Pregnancy, Handball, and NYCSPITZ
Interview
PB: Aside from yourself who do you think has the best shot of winning this tournament? Who do you think could surprise some people? Why?
NYC: Dead Man, Vulgar and Soulstice. Can't sleep on them they're too polished. All have been doing topicals at an elite level for at least 5+ years so they are vicious contenders, like rabid animals with 6x normal testosterone levels. My sleeper pick is Split Eight because he produces gems but not at a consistent enough level. If he can drop 5 dope ones, he can be in the finals but we'll see what he comes up with.
PB: Who are you favorite writers to read in the open mic section?
NYC: My favs are dead man, vulgar, and my childhood internet friend cristian gajardo aka big baby/all those aliases. All are creative and have a distinct style. Whenever I read these guys I'm sure to be shaking my head like "oh wow that was real witty" or "that was the dopest thing I've read this week x1000" or "these guys prob would have 4.0 gpas if they ever went to college". Dunno not hard to do these days. I was talking to some Columbia undergrads at a lounge the other day and they were really dumb. Talked to this Columbia grad from cornell with an afro and big boobies though and she was smart lulz should've at least bagged digits in retrospect but oh well. Dunno maybe dead and baby do go to college? Bottom line they have funny internet personas which probably are nothing close to how they act in real life but their OM writing is top tier. Actually I think big baby put up a funny facebook video up a while ago and it was kinda similar to his shenanigans here.
PB: How do you think the more battle-oriented writers (namely Bags and nik) will fare in such a stacked field?
NYC: Their hubris will damage their chances, dunno if ill nik-A is joking with that shit or if he's really that narcissistic tbr. Bags likes to joke a lot but I can't tell with nik, my guess is he truly thinks he is the greatest prob @ everything from shoe selection to text to topical to bagging hoes to halo3 to cooking BBQ in miami. Nika went undefeated in the last league I believe but he didn't really face anyone that was a problem. Bags is a clever man who writes cool battles and if he can translate that to topicals he will probably reach at least the second round. Nika I hold slightly higher than bags topical wise but I've only seen one of bag's shits.
PB: How has your mission to impregnate as many women as possible going? Do you still think that is the most alpha route a man can take?
NYC: I've decided not to impregnate any females until I relocate to South America and have established passive income of at least 5G/month or buy a successful small business. My place is probably gonna be Rio. Will impregnate about 25+ there once I do. Also would like 5+ in Europe, 5+ in Asia, 6 in Ireland and 5 in Canada. Fuck the USA I'll give them 4 though. Also would like 8 or more in Central America. As far as women in general I find that many young 20s hoes love sucking mid 20s cock so I'm exploiting that loophole in slut whore psychology. It's amusing how easy these hoes are to bag due to lack of life experience. I just met this fly yoga instructor though prob like my age 25 who I need to bone ASAP. I find women over a certain age expect you to have your own apartment which I don't because I work part-time due to not wanting to be a corporate piss ant. It's cool though my room is baller, in the ghetto but I just got this nerf basketball shit bro. Also got netflix and alcohol so the shorties aren't even an issue. Impregnating them will take capital and deception.
As far as the most alpha route that is a completely subjective thing. You can have a family man who is a baller Alpha male on some Liam Neeson, I'm gonna kill you just by hearing your voice on the phone type shit. Women would fuck him but he has PRINCIPLES like a true fucking warrior BOSS so he wouldn't. Men naturally become more alpha as they age so as long as you have a strong vision for life, believe in yourself and act in an alpha manner women should not be a problem.
PB: You're a fan of alcohol. Do you write drunk or are they separate and compartmentalized for you?
NYC: I typically do not write drunk. Drinking right now but a topical takes more focus than this. I have tried it maybe 5 times for topicals and it only worked like once I think. I start to think like a retard, become slow and type incoherently. I prefer stimulants, adderall or cocaine (did coke once, wrote the graffiti piece I got VOTM for in like 3 lines/minute) but usually I write sober or on coffee. When I smoked cigarettes I would write on them, I remember going through a pack of reds for inspiration when I was writing vs black in the ISTL. Beat him. Check my sig, beat him there too. I like his writing more than my own though.
PB: What sport is the true god-sport; handball or hockey? Which hockey player would be the best at handball?
NYC: Handball is because too many faggots play ice hockey. They stare at each others' dicks when they shower and it's weird. They used to swing their cocks in a circular manner and scream "HELICOPTER" when I was playing juniors, which is awkward. Also a lot of their parents live vicariously through them and feel they own their kids b/c of the money they pay to let them play. Also a lot of their parents are bourgeoisie/upper class homos who feel entitled.
Any minority hockey player would be king of handball. PK Subban would be an A-player (means you are godly at handball)
NYC: If you had a son and you found out he had an inoperable tumor what would you make for dinner for your family after the doctor's visit?
I would order w/e the fuck the lil man wanted to be real. Then get my wife/GF to suck my dick while I mourned and played Confessions II in the background.
PB: Any comments/shout outs/last remarks?
NYC: I will show.
OPENING ROUND MATCHUP PREVIEWS
But who was logic?
It might seem a bit counter-intuitive for me to do match previews as I made up the seeding of the bracket. If I placed someone as a higher seed then logic would dictate that I’d invariably pick the higher seed. While that’s true in a sense, I made the seeding in list format without the actual matchups in mind. There’s the distinct possibility that a certain matchup favors a lower seed depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents and how they match up. Plus every magazine has it and people enjoy reading about themselves. I’ll take the topic of the match up into consideration as well.
(1) dead man vs. (32) breathless
dead man is the clear favorite. He’s the #1 seed for a reason and the topic lends itself well to his trademarked style. breathless has a unique way of writing but he’s received the toughest of draws in the opening round. I attempt to be optimistic for all participants in these magazines but if dead man shows it’s hard to see a scenario where breathless pulls off the upset. He might be able to use the underdog role as motivation to impress some voters.
deadman 95/5
(16) Mr. J vs. (17) Witty
A close call, as the 16/17 matchup should be. As I stated in the opening paragraph for this section just because I seeded someone higher doesn’t necessarily mean I think they’ll win their matchup, based on how the two writers match up. There’s quite a bit going on in this matchup; Mr. J is one of bedrocks of Open Mic and topical competition, with consistency and punctuality being his calling card. Witty, on the other hand, is a bit more mercurial. If both writers show, and Witty’s given his word that he will, this is almost a dead-heat. I think Witty may actually have higher potential. This could be one of the closest match ups of the first round and I’m going to go with the slight upset, if only by a slim margin.
Witty 55/45
(8) ZYG vs. (25) Zenland
Interesting battle consisting of two of the weirder writers in the tournament, albeit for different reasons. As I stated in the writer profiles, Zenland has been working with a handful of different styles and subject matters as of late. Zygote, though, is one of the best at handling multiple formats. I think Zenland will make this battle hard-fought as he’s one of most dedicated writers on the site but based on talent alone I think Zygote walks away with the victory.
ZYG 75/25
(9) big baby vs. (24) Fig
By far the battle I’m looking forward to the most if both writers show. Both big baby and Fig are quirky personas. big baby carries that persona over into his writing quite a bit (unless it’s a love poem <333) whereas Fig’s writing is decidedly different than what his persona would indicate. big baby is a real threat to make it far in this tournament if he shows consistently and Fig is one of my picks to be a sleeper. The deciding factor, though, is that big baby is more experienced and has honed in his style and technical ability whereas Fig is still elevating towards his eventual place among the highly respected writers on this site. Looking forward to this one; look for Fig to make it close.
big baby 65/35
(4) Frank vs. (29) Adonis
Photographs/images play into Frank’s style more than any other type of topic, in my opinion. He would’ve been a heavy favorite regardless of the topic so the topics this week did no favors for Adonis. Much like breathless, Adonis has some nice qualities as a writer but he’s up against one of the most respected writers on the site, someone who should be able to pretty handedly outwrite him. My only advice would be to try and beat Frank on a conceptual level, but even then it probably won’t be enough. Best of luck.
Frank 80/20
(13) trap vs. (20) CopyPat
This should be an interesting matchup. As I mentioned in the writer profiles I’m not very familiar with trap’s work but know he’s respected on the topical side of things. I like the little I have seen. On the other hand, I’m very familiar with Pat’s open mic and cypher work. I think this battle comes down to who can relate to the topic the best. If Pat can beat, or just match, trap on a conceptual level I think he’ll win this due to his technical ability. Could be a surprise BOTW contender. I’m going with the slight upset.
Pat 55/45
(5) NYCSPITZ vs. (YDK)
Good battle. YDK’s has definitely improved within the topical scene in my mind and I was impressed by a couple of his verses in the AOWL. He has the poetic background so he should be able to relate and touch on the content of the topic well. NYC, though, is a true heavy hitter and one of the handful of favorites within the field. If YDK drops the best verse he’s written on the site and NYC drops a bit below expectations I can still see NYC winning.
NYC 80/20
(12) ill nik-A vs. (21) oXus
Tough draw for the higher seed. nik is arguably the most recognized topical writer as a battler, at the very least the battler who cares the most about writing. oXus, on the other hand, isn’t as prolific or recognized on a large scale but among the writing community I feel he’s held in pretty high esteem. For such a large disparity in seeding I believe this will be a very close match, maybe coming down to the deadline with the vote difference being small. nik is obsessed with his reputation as the best at any and everything whereas oXus seems to care a bit less. I think that may be the deciding factor in an otherwise even matchup.
ill nik-A 55/45
(2) Pent uP vs. (31) symetrik
symetrik has some flashes of nice writing. I enjoyed some of his entries in the AOWL; he’s a bit off kilter and that’s always nice to see. But the fact of the matter is that Pent is going to win if he shows. No disrespect intended but I haven’t seen anything from symetrik that would cause me to believe he has a chance at the upset.
Pent uP 95/5
(15) Wise Ways vs. (18) Vividlyvague
Great battle. This matchup is the perfectly example of how stacked this tournament is. Wise is one of most recognized open mic writers on the site and VV was just in the semi-finals of the AOWL. I think the topic favors Wise. Also, Wise has a very distinct and honed in style whereas VV is still figuring out his own. He sometimes reads a little sloppy, a problem I’ve never encountered in reading a Wise Ways verse. On the other hand, I have no doubts at all in VV showing and there’s a chance Wise no-shows. All things considered I’ll take Wise as the slight favorite.
Wise 55/45
(7) Lars vs. (26) Objective
This depends almost entirely on Lars’ level of commitment. If he shows and writes to his potential he should win without much difficulty. If he does show but drops a verse a bit below expectations Objective is a strong enough writer to take advantage. For the purposes of this prediction I’m going to assume Lars has his heart in the competition and writes a verse worthy of his reputation and past accomplishments.
Lars 70/30
(10) Certain vs. (23) Mike Wrecka
Mod battle! Certain and Mike were the mod team that made the AOWL such a success this season and now they’ll face off in the opening round. Certain’s quickly established himself within the writing community as a respected topical writer and serious threat in leagues and tournaments. Mike champed the WCL but he’s been a bit hit or miss lately. Both are good with the conceptual side of topical battling but it’s Mike’s strength so he has an advantage there. Certain is, in my opinion, the stronger writer. I think the disparity in writing ability is greater than the disparity in concepts. If Mike can regain his former mojo there’s a chance for an upset but Certain is the most dedicated and serious topical writer on the site currently. He won’t mail it in so I find it tough to predict an upset here.
Certain 65/35
(3) Vulgar vs. (30) Innovator
Of the bottom four seeds Innovator has the highest ceiling. He has the writing ability to compete with many participants seeded above him. Of course, he’s matched up against Vulgar who could easily have been the #1 overall seed. I think Innovator can make the battle slightly interesting but I can’t envision an actual upset.
Vulgar 90/10
(14) Split Eight vs. (19) Veritas
Possible BOTW. Split has really come into his own lately and I’ve read more than one comment saying he’s the most improved writer of 2013. Can’t say that I disagree. I put him as the #14 seed simply due to the talent in this tournament and the fact he’s only recently really started turning heads. He’s a legitimate threat. Veritas’ writing, as I’ve said, is a bit uneven to me but I can see him dialing it in and dropping a good to great verse for this competition. Two interesting boarders and writers. Aside from big baby/Fig this is the match I’m looking forward to the most in the opening round. I think Split continues his ascent and makes a statement.
Split Eight 70/30
(6) Soulstice vs. (27) Coup
I’m not too familiar with Coup and I’ve only read one verse from Soulstice. I do know that Soulstice has the reputation and legacy. Coup’s a solid writer from the few verses I’ve seen. This is my least informed opinion of all the match previews as I’m making it almost purely off of word of mouth.
Soulstice 70/30
(11) Bags vs. (22) Just Write
Baguerro. Just Write is a definite sleeper. He’s been much more active in the topical/writing scene than his competitor. Bags is a Netcees HOF’er with a good topical pedigree. This is among the handful of battles in the opening round that could truly go either way. I think Bags’ approach to the topic could be the difference in the end, though. He often uses creative concepts or takes clichéd concepts and makes them unique through his verse. Regardless, this should be close.
Bags 60/40