Last Thursday, the famous Metro was host to a hotbed of upcoming Chicago talent as producers from the area competed in the Red Bull Big Tune beat battle for a chance at a spot in the National Championship in Atlanta.
The format: 12 aspiring producers were selected to compete in a tournament style playoff with the 2 finalists earning the right to represent Chicago in the national championship. In one round, each producer played 2 one-minute beats, alternating between each other. The winner advances based on crowd response.
The favorite of the evening was the spunky teenager Rob Bates, who was the runner-up to C-Sick in last year's competition. You could tell that he had his fanbase in attendance and quickly became the producer to watch in the compeition. Bates' thunder was stolen by North Carolina native, J-Mac (first seen @ 1:30). The tall, white backpacker played the imaginery drums along with every one of his beats that were most definitely the best in the early rounds. The crowd responded very favorably and it was gonna take a lot for him to be taken down.
The format: 12 aspiring producers were selected to compete in a tournament style playoff with the 2 finalists earning the right to represent Chicago in the national championship. In one round, each producer played 2 one-minute beats, alternating between each other. The winner advances based on crowd response.
The favorite of the evening was the spunky teenager Rob Bates, who was the runner-up to C-Sick in last year's competition. You could tell that he had his fanbase in attendance and quickly became the producer to watch in the compeition. Bates' thunder was stolen by North Carolina native, J-Mac (first seen @ 1:30). The tall, white backpacker played the imaginery drums along with every one of his beats that were most definitely the best in the early rounds. The crowd responded very favorably and it was gonna take a lot for him to be taken down.
The upset of the tournament came in the semi-finals as Rob Bates lost an incredibly narrow vote to J Rell. Bates got by on his swagger and charisma throughout the night but in the end, it was the lack of somethin' special in his production that did him in. This set the stage for the finals: J-Mac vs. J Rell.
Producers have 3 beats this time as J Mac set the tone early with a thumping first beat. Just when I counted J Rell out, he comes back even harder on his 1st beat, moving the bar higher for J-Mac to match. Both of the artists submitted solid efforst with their second beat, leading to the 3rd and final beat. Heading into this last one, I was thinking that not only did J-Mac have the best crowd support so far, his first 2 beats were overall better than J Rell's. It was gonna have to take a lot for J Rell to even come close in the voting at this point.
J-Mac presses play on his 3rd and final beat, but by now it's starting to sound the same and his 3rd beat didn't warrant the special reaction that you need to end powerfully on. This left the door open for J Rell... who delivered with hands down the best beat of the nite. The crowd went crazy, including Little Brother who were dancin' along to it on stage. The fans begged for one more beat and the MCs awarded the crowd with one more. J-Mac took the stage first and did not come through with a beat to get the crowd movin'. He had already used his best ones and was now shooting blanks. J Rell then swooped in and stole the crowd with a strong 4th and final beat in prelude to his narrow victory over J-Mac. On top of his last two powerful beats, J Rell had the most creative beat of the whole competition as he had the crowd wil'n out in the first round for his flip on Pacman noises (seen @ 8:45). Congrats to both of the artists who will most definitely do Chicago proud in Atlanta later this year. For more information on J Rell, check out his MySpace HERE.
Little Brother x Just Blaze LIVE @ Metro
Before the semifinals, Little Brother took the stage for an energetic 20 minute set, spittin' some of their well-known classics from earlier in the decade mixed in with some a capella freestyling that kicks off the video above. Phonte even got on his phone and incorporated all the people from the show that were tweeting at him in a freestyle, haha! Just Blaze set the mood for the finals as he DJ'd most of his hit songs into a captivating set. To my surprise, when "Touch The Sky" came on, it didn't get as big of a response than anything Jay-Z that Just Blaze played. Nevertheless, both Little Brother and Just Blaze kept the crowd moving and the hype building for the rest of the tournament.
Before the semifinals, Little Brother took the stage for an energetic 20 minute set, spittin' some of their well-known classics from earlier in the decade mixed in with some a capella freestyling that kicks off the video above. Phonte even got on his phone and incorporated all the people from the show that were tweeting at him in a freestyle, haha! Just Blaze set the mood for the finals as he DJ'd most of his hit songs into a captivating set. To my surprise, when "Touch The Sky" came on, it didn't get as big of a response than anything Jay-Z that Just Blaze played. Nevertheless, both Little Brother and Just Blaze kept the crowd moving and the hype building for the rest of the tournament.
2 Comments
AC said:
I disagree that Rob Bates was that hot..don't get me wrong he had some heat, but not as much as stated in this article. J Mac had the audience for a while, but his beats after round two began to sound the same, and lost his heat. J Rell was the most versicle and brought his "A" Game to the end. If your not up on the Chicago Beat scene please look up past battles, J Rell is not only consistent but has a wide array of beats, and can flip shit like no one else, period. Also some thing to point out is that J Rell took out the 1st RedBull Big Tune Chicago Champ, and last years runner up.. Do ya homework people! This battle ended just as it should.
Sgt. Tibs said:
Just wanna clarify a few things from the comment above and some other feedback I've heard.. Seems like the article indicated I was pullin' for Rob Bates 2 win it, but really I wasn't. I thought the lil' guy in the 1st round was better.. but Rob Bates was the 'favorite' given his runner-up status in last year's battle and large fanbase that was there to support him. Just wanted to convey that to the readers..
J Rell was easily the most consistent and his versatility was on another level compared to J-Mac and a lot of the other producers who competed. Congrats again and g/l to both J Rell and J-Mac in Atlanta!
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