gold trophy

The Faculy Presents the Biggest MC Battle Ever.

32 Rappers from 8 different regions slugging it out? Brackets? Seeds? The possibility of haters coming out in droves to tell us we’re wrong and we suck?

Bring it on.

The Faculty sets the trends, so let the reading begin where the bullshit ends.

For as long as there have been two turntables and a microphone, there have always been people involved in hip-hop claiming that they are The Best. In fact, the first MCs were just that–Masters of Ceremonies. While the DJ would be on break from entertaining the crowds what paid to see them, the MC would kick simple rhymes explaining why his DJ was the best. Eventually tho’, the MCs rhymes became more intricate, and the crowd began turning out to see the MC, not so much the DJ. What commenced then was the switch that all of us are grateful for today. The DJ played the supporting role and the MC was in the spotlight.

30 years later, people are still deciding who is The Best. For the most part, money, jewelry, sales, and some bullshit called “swagger” are used to determine who is The Best, but there are still MCs out there that pride themselves on lyrical ability, be it the ability to turn a phrase, rhyme intricately, or just possess a flow that is unique and, to coin a phrase, undickrideable. (I’d pause here, but Alumnah.com is above that disclaimer bullshit.).

So, for the benefit of those fans that are still impressed by talent and originality, The Faculty is pleased to present Alumnah’s March Maddness. We’ve taken the time to pick 32 rappers and split them up into groups of 8 by region. Throughout the next 4 weeks, we will play these battles out until we are left with one rapper that reigns supreme over the whole country.

However, we didn’t come to these selections easily. Deliberations were held over the course of a week, and more than one Alumnah writer grew frustrated at seeing one of their choices being dropped in favor of someone else’s. We ultimately decided that the goal of this entry would be to present entertaining battles featuring rappers with different skill sets going up against each other. Here’s how it’s gonna work:

~ 8 Rappers each from 4 different regions were selected. Each rapper will be seeded from #1-#8. The 1 Seed will face the 8 seed, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5.

~ Those four regions are: East Coast North (NY, NJ, CT, PA, VA, MD, DC), South (ATL, FL, TX, KY) Midwest (CHI, DET, STL), and West Coast (CA, OR, WA).

~ Rappers were chosen based on a combination of skill, sales, originality, and impact.

~ Rappers were also chosen and seeded with consideration paid to their specific year of dominance–when all 4 factors above were at their highest.

~ Matchups were chosen based on which battles would be the most entertaining if we got to witness them actually happen.

~ All battles will be voted on by the Alumnah.com staff and be legitimate. We don’t already have a winner picked out, and if one staff member’s pick gets killed 6-1, so be it.

~ We will post one round per week. Quarterfinals, Semis, Regionals, and lastly, Finalist 1 vs Finalist 2 for the Championship.

Before I go on and give you the brackets, let me say one final thing: Not everyone is gonna agree with every single bracket, seed, or outcome. Legends were left off in place of newcomers in order to make the battles more interesting and to shed some light on new cats. The beauty part of all that is the fact that you guys can just go crazy in the comments section and tell us what we got right, what we got wrong, and what should happen along the way. Like I said before, not even one staff member of Alumnah.com agrees with every rapper we chose, so don’t get all offended and indignant because your favorite MC, Yung Ign’ant, got left out.

So, without further ado, here are the rappers, years, and seeds that make up Alumnah.com’s 2008 Hip-Hop March Maddness:

East Coast North:

1. Jay-Z (2001)
2. Nas (1994)
3. The Notorious B.I.G. (1994)
4. Busta Rhymes (1997)
5. Joe Budden 2007
6. Ghostface Killah (1999)
7. Big Punisher (1998)
8. Joell Ortiz (2007)

Midwest:

1. Eminem (1999)
2. KanYe West (2007)
3. Nelly (2000)
4. Common (2005)
5. Lupe Fiasco (2007)
6. Twista (2004)
7. Obie Trice (2004)
8. Royce (2004)

West Coast:

1. Tupac (1995)
2. Dr. Dre (1992)
3. Eazy E. (1988)
4. Ice Cube (1990)
5. Snoop Dogg (1993)
6. E-40 (1996)
7. Crooked I (2007)
8. Kurupt (1999)

South:

1. Scarface (2000)
2. Andre 3000 (2000)
3. Ludacris (2002)
4. Trick Daddy (2001)
5. T.I. (2006)
6. Phonte (2007)
7.Bun B (2006)
8. Jay Electronica (2007)

***

So there you have it. Keep checking back for the Quarterfinal Results which should be up very soon.

Enjoy the battles, and feel free to leave all feedback–good, bad, or ugly–in the comments section.

–The Faculty