I Got Bars Vol. 3 Winners
Good evening emcees, rappers, poets, and lyricists! It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the third I Got Bars award ceremony. Once again, I have been tasked with choosing the best verses from over seventy submissions, and after hours of deliberation, I've reached my decision.
Before I dive into our three finalists, I want to review the criteria I used when critiquing your verses:
- Coherence -- did the verse make sense from beginning to end?
- Rhymes -- how intricate and complex is the rhyme scheme?
- Wordplay -- how clever are the lines and how heavy are the punches?
- Originality -- is the verse a bunch of cliches, or is it innovative and different?
Once again, I copied all of the bars into a blank document and excluded all of the names in order to avoid any personal bias I may have. Then, via a drawn out process of elimination, I determined the three finalists.
Now, without further ado, let's introduce our finalists:
First up, a newcomer to the stage (and to RapPad), NCtheMC!
Just ate, balling, sitting on a stool at the bar,
Mate talking, "See-even she's spitting in the fools drink,
He's stalking the *sex*y barmaid like a tool, winking from afar,
Then high *five*s his brah playing pool thinking he's a star",
For real? This thirsty fool got no clue, 'get your cue',
Clause: winner, a free drink, aka a shot of that hip-hop brew,
Pause; the balls are the bars, two left till I'm done,
So I sink this eight, take my drink, cause I won.
So, let me tell you what: I love this verse. It mixes the idea of eight bars with the eight ball in pool, includes some clever wordplay while counting down the lines, and couches the whole thing in a story about both pool and the I Got Bars contest. It really doesn't get a lot better than that. There are also some nice rhymes in there, like "ate, balling" and "mate talking," or "winking from afar" and "thinking he's a star." It's true that he stretches a few times for the numbers ("Free" and "see-even" in particular), but given the complexity of the idea that NCtheMC is going for, I'm willing to overlook that. All in all, this is just a really solid entry that definitely went at things a different way.
Up next, one of RapPad's best known battle experts, Meruem!
Don't ask for much; my dues or less
For one royal treatment like the New York Mets
Ain't tripping on some rude talk said by a few poor vets
Cos they can choose whatever suits 'em best: move or get!
Going feudal next; what I'm 'sposed to do
Take a few racks on route to the throne like Dota 2
It's overdue; any man tryna block is close to food
How dare he mix with this beef it ain't kosher dude!
In what some might consider a low blow, Meruem attempted to incoporate one of my favorite hobbies into his bars: baseball. And I would be lying if I said that the Royals/Mets wordplay didn't catch my attention, but I would also be lying if I said that I immediately fell in love his verse. In fact, I thought that it was all over the place and not really his best work. But as I read it again, I remembered that his real passion lies in battling. And viewed from that perspective, this is a dope verse. Although he doesn't keep one consistent theme, he does keep dropping punches and wordplay. Paired with his always impressive rhyme scheme, you have eight bars that are definitely worthy of a spot in the top three.
Finally, the reigning champion of both BYOB and I Got Bars, NAC!
A hot headed thriller like Jackson but Jacks in a box, not springing into action
Dividing opinions into millions of fractions killer captivation, had a fatal attraction
R Kelly didn't give a fuck like pandas, pissing on girls lucky they was in pampers
Thought he was fly and thought he could fly which was just like STEEZ though just before he died
Suicidal thoughts man had run through his mind replaced by the foot of a jogger passing by
He got smacked up worse than Seymour Hoffman drugs overdoses we've seen more of them
Even more often with semen across them a belt round their neck holding on to their johnson
What about the families and kids that have lost 'em may their messed up memories never be forgotten
Is anyone surprised to see NAC as one of the finalists again? At this point, they shouldn't be. He's one of the best, and shows it yet again. In an interesting verse primarily about the depravity of our favorite celebrities, he keeps the references coming and pairs them with strong multisyllable and internal rhymes. Addmittedly, I found this to be a little drawn out, and it lacked a lot of the really clever wordplay that NAC is famous four, but the overall message helped make up for it. All in all, another strong entry from one of RapPad's most reknowned writers.
Now for the moment of truth. Your winner, and new champion is NCtheMC!!!
While Meruem and NAC had some strong bars of their own, NC brought a novel idea to the contest and absolutely killed it. As I said above, I love this verse because of the way it intertwines his story with the I Got Bars competition. Take a look at the verse again!
Just ate, balling, sitting on a stool at the bar,
Mate talking, "See-even she's spitting in the fools drink,
He's stalking the *sex*y barmaid like a tool, winking from afar,
Then high *five*s his brah playing pool thinking he's a star",
For real? This thirsty fool got no clue, 'get your cue',
Clause: winner, a free drink, aka a shot of that hip-hop brew,
Pause; the balls are the bars, two left till I'm done,
So I sink this eight, take my drink, cause I won.
Just fire. Congratulations NCtheMC, you are the proud new owner of a slightly used Audio Technica AT 2020 USB microphone and can now record that fire for the whole world to hear. Well done!
Thank you again to all of the contestants who participated -- I encourage you all to come back next time to try to take the title away from our reigning champion!
Rules
You can only write 8 bars (8 lines). Submissions over 8 lines will not be looked at. It must be WRITTEN only, but can use an instrumental.
How To Enter
You can submit by leaving a comment below with a link to your rap, or you can write your eight bars in the comment itself.
Winners
I'll be choosing the winners. I'll be looking for creativity, originality, and rhyme structure.
The winning entry will be posted on RapPad's Twitter and Facebook accounts, and you'll receive a trophy on your profile.
BONUS: The winner of this competition will become the proud new owner of an Audio Technica AT 2020 USB microphone, generously donated by NdotAIMLESS! So if you've always wanted to record but been limited by a lack of equipment, now's your chance!
Deadline: April 11 2016
