This battle lasted an hour. Plenty of battles have hit the 60-minute mark, almost universally for the worse, but this is the hour-long ironman match that usually comes to fans' minds first whenever the discussion of “quality long-form battles” comes up. Because of this, it has become one of the most overly-scrutinized battles in existence. Few things are as subjective as rap battling, but the backlash and backlash-to-the-backlash about this classic battle is truly peculiar. But this wasn’t a 2001 AOL chatroom keystyle, this was a live rap battle, so let’s treat it like one.
Dizaster and DNA are both emcees with outrageously passionate fanbases who love their one-of-a-kind styles and presences. KOTD had a stroke of genius (finally) bringing these two together, and their promotion of these two titans clashing was nothing short of masterful. The big fight atmosphere that has driven the evolution of battling is in full effect here in the most organic way possible. (No pun intended) ... (OK, pun somewhat intended). Fans were clamoring, the visual presentation was on point, Drake was in the building, and magic was in the air. While the sheer length of it would probably make it a poor choice for anyone’s first battle viewing experience, for battle obsessives, we live for that energy.
DNA and Dizaster have perhaps never had greater performances, if only for the fact that they have so many shining moments all within the span of an hour. Both are undeterred by what a daunting task they’ve been assigned, and once Diz and DNA can't help but react positively to each others’ bars, you can watch a begrudging respect form in real time.
When people wonder what’s missing from most one-hour battles that fall flat, even a cursory comparative glance at DNA vs. Dizaster should provide them an answer.
Cover image by Zach Macphoto for KOTD. See more of his work here.
Every Thursday, BattleRap.com posts a classic battle that you should know about, or at least be reminded of occasionally. See them all here.
Who do you have winning this one? Let us know in the comments below.
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