Don’t Flop came back to Liverpool on the 22nd of March. After the last event hosted at The Dome, they have found a much better venue for rap battles in The Kazimier. It was a five battle card with a tryout battle between 2k & Juke, Rikey Riley vs Bentlegs, Suus vs Quill, Innuendo vs Cracker and O’Shea vs Big J.
First on the card was 2k vs Juke. It was Juke’s debut in Don’t Flop and 2k’s second battle. His first battle was 4 years ago and he was cool with doing a tryout battle again. Both came with some good bars, and decent punchlines. One that stuck out was when Juke compared 2k to Marouanne Fellaini. Overall with this battle, I felt Juke was coming stronger but choked in the second and third rounds unfortunately.
Following this was Rikky Riley vs Bentlegs. Both mc’s were prepared and came with a few good punchlines, but I wasn’t really feeling it as much as I thought I might have.. Rikky Riley choked in his third round but when he got back on his train of thought, it was one of the best parts of the battle. He picked away at himself for most of it about how he is 30 and hasn’t done what he wants to do with his life, eventually getting off the stage and heading into the crowd.
Next up was Suus vs Quill. Quill travelled all the way to Liverpool from London for this battle. Suus, originally from Newcastle, didn’t have to travel too far. Literally just down the road now he studies at university in Liverpool. This was probably the closest battle of the night. Good research into each other and some personals were on point, even had good punchlines. Both took one round each going into the last round. Last round of the battle, I thought they were inseparable. Definitely one to remember and if you weren’t there, watch the video when it’s released.
The first of the two headline battles was Innuendo vs Cracker. This was a home town battle for Innuendo. This was a promo battle meaning that it wasn’t judged. One downside about this battle was the lack of respect it got from the crowd with people talking throughout. However, it was another decent battle. Cracker went in with some strong bars and also took a different approach on the “overused angles”. However,I’d give this battle 2-1 to Innuendo if it was judged for delivery and his 3rd was strong and more memorable (even with all the promo on his music). I left out the crowd reaction as it is a hometown battle, but then again I am southern!
The main headliner of the night was O’Shea v Big J. This was probably the funniest battle I’ve ever seen. O’Shea came with his patented style of mum jokes and randomness with bars such as “hoovering with the grim reaper the way I’ll have him Dyson with Death”. Big J came just as strong and got reactions from a crowd that were completely on O’shea’s side. Again another promo battle and if it was judged I would have given it 2-1 to O’Shea.
This Don’t Flop tour is certainly living up to its name of “Raise The Bar” and if this event was anything to go by I urge you to catch them when they come to a venue near you.