Death By Stereo 2 was a success. June 28th will be remembered as a night of hip-hop culture filled with performers and producers stretching the varying “genres” of slaps at the High Dive. Feezable The Germ did a great job curating the lineup, featuring the area’s up and coming talent and pairing them with a battle of established producer titans.
As great as the title fight was, the undercard fights were incredibly close and I was impressed with each producer. Rocky Glover freaked some samples in 30 different ways, Page Turner summoned Dr. Dre’s bounce, Astro went outer space, and 52Kings brought an intricacy to his rhythms that went unmatched for the evening.
After touring the Artizen Cannabis facility down in Lacey, we were running late and missed a few performances. Webb Wavvy mixed hip-hop and “turnt the fuck up” music. When he hits that “turn the fuck up” zone live…it’s really something. B-Rocket may have passed that intensity on his solo outing and Feez delivered a slapper alongside Wirerim Slim and Mr. Hi-Def on Qreepz-produced ‘Manny Ribera’, a joint that goes dumb hard.
Death By Stereo 2: Seattle Beat Battle Recap
Brainstorm does beat battles. Period. There is a lot of salt thrown his way, but the man has the bounce, technique, and charisma of a WWE belt holder in the battle ring. This battle showcased just that, whether you agree or not, Brain has slap and his mannerisms alone win take home an MVP trophy.
Qreepz is a beast. This guy does production, engineering, and DJ’s…for multiple genres. He is a versatile animal who has plenty of “slap.” I’ve never seen Qreepz in a beat battle setting but he had vocal samples, on-the-fly outro’s, and stage presence. Some of the beats we heard from him were potential hit records.
Keeping it 100, I feel this battle was close. Real close. I know they always say that, but this one was tooth and nail for the following reasons. Both producers excel in their own sound. They both are able to meet in the middle. While Qreepz has a pop-ready sound, Brain has an undeniable hip-hop feel that fucking bangs. Every time Qreepz freaked a sample or brought some fx drums during a transition, Brain answered with knock. My only issue was that I’d heard a few of Brain’s beats before and that brought him down a few points in my book. Qreepz had a few transitions that sacrificed drums and while they helped build the feel, they lost a little momentum.
At the end of the night, Brainstorm took home the prize with a lot of support from the judges. If you missed the battle check it out below. Who do you think deserved to take the win?
Death By Stereo 2 Title Fight Qreepz vs. Brainstorm
*All Photos by 1Take Studios*
Death By Stereo 1 (2015) Recap
For more updates on Northwest hip-hop news follow Respect My Region on Facebook and Twitter.
