I hope all of you protect ya neck because we got some banging battle submissions to listen to!
As described in the battle thread, this one was inspired by the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, and we have some battle specific rules to judge the tracks by:
Instead of voting for a single winner, we’ll vote for 2 joint winners: There’s the RZA award for best track overall, and the ODB award for the most unique/original/out of the box track.
Instead of picking a top 3, everyone who joined gets 2 votes, 1 for each award. You can’t vote for the same track twice, and you obviously can’t vote for yourself. You can only vote if you submitted a track yourself!
You have to listen to everything thoroughly at least once before voting. All tracks were made with love and attention and deserve some from the rest of us!
To vote, just write a post stating which track you nominate to win for both the RZA Award and the ODB Award.
Naming Honorable mentions and giving some (positive) feedback on some or all tracks is very much encouraged! We are all here to learn from these challenges!
If the situation occurs someone wins both categories, the one ending up with the second most total votes overall in either category will win that one.
The Spirit of the Wu:
You were all encouraged to make a track inspired by the Wu-Tang clan. The way you guys judge for both categories is totally up to you! The tracks don’t have to sound like a Wu track to win, and the way originality is judged can be based on your own taste.
Schedule:
For your votes to count, please post them in this thread before the end of friday october 14th
I’ll reveal the names and final results next weekend
The winners of both categories have the honour of setting up and hosting the next battle!
Just listened through these for the first time… Wow, impressed as always. Also love the fact that there is a lot of variety in styles that all honor the Wu in some way.
Fantastic work.
I am going to listen some more before I vote, but it is going to be a tough one (again)
Honestly the 14 sounded so nice to my ear I instantly know I will vote first for it.
It’s cool I don’t have to vote to the 2nd because so much track compete to this podium.
About the most original, It was hard to choose, but after listening my top in this category many time, yeah the 6 have the most details in sounds. The bassline is insane, remind me some dub / dubstep. The drum also is original and fit perfectly.
My vote for RZA Award goes to: 11!
Mannn if I was 17 this aggressive beat would be the one i’d go for instantly. You know what? F* it… A few decades later i’m doing the exact same thing!
Honorable mentions: 3 and 18.
3, the beat really supports and augments the acapella, sounds like it was written together in the studio with the rapper if you ask me…
18, this is so funky, and the hats kind of remind me of Mobb Deep somehow. I would love to hear this one with some lyrics on top.
My vote for ODB award goes to: 15
Yo this is jazz. So much variation and stuff happening, but the groove is never lost. Awesome!
Honorable mention 8. I love how the beat drives forward, and the electric guitars were unexpected… very cool
Really hard to vote, but a choice has to be done, so:
RZA: 14 ODB: 21
14 instantly gave me goosebumps, feeling like being lost in an asian bamboo forest by night, surrounded by devils. Definitely could feature in a medieval asian horror movie or Ghost Dog reboot. Dark, hot, wet, amazing!
21 because this instrumental alone doesn’t follow classic hip hop lines and has a real alternative vibe, while keeping funk alive. The voice perfectly fits with the beat. Reminds me a lot of alternative HipHop from the 2000’s, which I’m still listening to, but also brings freshness to this type of sound.
Honourable mention to:
3: this beat made me instantly going mad. Sample dirtyness scratches my brain in the most positive way. And when bass/lyrics drop… holy shit!!
7: crazy sample selection, intro/outro is so fukkin intense!!! and this beat/voice partnership is pure gold
12: such a great old school vibe here, again perfect match between beat and voice
16: deeeeep sound here, the atmosphere makes me travel far away. The use of delay/reverb is perfectly mastered here. Will definitely come back to this one on regular basis (as this whole contest playlist )
And another honourable mention to every other tracks, which offers a rich variety of sounds. Everyone rocked here!
RZA Award: Track 7, sounds like something RZA might have made ODB Award: Track 19, This one is weird and unique but still Wu Tang. I really like this track, nice use of samples to tell a story. Honorable Mention: Track 12, Felt more DJ Premier or Pete Rock but this one put me right back in the 90s and felt like it was from a lost beat tape from back then, great job!
