This year, SMACK/URL’s Summer Madness 3 event was marred by technical difficulties and a fight between Math Hoffa and Serius Jones. Immortal Technique and Poison Pen recently spoke about the fight.
“It’s sad,” Immortal Technique said of the fight in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “I’ve known Math Hoffa for years. I’ve known Serius Jones for years. I know them both by their first name. What’s kind of crazy is that these two are individuals who’ve had a very close battle before…so obviously there were some words exchanged, some unresolved issues. All I’m saying is that in the future for people who are doing this artform and people that are throwing the events, if you’ve got somebody hookin’ off on people, if you’ve got somebody rubbin’ they nuts on people, if you got people spittin’ on people, it looks like your league has no control.”
Immortal Technique clarified that he was not specifically speaking about any one league.
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“I’m not talking about URL,” Technique said. “I’m talking about all battle leagues in general. It’s like in the NBA, if you can’t control a player from going and hookin’ off on a fan just ’cause he said some shit, then your team is gonna get fined. It’s going to get shut down. And I think the fans look at that like, ‘Yo, what the fuck did I pay for? Did I pay to see a circus act? Is that what I’m here for?’ Because some people might really be there for that. That’s what they want to see and then there’s some people that are the majority of the crowd which are like, ‘I didn’t come here for the antics. I came here to see the battle.’ Like, in the middle of, let’s say Floyd Mayweather and Canelo, if one nigga headbutt the other like in the other fight, that shit is wack, yo. That shit’ll make niggas be like, ‘Why the fuck I pay here?’ Mike Tyson, legend. You bit this nigga’s ear. You fucked up everybody’s night, my nigga. That’s what it’s kind of tantamount to.”
Poison Pen Addresses The Fight’s Impact On SMACK/URL Events
Poison Pen, who has been involved in various Battle Rap events for different leagues, including Grind Time Now, SMACK/URL and Rap Battle Network, spoke about how the fight could impact New York’s Hip Hop scene.
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“As far as the URL events in New York, Webster Hall already threw a monkey wrench in the plans with the ‘Armageddon’ fiasco,” Poison Pen said of “Armageddon,” a SMACK/URL event which was cancelled. “S.O.B.’s had that shootout the other day, which is ridiculous. S.O.B.’s is one of the best places for us to go. So I’m pretty sure whatever happens at S.O.B.’s now, they gon’ have to go through it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that everything is going proper with that. So that’s in question. Webster Hall’s a wrap. They’re not fucking with it. Gramercy Theater is not fucking with it. Now, Stage 48, I doubt they’re going to fuck with it. So it’s like, where else [in New York] are we going to go for these main events? And New York is the Mecca of URL. It’s the Mecca of Hip Hop, too. Not trying to sound cliche, but it is. And now people are going to look at it like, ‘Ah, URL. The past year, the events haven’t been as people expected it to be.’
“So far this year, URL’s only had two events that went off without a hitch,” Poison Pen continued. “And Math hitting Sirius wasn’t the only issue that they [had]…It’s was going to make a lot of people think twice before they fuck with the events. So hopefully we can do some damage control and have people realize that…you’re not going to go to a fuckin’ Battle Rap event and get in a confrontation ’cause I don’t think there were any confrontations in the crowd. The only confrontation was on the stage.”
Additional Reporting By: Justin Hunte
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