It’s been a big year for battle rap with an exponentially greater number of eyes on the competitive art than in years past.  In 2013 battle rappers made appearances on TV with Conceited as a cast member in Nick Cannon’s Wildin’ Out and URL’s re-vamp of Freestyle Friday on BET. Mainstream Rappers have begun participating in the culture be it by flirting with the idea of entering the battle game, or inviting battle rappers to collaborate (as was this case this year with Lupe Fiasco and Soul Khan,  Math Hoffa and Loaded Lux or with Deadmau5 and Shotty Horroh.) Mickey Factz on the other hand, actually stepped into the ring battling up-and-comer Danja Zone.

This year, both of the major battling leagues continued to escalate the sheer audacity of their events while continuing to sell out major venues. It was a make or break year for the culture. Battle Rap is still reeling from the groundswell that occurred last year as a result of Summer Madness 2 and Canibus vs Dizaster.  No doubt there were bumps in the road: on-stage violence, organizational issues, border problems and audio/visual issues continued to plague events. The question remains whether the once-niche culture can keep up with its own growth.  With the  New Year will come two battle events with the potential to be the biggest in history.

Let’s wipe the slate clean by reviewing the best battles of 2013, an inspired yet tumultuous year for battle rap.

Note: After this weekend’s Born Legacy event, the battle between Pontiac, Michigan’s Ill WIll and St. Louis’s B-Magic undoubtedly would have to included in this list.