BET Hip Hop Awards 2014 Cypher Part 5

...You know how BET has that 1 good cypher everyone talks about. This year had 3. First was David Banner's Cypher, now, we go to cypher number 5 with 5 different rap styles by Troy Ave, Detroit Che, Dee-1, Logic and Lil Mama. This is the one cypher where I liked all the parts to it and it only got better with each verse.

First off we have Troy Ave from New York. He's been gettin some buzz and from songs like Show Me Love, you can see his influence from G Unit. As the warm up, he starts spittin his verse while harmonizing with the beat.

Second, we have Detroit Che from... (Guess where). With a rapid style, she collaborates with Jaye Prime, and to be honest, she was second best in this cypher (sorry Dee-1). I had to listen to her part a few times to understand what she was saying, but what she said had substance and meaning, plus, her fast flow was on point. Definitely not your usual female rapper of today when many tries to copy Nicki Minaj.

Third up to bat was Dee1 from New Orleans. The style he brings is socially conscious, and is apparent with a song dedicated to 50 Cent, Jay Z and Lil Wayne. Knowing him, my expectations were too high, and wasn't really met at this cypher, but he still went in with a sad, but true line. "Money don't buy happiness,  ask Robin Williams".

Logic from Gaithersburg Maryland, honestly should have anchored the cypher. He made a name for himself with Young Sinatra back in 2013 and released Under Pressure along with appearing on Jimmy Fallon. His verse changes flow and speeds up lamp-shading the whole fast rap scene explaining why he did it (even though some dumbasses still complain about the fast rapping without listening to the lyrics). I could go more into his part, but you'd have to hear it to believe it.

Last was Lil Mama from Harlem New York. You might know her as Left Eye from the recent TLC movie, or a while back when she made a song about her lip gloss. She was in an earlier cypher years ago with Twista, Dizzie Rascal, and Wyclef Jean and it was pretty ill. This was the second time Lil Mama manage to spit in a cypher full of dopeness.

...wow, this was a good year for the females.

BET Hip Hop Awards 2014 Cypher Part 4

This is where the Cyphers start gettin heated. Bringing in Vic Mensa, Snow Tha Product, King Los, Treach and David Banner.

Let's Start with Vic Mensa, a Chicago rapper who collaborates with Chance the Rapper. He starts his part with a mention of Mike Brown, something most rappers mention in this years cyphers and mentioning Romeo with his ICDC college commercials (if you didn't know what he was doing today). I was suprised that his verse wasn't as good as his usual material, but he wasn't bad.

From San Jose California, OH MY GAWD! We have the Mexican rapper Snow tha Product. To shed a little light on her style, she is at times a chopper (fast rapping) and was featured on So Dope by Tech N9ne featuring another chopper Twisted Insane. She starts rapping in English, than transcends to Spanish and the crowd goes crazy. Not many female Latino rappers get recognition, but she'll be damned if it's Joseline Hernandez (shots fired).

After her part, we get King Los, rapper from Baltimore formerly part of Bad Boy records (as far as now he is doing better than most former bay boy artists). His part was good, but I thought it was a bit unfair to put him after Snow Tha Product the way she ripped it.

Next, we get Hip Hop's OG himself Treach of Naught By Nature from New Jersey. You might know them for OPP or Hip Hop Hooray, but that's just a sample of their work. He brings in an old-school- type flow and brings in a Dancehall-type style with it, ending with a recommendation that Hip Hop needs a hip replacement.

*BTW, what the hell was that sound in the background of his verse?*

Finallly, we get David Banner from Mississippi. He was not the same rapper I knew when I use to watch BET's Rap City back around 2002-ish. Since then, he became more conscious with his lyrics (oh yeah, and he looks like a preacher too). He ends his part in spoken word about problems surrounding the black community mentioning recent tragic events like the Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman situation and targeting white rappers that try to jump in on the culture, but keeps out of it when things like that go down.

BET Hip Hop Awards 2014 Cypher Part 3

[sigh], I never was a fan of Clique Cyphers. Even though some could be dope. (TDE & Shady 2.0) They tend to be lackluster and deprived of diversity (MMG & A$AP Mob)because you hear about five of six rappers with the same type of style. That being said, here is  the Taylor Gang Cypher established in 2008 and featuring Tuki Carter, Berner, Chevy Woods, Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa.



First off was Tuki Carter from Atlanta Georgia, and I gotta give him props. He was probably the best one in the group with a lively performance, and when I say lively I mean he brought some energy.

Second was Berner Fron San Francisco California with an arm cast... and uhhhhh. Yeah, he had an cast on his arm.

Third on the mic was Chevy woods from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Damn I wish I could drag this one on longer, but his verse just came and went.

Fourth up to bat was Ty Dolla $ighn from Los Angeles California... ? For real? Damn I thought he was from the south. I thought his was the most interesting to listen to because it sounded like a chorus more than a rap verse, and with a higher voice, you'd think it was Lil Wayne.

Fifth was Juicy J fron Memphis part of the legendary 3 (Tripple) 6 Mafia. When Juicy J does the best, that's the greenlight to step your raps up.

And we finish with Wiz Khalifa from Pittsburgh,  leader of the froup. I might not be giving these niggas enough credit, they might have some bangers, but I aint got time to go through all they songs and cameos right now. I'm probably lazy because I just got secondhand high from watching this cypher.

BET Hip Hop Awards 2014 Cypher Part 2

I noticed Battle Rappers were gettin some love this year in the Cyphers. In this Cypher we get T-Rex, Goodz, Tsu Surf, & Rain 910 hosted by Smack from the URL Battles

First off was T-Rex from Harlem New York, Cousin to Murda Mook, who warmed it up.













Second was Goodz AKA the Animal from The Bronx. One thing I noticed about this cypher was the lack of scratch in between rappers, but another thing I noticed was that it's weird hearing rappers you know from battling go off on a beat.

Third to go was Tsu Surf fron New Jersey, one of the few battle rappers with a criminal charge, robbery and shit. Usually goes hard, but let's mention the elephant in the room. "I was out schemmin, ???  Cleveland, connect from ??? and I get love out in Cleveland", yeah, he choked on a couple bars, but that Death row line was nice, so that saved him.

Finally we end this Cypher on Rain 910 from North Carolina, an unusual state for a rapper. He brought some brilliant bars bringing up current events and any rapper that references Resident Evil (or video games in general) is aight with me. He had the best flow and ended the Cypher nicely.

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