Classic Rap Battles: Grind Time: Ness Lee v Illmaculate

 

  

10/10

Overall Thoughts: Back at MOB last year Illmaculate and Ness Lee went toe to toe and what resulted is possibly my favourite rap battle ever. Yes, it's that good. Illmaculate proved yet again why he's a battle rap legend by putting out his trademark flawless performance and integrating freestyles into his verses left and right like nobody else but Nocando and maybe Eurgh could pull off.  It's easy to tell that Illmac's just at home over beats as he is accapella when you watch this battle, his rhythm is on point as fuck and constantly being switched up while laying down schemes that last half a round at some point. Ness Lee's star is still on the rise and he's pretty much solidified his spot in the Top Tier. Dirt and Bender are probably the only two MC's that can fuck with Ness when it comes to rhyme scheme as is immediately evident from his first round. Add in his unique style and versatile rhythm and it's not hard to see why the match was so fucking good.

In the end it almost comes down to Performance vs writing. Ness had a couple of minor slip ups throughout the battle (though the whole venue/crowd/police situation didn't help i'm sure) and his projection wasn't as great as normal (unfortunately the man had Strep throat!), while Illmaculate was as perfect as always in both categories. In terms of writing, both had some amazing schemes but i felt Ness Lee had a few more hard hitting lines - '...a little past too' , '...I didn't see you there!' - though Illmac's '...so i beat him at his own game' was one of the best lines of the match. I originally thought Illmac took it but the more i've watched this battle (almost ten times now) the more i've been leaning towards Ness Lee taking it. Maybe this is on account of becoming accustomed to the few stumbles and delivery problems that drag down an otherwise perfect performance from Ness.

Round Breakdowns:
1st -  Ness Lee
2nd - Tie
3rd - Illmac

Victor: Ness Lee. Originally i thought Illmac took it so this one really can go either way.

Recommended Watching:
Check out Illmaculates battle against Eurgh here
Check out Ness Lee taking on FLO here