MASTER CLASS CYPHER: THE PURGE
By ablvckpoem
21st September, 2019
21st September, 2019
Remember when I told you guys to brace yourselves, stating that there was a war coming?
The war drums usher in a bloodthirsty Vector in collaboration with Hennessey Nigeria as they present the Master Class Cypher dubbed The Purge in a direct response to Martell’s The Purification. He taps Hennessey royalty Vader – winner of the Hennessy Class 2017 and Payper Corleone for the onslaught.
As is customary, we review the cover art for the single which induced a curious response from the competition. It portrays the trinity of Avengers in this order L-R: Vader, Vector and Payper battle ready mode, in a cover that thematically offers very little in colour-wise but speaks volumes in terms of intent. This is serious business, a fact which the competition acknowledges and attempts to make light of by leaking the cypher before its scheduled release. The parody cover art has each rapper’s face clowned out, bants-are-news hyping their consideration and the tag Upcoming Rappers. If you think this is petty, then you haven’t been paying attention. There aren’t any rules in this battle of the creative!
Vader kicks off and three lines in, we are made aware he hopped on the train with a Blaq target in sight. The simple beat offers the chance to regale us with his narrative. Wait, I didn’t come to battle Bones, if it’s on it’s on? Can someone please tell this guy that it has been on for quite a while now?
Verdict: Vader is very good at what he does, no doubt. His cadence is well suited to storytelling but by all means if you are going, go hard or go home. It is quite unfortunate that this particular cypher would have been better off without him. We are already far gone, why hold back? Blaq wouldn’t. He sounded too much like an admirer to actually sink his teeth into a diss. There was an obvious lack of intent and creativity in his story. His verse was tepid, meh and shouldn’t be starting a cypher intent to leave a dent on the LAMB train. 3/3
Payper Corleone crashes into the track like a meteor and owned the entire beat after the first breath. Wake everybody up, No sleeping is an apt introduction after what we had to endure in the previous verse. He likes his victims in groups so he goes after 100 Crowns. Payper is too smooth, his cadence, bar after bar he digs deeper pulling meat off bone. Now this is a heist, more like Vector is the prophet and I’m Helsinki Apparently, that glass of Hennessy hit harder than Martell ever could as he names drop like a fiend inebriated. Loose gets it, AQ gets it and at the funeral suit line, the LAMB slaughtered is buried. RIP! He even makes out time to address M.I Abaga’s line about getting paid to cypher, he’s a mercenary and got paid to do the killing.
Verdict: Payper Corleone comes through with a flourish, to think I worried that team Hennessy came to war a man short, Payper takes on two rappers and they both leave the room in a body bag. He absolutely did not have to snap this hard but he did and we are all grateful for it. He makes it look so easy flirting from bar to bar with a sick flow and effervescent cadence. 1/3
Vector decided that it was finally time to drop a joint like he was missing a kneecap and does just that! The whistling to start his verse is ominous and very much like Vec as he tries to prepare you for the mind-fuck he is about to unleash. He begins the Tale of a Fool by going back to the origins; he questions M’s authenticity or the lack thereof in his foundation. Wow! Even the fans get caught in the blast, collateral damage. This is peak Vector, a target in sight; he weaves words around and takes shots at the obvious. While we all relish his prowess as a wordsmith, I fear that Vec is not pushing his creative genius enough to match his competition. There is a zero percent chance a strategist like M.I Abaga would go toe to toe with him in a traditional rap battle as such he needs to add more creativity to his punches to get the edge,
Verdict: Vector comes through with the direct shots this time but it still sounds like a tease, this has all the makings of a marathon. He refuses to play all his cards but comes correct. His penmanship is flawless as ever and he matches quottable for quottable coltishly. He sounds more animated and amused; this begs wonder, what does the man have in store? Sources say this is just a tip of the iceberg, he’s packing more hit! This is sweet music to our collective ears. 2/3
Dear Martell, your call…. Kind Regards
See Also: MARTELL CYPHER 2: THE PURIFICATION
