At a time where both emcees were making their presence known on the battle circuit, Calicoe and Shine proved why they deserved the spotlight.  No beef, no fake blogs, just a hot battle - reminiscent of the good ‘ol days.  A lot of people see this as Calicoe’s welcoming party into the top ranks of the battle world, as he earned matches against Math, Arsonal and Loaded Lux after this.

Memorable Moment: The Steve Harvey Show

Couture’s second battle on Queen of the Ring’s “Sparring Session” had her all over the net after she “exposed” fellow rapper “Ms Pak” in a very memorable video.  Her third match landed her on a major card as she faced fan favorite, Jada Raye, who is known for both her crisp delivery and stunning looks.  Some very controversial content and mind boggling stories make this battle a must watch, as it racked up over 400K views on Worldstar and 300K on youtube.  Many fans believe the battle had fake views and as a result, was taken off of youtube, but received 100K views after a second upload - a testament to its popularity.  Many men who aren’t huge fans of the female battle scene agree this is a classic with a lot of replay value and may be the best female rap battle out.

Memorable Moment: The tranny story & punchlines

Brixx and John John had risen through the Grind Time ranks together and became friends who often appeared in each other's corner during events.  Brixx suggested a match, that ended up being GT’s first ever one round, unlimited time battle.  We knew this footage was dope, but upon release, the fans declared it a “classic.”  One of the top 20 battle’s that reminds us of GT’s glory days.

Memorable Moment: Animal Crackers

Serius Jones had a heavy buzz from his popular matches on SMACK DVD and footage that had appeared on almost every major urban television outlet.  When Fight Klub aired its second season, they featured Jones’ battle vs Big Ace (who had lost to Reign Man in the MTV Battle), which was another one for the history books.  Big Ace’s raspy, hood-infused delivery mixed with his chain poppin’ (literally) raw aggression, made for a dope mix with Serius’ game changing witty schemes and creative wordplay.  One of the few Fight Klub battles that may have actually warranted an overtime.

Memorable Moment: Serius Jones climbing on the pool table and delivering a crazy Overtime round to solidify the win.

What a perfect way to open up URL’s legendary Summer Madness 2 event!  After John John rallied fans behind him, we got a chance to witness a very very CRAZY battle.  The first two rounds are as good as any that I can remember and the energy in the room was awesome.  Both emcees stepped up to accommodate each other's strengths and seemed to have no chinks in their armor.  Only thing keeping this battle out of the top 30 is a lackluster third round on both parties, but we can blame that on a restless crowd who had just heard two spectacular verses.  

Memorable Moment: The first 2 rounds: Perfection.

At a time where New York’s battle scene was seemingly non-existent, Hollow and Swain stepped up to give the city its first main event in years, further fueling the New York vs Philly beef.  So many classic moments and quotables in this match helped mold the foundation that the battle scene is currently built on and showed street lyricists could also have a mean freestyle game.

Memorable Moment:  Its Dad!

Illmaculate’s return to the battle scene (via Grind Time) did not go exactly as planned.  He had a few classics, but was also at the less fortunate end of a few one sided battles.  Leading up to the Bender battle, it seemed as if Illmac had more at stake than ever.  With Bender gaining steam and crushing opponents with unparallelled lyricism, it looked as if he was poised to take Illmac’s spot.  This was one of the moments that made me love battle rap - you start having your doubts about someone, then they rise to the occasion and re-raise a bar previously set by themselves.  Illmaculate’s best battle performance and a mind boggling display of A+ lyricism on both ends.  This is how legends defend their status.

Memorable Moment: “Ill put your DNA on display like the Maury talk show / with a blade that was made by Hattori Hanzo” - The timing, delivery, and execution of this line was perfect.  EVERYONE felt that.

These two legends returning to face each other during Grind Time’s Grizzlemania 2 was the talk of 2010.  E. Ness may have brought back the art of actually rapping in battles, while Iron returned to the ring in classic form, delivering some of the most vicious punchlines, build-ups and schemes to date.  Very dope style clash - thanks Kap Kallous.

Memorable Moment: The “33” scheme - Jesus Christ! (no pun intended)

This is a top 10 URL battle.  If battle leagues had instructional videos on how to perfectly execute a verse, Proving Grounds emcees would be forced to watch highlights from this video.  The match is VERY debatable, but Surf’s first round ....... wooooooooo!  That’s all I can say, I'll let the video do the talking.

Memorable Moment: “Tell K-Shine I do the zippin’ around here!”

Between 1996-2008, winning Scribble Jam was one of highest accomplishments an emcee could reach on his road to success; it was an ultimate goal - an instant cosign for unknown emcees.  Past champions and participants include the likes of Eminem, Rhymefest, Eyedea and Juice - all pioneers and hip hop legends in their own right.  In 2004, in very story-like fashion, 17 year old Gregory Poe (Illmaculate)  left high school hoping he could earn a spot and ended up winning the whole competition.  In his career defining moment, we saw Illmac beat Swann, who was a heavy favorite to win it all.  A lot of battle rappers seem to have a false sense of entitlement and fame - this is how you earn respect.

Memorable Moment: Macy Gray (watch Poison Pen run across the stage - crazy reaction)