Don't Flop 5th Birthday Event

Celebrating its 5th birthday, Don't Flop brought us another epic line up including more international battlers. It's hard to believe how rapidly this company has grown. Going back to the days of Sensa Vs Cruger, filmed in the streets of Norwich and being uploaded to EurghTube, to now, you can see exactly how much they have expanded. Reaching maximum capacity of 1000 people at the Leeds venue 'Stylus', this event was set to pop off! The weekend didn't start too well with Daylyt and The Saurus being denied access into the UK. This meant their battles had to be cancelled and other battles moved forward. Bit gutted about that really as The Saurus is a personal favourite and his match up against Arkaic would of been a classic!

The first battle to be uploaded from the weekend was Soul VS Olde English. The battle itself took place outside the venue and was hosted by Tony D. Watching back you can see Tony stink facing at some of the bars. A particular favourite of mine was Olde's "I know a lotta guys on a drug run, that shot food like a spud gun" judging by the crowds reaction, I wasn't the only person loving that one. Both Soul and Olde came hard. It's clear they are both extremely good writers, but I can't help but think if Olde was to work on his delivery and believe in his bars a bit more he could be one to watch in the future!

Not everyone liked the fact Chris Leese replaced Shotty in the title match, but watching back you see he was definitely a worthy contender. His presence was strong, his delivery and flows were tight and he seemed very comfortable going up against the champ. Chris broke down Tonys career with ease, but Tony, in return, flipped it implying Chris is his biggest fan "How do you know so much about me?". In my opinion, Tony out-schooled him with bar, after bar, after bar!! "You think he ill? a nail technician could give that Man a cure (Manicure)" Tony also pulled Chris up on his use of multis. "It's not actually lyrical, it's just matching syllables and Chris, it's simple as shit" I did have a bit of a laugh at that one as I'm not the greatest fan of irrelevant multis. It wouldn't be a battle without a Breaking Bad reference and Chris' "You're like Skyler leaving Walt, you're not happy being white" caused crazy reaction along with "Now stand clear, you faggot queer, the Champ is here, like Jadakiss" The crowd went nuts! Not just a great title match, but a great battle overall. With Chris' flows and Tony's bars constantly flying over peoples heads, it's definitely a battle you'll watch more than once.

The winners of the doubles tournament, Cee Major and Cracker, were to defend their title against Shuffle T & Marlo. The 'Posh' duo have been smashing it since they came onto the scene early 2013, not just as a tag team, but individually, so this match up just seemed to fit. With Cee and Crackers bar heavy material and Shuffle T and Marlos chemistry and damn right hilarity, this was a great battle to watch back. My favourite part was the whole friends forever/Penn and Teller scheme, pure brilliance, that got the crowd roaring.

Well, well, well...who would of thought a rap battle could make the headlines?! The footage of Mos Probs marriage proposal to his girlfriend and battle partner, Rapunsell, during the doubles match against Eek and Enigma, went viral in a matter of hours. It was incredibly romantic and somewhat cheesy, but definitely a happy moment. Would like to wish them every happiness in the future! Back to the battle though, if you are easily offended, new to battle rap and/or Jewish watching this battle is a bad move. Enigma is well known for his obscenity, as is Eek, so from the start I expected to laugh my head off, yet feel guilty for doing so afterwards. "How many Jews does it take to open a door?" "I dunno, but apparently more than 6 million". See what I mean?... Arsonal VS Charron was pretty one sided for me, with Charron proving why he is so highly regarded right now. I thought Arsonal was going to cry when Charron whipped out that purple bandanna. Loe Pesci VS Matter was shall we say, interesting, what with Matter dedicating his first round to ball sweat and Pesci getting upset and throwing his drink over the audience. Cortez VS Dialect saw Dialect sit comfortably amongst his home crowd. Unfortunately Cortez choked not once, but twice. Bamalam VS Bender was surprisingly decent. What with Bam being "the most overrated mother fucker noone has ever heard of" according to Bender. If this battle had been judged, it would have been a hard call.

Dizaster Vs Unanymous was a heated, testosterone fuelled, madness. Diz opening his first round singing Stan and getting the crowd to join in was hilarious. Unanymous has always been accused of biting Dizasters style so this match up had to happen. Many would argue that Dizs use of Psychosis Holocaust in this battle was uncalled for, but it was inevitable, the pair had to come face to face at some point. Although confronted, Unan managed to stay on form and delivered his verses on point. My favourite bar of the battle came from Dizaster "Your Mother blaze crack, you know why I would say that? cause she's the only person on earth that's ever found the needle in the hay stack". Hilarious! If you have seen Unanymous Vs Villun you will know the druggie mother angle is not a favourite of Unans. O'Shea VS Charlie Clips was again, a great match up. We have all had the old debate of 'bars over jokes' but this is it, at its best. The ever hilarious O'Shea goes straight in with "I don't give a shit if you've got a shooter, this is Don't Flop, prick, we've got a Cruger", bars only O'Shea can get away with. Delivering those short, sharp punches, pint in hand, O'Shea shows he is right on form. Charlie shows you can deliver bars with humour and that his freestyle game is hard. There was a bit of commotion when Locksmyth chucked his drink in the air, but it was resolved quite quickly with Clips working it into his round. The orange thing had me in stitches.

Cruger & Eurgh Vs Pesci & Bender was probably the most anticipated battle. To see Cruger team back up with Eurgh in a doubles match was just brilliant. You could see the crowd were hyped having Eurgh back battling after a two year break, I say break, I mean building his empire. My breakdown of this battle may seem a little biased as I've never made a secret of the fact I'm a huge Cruger fan, but it's pretty clear who the stronger pair were in this match up. Eurgh proved his freestyle game is still right on form and with Cruger effortlessly pulling out bars like "You see Lo Go red, like Vodafone and Coca Cola" it was a clear win, although promo. Cruger and Eurgh were strong, but Pesci and Bender did work well together. When Bender told Eurgh he made Kanye look humble, I actually spat my drink out. They addressed the whole mix up with The Saurus at customs, but their attempt at accusing Eurgh of cloning KOTD kinda backfired with Eurghs controversial line "KOTD can suck my dick" Overall, another classic. It was great to see Eurgh back! Villun VS DNA seemed a bit of an unfair match up, but Villun took the challenge with ease. There were some really obvious angles used on both sides, yet this battle was enjoyable all the same. If you have never seen Wizard and Scizzahz and you absorb battle rap on some serious, anal level, then don't watch these guys. I however find them extremely hilarious, if I had to listen to gun bars, they would be delivered by Wizard. The puzzled look on DNA and Cortez' face said it all. Dizaster and O'Shea VS Philly Swain and Pedro has to be the most bizarre clash of styles I've ever seen. O'Shea was clearly steaming by the time this battle took place and his lack of preparation and/or interest in this battle was clear as him and Diz seemed to have freestyled the whole way through. Swain came with some nice bars, yet I can't help but feel they were wasted. It was awkward in parts, yet funny as hell watching a drunken O'Shea run rings around Pedro. The latest battle to drop from the 5BW event was Mr 13 VS Bowski. Bowski has dramatically improved and Mr 13 is still coming with those hard bars. The calibre of battlers and quality of match ups on this card is why Eurgh and his team are making such an impact right now. Don't Flop is forever growing and is now known, not just in the UK, but globally and I'm sure they have no intention of stopping any time soon. DFAFD!

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