As usual, the cyphers were the most anticipated part of the BET Hip-Hop Awards, which aired Oct. 13. Seven groups took the stage to perform, but only one can get the top spot. Keep reading to find out who had the best cypher of the night!
7. The Digital All-Stars
The Digital All-Stars cypher consisted of Philly native Asia Sparks, “Like Whaaat” artist Problem, former “X-Factor” contestant Astro and California rapper Bad Lucc. With the exception of 17-year-old Astro, there wasn’t much to talk about after this crew’s performance. Asia Sparks lost control of her flow, Bad Lucc’s verse was lackluster and irrelevant and Problem didn’t impress. Conversely, Astro, the youngest of the group, was the only one to deliver.
6. Lil’ Kim and Friends
This was the most random group of rappers in cypher history. Despite an appearance by the “Queen B” herself, this crew left much to be desired. Houston-born producer and rapper Travis $cott gave the worst performance of the night. BET’s “Hot 16” winner Starlife Breezy stood his ground, but no one knows who he is. Queens’ rapper Action Bronson made up for $cott’s weak verse and actually had one of the best of the night. Of course Lil’ Kim was amusing, but who can get past what she’s done to her face? And her protégé Tiffany Foxx was too quick to get off the stage.
5. The Real Husbands of Hollywood
No one expected to see a cypher from this cast of characters, but they provided excellent comic relief. Kevin “Chocolate Drop” Hart brought the funny when he rapped, “I miss my dad,” while breaking down into tears. His co-stars Boris Kodjoe and Duane Martin also packed some funny wordplay, with Kodjoe rapping in his native German. Finally, Nick Cannon and Nelly actually impressed with their clever punch lines and delivery, especially when Nelly rapped, “The only rapper in this b—-, no disrespect to Nick.”
4. Jon Connor and Friends
This crew was made up of NC emcee Rapsody, Cali lyricist Wax, foreign-born Emis Killa, Tech N9ne signee Rittz and Michigan rapper Jon Connor. Connor had arguably one of the best verses of the night, announcing his new contract with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label. Wax and Rittz also performed well. It was nice to see a foreign rapper take the stage, but Italian artist Emis Killa delivered a pretty irrelevant performance. Female artist Rapsody was also unimpressive; or should I say forgettable?
3. A$AP Mob
The A$AP Mob wasn’t the best group of the night, but frontrunner A$AP Rocky proved that he is the master of his flow rapping lines like, “Wrote this s— in business class, give me jet lag.” A$AP Ferg’s verse wasn’t too bad and the rest of the group was solid.
2. Slaughterhouse
As a group, Slaughterhouse may have given the best performance of the night, but everyone knows Kendrick Lamar has to take the top spot.
Despite coming in second, Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9,” “Love and Hip-Hop: NY” star Joe Budden, Brooklyn emcee Joell Ortiz and California rapper Crooked I did nothing less than impress. Royce da 5’9″ couldn’t beat his infamous “Hi Rihanna” line from last year’s show, but he came hard for Drake rapping, “Now all I’m tryna do is give Halle Berry a baby today then I’m outie tomorrow, after that maybe Drake can adopt it.”
Budden also delivered some of the night’s toughest punch lines, rapping, “It’s either you or me, since you love hip-hop, I’ll have Wale say spoken word at your eulogy.” Joell Ortiz was terrific. Crooked I also gave a notable performance.
1. Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE)
And the number one spot goes to Kendrick Lamar and his West-Coast crew, TDE. “Collard Greens” rapper Schoolboy Q, Black Hippy members Ab-Soul and Jay Rock and newly signed TDE artist Isaiah Rashad gave the viewers what they were waiting for. TDE’s new songstress SZA showed her support, sitting alongside her label mates. Isaiah Rashad got his first taste of the spotlight and gave a solid performance as well as Schoolboy Q. Ab-Soul’s verse stood out a little more. Jay Rock also captivated. All of TDE did well but the crown must go to Kendrick Lamar, whose verse was the most anticipated and most impressive of the night. It’s hard to pick out just a few stand-out lines when his entire verse was amazing, but let’s take a look; “Nothing’s been the same since they dropped Control, and tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes.” Kendrick really went for Drake’s jugular with that one. The rest of his verse was so great you’ll have to go to thenewsargus.com to see it for yourself.
Check out the lyrics to TDE and Slaughterhouse’s full cyphers by following the links below:
http://rapgenius.com/Tde-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics
http://rapgenius.com/Slaughterhouse-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics
http://rapgenius.com/Slaughterhouse-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics http://rapgenius.com/Slaughterhouse-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics http://rapgenius.com/Slaughterhouse-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics http://rapgenius.com/Slaughterhouse-bet-cypher-2013-lyrics