Written By: Copasetic
City of Reign is a new mixtape featuring many local artists who also are a large part of the battlerap scene in Vancouver.
Battle rap and rap music are two entirely different art forms. I’ve always maintained that battlers aren’t always suited to songwriting and musicians aren’t going to be battle ready just because they can rap. There are many instances where musicians will enter the battle arena to promote their music, but it’s a tenuous relationship at best. I can probably count the number of successful musicians that made their name off the current battlerap era on my hand. With fingers left over. This mixtape should seek to bridge that divide and at the very least, introduce you to some of the more talented local emcees.
City of Reign starts out strong with the battler Apos delving into some dark personal raps over a nightmare beat complete with tortured wailing and maniacal laughter over electric guitar. Snak makes an appearance on ‘Voices in My Head’ as well and his verse fits in seamlessly with the content.
Orion from Legendary Hammers follows up with another introspective track, ‘My Damn Mind’ about his tormented psychological state. Bringing bars and more wordplay much like his style in the ring, it’s a beautifully produced beat, but if I’m being critical it’s a little static and doesn’t change up enough. It’s a good thing Orion is doesn’t fall victim to the timing problems many battler/artists face, he handles himself the beat very well.
$ully with a Dolla $ign slows things down with his contribution ‘Movement’. Another pretty beat, that isn’t ultra dynamic, but $ully keeps it interesting by changing up his flow throughout. Sometimes you get a consistent theme sometimes a rapper just wants to rap. You’ll find the latter here as he moves from topic to topic on seemingly whatever is on his mind.
Random Lines is the next track from one of Vancouver’s most potent young battlers in Leeonidas Adamantium. Interesting to hear his pacing on a beat is very similar to how he performs in a battle. He exhibits a lot of charisma on the track, that’s his strength, but as the title indicates, there is very little coherent content. “You and your status updates, I’m bad as fuck mang, I don’t care about how your life sucks I’d rather just blaze” haha classic Lee
Past the Moon by Scribble Sheet features Moka Only on the hook, which sets up for a softer introspective track than what we’ve heard so far on this mix. A couple verses but ends rather abruptly, it’s an interesting vibe that adds to the diversity of the album.
RC tha Hazard jumps into the next track with some unique timing to his raps, his voice sounds great over the beat but there are times when he’s rapping too fast to be understood. Another departure from what has been played so far on the album, it’s a short track but worth checking out.
Ahh finally we get into a little storytelling from the battler Rhythm on his track ‘Jimmy’s got Issues’. A very well rounded contribution considering Rhythm has brought some context to his chorus and proceeds to unravel the story of his character Jimmy in a clear and structured way. It sounds a little different from the way Rhythm battles but it definitely works over a beat, I definitely recommend listening to this one.
BLYTL stands for Been Lovin You for Too Long. Shortcirkit, Rhyme and Wildcard lay clean and well developed lyrics over this concept track that seems heartfelt and has great musical depth to it. One of the best songs on the album, the only issue I have with it is how poorly it represents Vancouver as each emcee raps with a very distinct american accent. Otherwise the technical ability is of the highest quality on this project.
Current KOTD GZ Champion DDSS put together some quality raps over a classic piano beat. No real consistent theme here, just raps. There’s nothing wrong with that, DDSS does a good job exhibiting his rhyming ability.
So many moody tracks on this album, if you’re trying to feel positive and happy, there’s not much here for you haha. All good though, the effort behind each song is definitely there.
Cander runs over the next track ‘Torn Between’, a nice mellow song about his feelings on splitting his attention, and appropriately the beat is very dynamic, changing up multiple times before it’s finished. He’s going to be participating in the Ground Zero Grand Prix this weekend, be sure to check that out.
East Van Party is the contribution from battler HK or ‘Higher Knowledge’. When he raps about using a shotty, you know it’s the shotgun on a bong haha.
The next battler track is from The Ginger Bred Man, ‘BARS’ which displays his wordplay ability. He lands decently on the beat but this song is definitely here to showcase his charisma and sense of humour.
One of the most well known and veteran battlers in Vancouver Cody the Catch features on this next song with Steps Necessary called ‘Baby’. So much heartbreak in this city, gotta feel for battlers dealing with this haha. Nah this is a nicely produced little song, quality raps all around.
Vancouver staple Blasphem E works with Vicious 5150 on this angry fast paced track ‘End of Time’. Pretty upsetting, also cuts out kinda short, battlers have lots of pain. Be nice to them.
The next song on ‘City of Reign’ is ‘One of a Kind’ from NWD. Northwest Division haven’t battled in a while but they put in work back in the day and now they’re focused on their music. This is pretty clear as the beat and rapping is among the highest quality of artists on this compilation.
Chunky D anchors this project with the obligatory weed smoking track ‘Smoke it Up’ that also features Fame. I don’t know what to say, it’s a decent beat, no real change ups, no real innovative content, but shit, what the hell do you want from a weed smoking track, right? Turn on and light up.
Andre Anthem displays his technical rhyme ability pretty well on his song ‘Problems’. I personally feel he has a better showing here than in his battles. The beat is very similar to others you will find on this compilation, and his delivery doesn’t stand out either, but his content is sharp and that puts it above many of the other efforts on this project.
Engineer wins me over here with the high quality and very hiphop feel to his beats. Thesaurus is one of the best battlers to ever step in the ring, unsurprisingly he delivers much the same way on the track. Hellnback spits pretty well on this track too. Here’s your 90’s classic style track, an upbeat and fun way to end the album.
Get to know more of our talented local battlers by attending the Ground Zero Grand Prix this Saturday March 21st at the LED lounge. The event is an early one, from 3pm-9pm, so don’t be late or you’ll miss out!
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