UK Battle For Supremacy Review 2008

Staged for the first time at the Islington Academy in North London, the 2008 DMC UK Championships had two events on the night - The Battle for Supremacy and our DMC UK Final. With a loyal set of ever faithful followers around the country packing the rafters at all our Regional heats, it was good to see we had such a noticeable female attendance on the floor this year. Host for the night was the dynamic Trip, supplying the audience with plenty of DMC giveaways and great prizes from Technics, Calvin Klein, Drunknmunky,Rane, Ecler, Pioneer and Roady Ready! So what puts the DMC Supremacy Battle apart from our other comps? Well it's how it thrives on the head to head confrontation with a balance of musicality attitude and technical ability determining the result. Earlier rounds were staged in the afternoon and we now focus on the evening battles, these start from the quarter finals & included back for his third title defence Switch.

Warning: the following review has been heavily censored to read Parental friendly (PG). If you're still offended by harsh words like diss, disses or dissin' then you're gonna love the DVD! OK, so let's continue with the rumble!!!



Quarter Finals Highlights

Jeppa vs Dr Weevil:
A dynamic Jeppa without doubt dominates throughout both rounds; technically, visually & most important musically, however a resistant Dr Weevil isn't standing for this punishment and fights back by cleverly playing a record with Jeppa's name on it, this also followed by some very insulting sexual references, he finishes with De La Soul's 'Eye Know' classic. Game over though bro.
Winner: Jeppa!

Disect vs TGK:
An energetic Disect delivers a mad frenzy of rapid back-cueing then slowing down into a rhythmical off beat flow that worked well, it all ends with a clever diss which the crowd picked up on quickly. TGK decides to get straight to the point with a beat juggle, but it is very disjointed and with a small amount of time left he displays a very mellow melodic music set, scratching various subtle musical instruments, but compared to the aggression of Disect the crowd are non responsive.
Winner: Disect!

Rasp vs Mr Eclipse:
Clearly up for a fight Rasp goes for the jugular straight away, kicking off with a single word insult, some beat rubs, chasing beats, gun shots and explosions into a bass synth heavy beat and although excellent time is kept between both it is too similar! Mr Eclipse replies with a simple, single word diss straight into what is now a popular European Electronica style track with a collection of scratches in his 1st round, and cleverly using Ludicris ­ 'When I Move You Move' which grabbed the crowd's attention instantly, rejuggling it into a simple but very effective piece.
Winner: Mr Eclipse!

Buckwilde vs Switch:
It may have been the UN luck of the draw but Buckwilde's first battle is against defending Champion Switch! Buckwilde's first round was full of lyric Cuttin' and Beat juggles. Then the defending champion confidently stomped his authority with a lyric-cutting start before going into the familiar Punjabi MC's 'Mundian Te Bach'. He also scratches on top a solo Indian Sitar. Buckwilde's round two started with the bold words of 'Let Me Take You Down' from The Beatles 'Strawberry Fields' anthem (which had DMC's Tony Prince doing cartwheels), mixed into a very bass heavy Hip Hop electro groove that he continued to manipulate with a rapid drum kick piece, he back cued this whilst displaying simple body tricks that saw a brilliant crowd response. He finished it all by flipping the groove with a collection of disses as he manipulates each word between the beat. Switch's retaliation showed no mercy, with a very quick diss he got busy with a much needed groove which was James Brown's classic 'I Feel Good', doubling the Brown vocal hooks much, much, much to the Academy's crowd approval and totally blowing the competition out of the water, he then totally took the Michael as it reached the sax solo break where he not only re-juggled the groove but added some very visual flamboyant body tricks which added further injury to Buckwilde, this was truly a memorable battle. Switch finally ended this slaughter with collection of disses that I can only politely describe as very cold!.
Winner: Switch!



The Semi Finals

Jeppa vs Disect:
With both competitors as I saw it technically matched, this was an expected battle of musical taste and wits! Jeppa opened up with an unexpected and refreshing jazz piece with hints of body tricks injected with clever back cues n'chases to achieve a cool jazzy groove. However, at some point he got lost in a sea of a rapid collection beats & hits, he eventually regains within the remaining time! Disect reply's with a battle weapon intro and settles also into a set of back cueing juggles while inserting in pauses throughout, but as his progresses through the record he loses his flow & eventually focuses a DMX diss and back cues this cleverly to the delight of the Academy crowd. Jeppa returned with another Electronica filled set with the now normal set of various scratches which he made look too easy it was melodic but after 16 bars I felt it was very repetitive but as he ended with a diss at the end it gave the thing a refreshing feel! Disect's second round battle fell short on deliverance, he used a very aggressive Electronica track which made his scratches sound very low but most important there wasn't enough variation, it sounded far too repetitive compared to what was delivered previously and with time running out it just ended, it was quite obvious that Jeppa was in the final! But well done to Disect who shows to be a promising DJ (Disect came second at the London Regional heat).
Winner: Jeppa!

Mr Eclipse vs Switch:
Opening with a very bold statement 'I'm gonna take you on an experience' Mr Eclipse displayed some confidently clean bass synth and hand clap sample manipulations over a very laid back beat boxing groove, then followed the collection of scratches and moved into some rapid back cueing, again he just gets caught out by the clock & is unable to finish the round! Switch returned with a sentence of insults, but more importantly, his rock music selection adds a much wanted variation as the Academy atmosphere perks up to this performance of juggles he also rearranged the scales of the guitar stab - which is so simple yet so very effective, he finally headed back into a set of disses that ended clean within his ninety seconds. Mr Eclipse appeared much more prepared in this second round battle, this time roaring it out with a fresh set of disses and dropped a very nice head nodding horn filled hip hop groove which he back cued and doubled repeatedly. However after 16 bars it all sounded too familiar. Switch's second set was well prepared and again re-captured the crowd's excitement with a clever selection of original Reggae classics, this was totally unexpected! Although I felt lost half way through too many aggressive scratches and too many unnecessary back cueing actions, he ended his set with a gun blast is finally official as the judges voted unanimously
Winner: Switch!



The Final

Jeppa vs Switch:
Jeppa got busy by exhibiting an onslaught of back cueing and chasing beat rearrangements with body tricks displayed over a constant changing Electronica groove - at times he appeared very repetitive but as he used some very humorous disses within the tracks I felt he redeemed himself. Switch answered with an excellent intro diss and got straight into a scratch set with an opera theme which added that extra thrill over an Electro beat with various beat manipulations. In parts he also dropped an unexpected brilliant Drum & Bass groove which naturally saw a huge reaction from the crowd. Switch performed like a champ and made it look just too easy! Jeppa followed again with an Electronica groove and continued a very familiar routine of back cueing chases with visual body tricks. His rapid pace and constant changing grooves of music played on the crowd's emotions' and only endorsed why he was so worthy of being in the final. Switch's second round selection proved why he's the master - following up a dynamic rap intro with his name checked treating The Academy to his Billy Squire big beat juggle, familiar sampled artists such as Dizzee Rascal and his 'Fix Up Look Sharp' release. Again, Switch re-energized the original groove by doubling the kicks and adding extra snares before cleverly moving onto the track's chorus whilst gradually adjusting the turntables pitch and applying the 45rpm speed change - just before going bionic on the guitar solo followed by a familiar woo shout. He finally ends it all with both a diss and an insult leaving the result to be honest, too obvious. It's unanimous. Switch is Champion - his performances presented plenty of thought for the future and I firmly believe if he continues on this quest, we're definitely looking at a future World Champion.
Winner: Switch!



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