Guidelines for voting on Battles (please advise)

[vitodeluca]

I wanted to post this to ask all you experienced battlers for input on voting on battles.  I have read a lot of them, and some of you guys get pretty detailed about what parts were strong/weak and even assigning a number scale.  I've also noticed that people have been getting irratated by the lack of voting and I felt like if everyone had some kind of loose guideline they would be more likely to speak up. (at least I would)  So here goes, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.  I've checked out what people comment on, and it seems like the major areas are:

Flow: how well the verses fit together with each other, could the rhyme fit over a beat or is it just jumbled together shit that happens to rhyme

Style: how a certain person blends words and verses together i.e. "i've got a cat, and you don't wanna mess with that" wouldn't have the same impact as something like when eminem spit on patiently waiting "don't let me lose you , I'm not tying to confuse you, as I let loose with this uzi and shoot through your isuzu".

Metaphors: how well the author uses examples to illustrate his point, often to a humorous end: "and your record smells like it was hit with a fish stick
see it's fishy, and everybody questions it's authenticity, "

Punches/Personals: how well the author goes at the other person, referring to specific things vs. making general threats or no insults at all, keeping in mind that it is called a "battle" and not a "squaredance"

Multis:  When a person is able to string together a whole line of words that rhyme together and make something comprehensible, like em's line quoted above

Biting: Not using your own shit, getting stuff from anywhere else but your dome (dick riding is the same thing (?))

Another thing that seems to be helpful to people is comments on which specific lines were strong/weak.  So all you heavyweight and champion MC's correct away or add your input, and I hope this helps. (I feel like I've learned a lot just writin' it, LOL)

[·SiNiStEr·]

i couldnt have said it better myself..

vito you are a genius..  

[NewJack]

Good shyt.. I read the battle board alot, but I dun feel cool votin' when I ain't postin' anything, cuz I dun really rhyme, but I'm really into all of it. I'll def start votin' when I get a chance though, if it's cool wit ya all.

[·SiNiStEr·]

newjack... feel freeeeeeee to vote..

no one cares how many posts you got.. what ya karma is as long as you votin fair..we are at a lack for voters and the more people the better.

dont be afraid to get involved. its all good around herre

[NewJack]

tru.. i dont care about my posts, jus some people gonna be sayin shyt cuz i criticizing and aint postin my own shyt. I'll be sure to get over there soon tho. thanks.

[vitodeluca]

Hey man, you got my permission to go criticize the shit outta me, I gotta battle going on right now, always lookin' for inputs

['Illicit']

yo newjack, jus cuz you aint battlin dont mean you dont know jackshit bout rhyming, you can still judge whats hot n whats not. so feel free imo to vote on battles.

[vitodeluca]

uppin' this if anyone's interested

[Entreri117]

Very nicely put, Vito.  There is an extra part that I feel is very important in a battle.  That is...

Vocabulary: Using more sophisticated, advanced, or educated language to punch or diss an opponent.  Instead of using simple words, try finding a synonym of the word that looks and sound more sophisticated or advanced.  I'll give an example:

"I'll crack your back in half."
Take out crack, back, and half...then expand.
"I'll arrange your spinal column into a mathematical parabola."

I think it makes verses more competetive and more elevated than your everyday rhyme.  But hey...thats just me.  

[vitodeluca]

Yeah for sure, plus that shit was tight dude, mathematical parabola, LMAO...
"I'll make you feel like you've never one like binary code with all zeroes"  That's my dork metaphor for the day, hahaha

['Illicit']

I mean I feel u xearo, but vocab aint all that. I mean fuck soundin like ur from law school if the shit u rhyme means the same you wrote in "sophisticated" english. it seems to me you count too much the vocab on every battle. everybody should spit the way they feel...no disrespect tho, but I noticed this while back already. jus leave it up to the particular MC, n vote on what he/she brought to the table.

peace, n like I said no disrespect, jus my opinion

[vitodeluca]

At the same time Illicit, I feel like some of the most respected lyricists in the world are known for their large vocabulary, canibus, eminem, nas, jigga.  It's one of the things that keeps their rhymin' unique, ya know?  Whaddya think?

[.:DayGoStyLz:.]

basically, u got a good idea of what people should be looking for...

me myself, when i vote on a battle. One of, if not THE most important thing i look at...is personals. I try to write with a lot of them, so i like seein em battle. They do alot of damage, and ontop of it...show that u did not bite, or prewrite yur verse. Multies are important too IMO. Alotta catz dont use em tho, or havent quite figured out how to. But they are effective, as everyone has rhymed "gun" with "run" already. lol. Metaphors, also VERY important. Its almost impossible to come up with a diss, that no one else already has. But, the metaphor is tha only way to seperate your disses, and make them stand out as creative. Word play also always factors in with me. Ex) ~"Saran's" yur newest name, cus this rapper's(wrapper) fukin see-through~ For me, voting in battle on text, flow is the last thing i usually look at. Its important, and can be the deciding factor in a completely even battle. But, in text...flow is tha least important aspect to me. In Audio, it would be HUGE. But on text, u have no idea how that particular MC would actually flow their verse on a beat regardless. Biting, a non issue really lol. If u bite, yur bullshit...and u aint got no business battlin regardless.

['Illicit']

oh yeh I get ur point vito, like I said I'm jus sayin what I thought.

[BxStylez31]

how PERSONAL can u really get when u all u know about the other MC is his screen name and where he from...u dont nkow what he looks like, dont know his real  name, dont know who he chills with or where exactly he lives.  so really how personal can u get???