the dime, that kept the industry (and culture) alive. Because so many leagues have been doing such great work, we divided them up by YouTube subscriptions, leaving that metric as a qualifying measuring stick. This allows more leagues to be celebrated and recognized for their hard work.
Top Small League of the Year (under 50,000 followers)
Gates of the Garden (Fumigate, Open the Gates 3, 4 & 5, Autumn Autopsy, Guarding the Gates )
Top Medium League of the Year
(between 50,001 and 500,000 followers)
TIED
Queen of the Ring (Royalty, Kings vs. Queens, Watch the Throne 4)
Rare Breed Entertainment (The Get Back, Social Distance, Social Distance 2, Mask On 1 & 2 )
Top Large League of the Year (above 500,001 followers)
The Ultimate Rap League
(Royalty, URL Private APP 2 & 3, Genesis, Only the Strong, Quarantined, Quarantined Sterilized 1 & 2, Ultimate Madness 1 & 2, NOME X, Rookies vs. Vets 2, Summer Madness 10, Kings vs. Queens, Murda Mook Card, Born Legacy 9, 10 & 11, Survivor Series Onyx, Smack Vol. 6)
Congrats to all those who the fans and battle rap influencers have tapped as the cream of the 2020 crop. Submit your list on our social and let us know who you got!