I've been feeling some indignation over several diverse topics these last few months, but didn't say anything about them, 'cause it's petty. But I need some filler material for my blog. So here's a rap battle between Lotto and B-Rabbit in Eminem's 8 Mile movie.

Lotto should have won. Eminem wins, of course, 'cause it's his movie, but Lotto's rhymes told a coherent story, while Eminem's were just jumping around all over the place, completely disorganized (going to Lotto's tight shirt via steroids, leaving it for "blah ba di bloop ba", coming back with "tank top or bra?", leaving it to "Go home and write some shit", and coming back "tank top screaming I don't fit you", etc.). Plus, the long pause between when the DJ started spinning the tune and before Eminem actually started doing any rhyming sort of killed it, 'cause it felt like it took him time to come up with a comeback, except the only comeback he had was for the Leave It To Beaver stuff. Plus that "Blah ba di bloop ba" stuff was a weak time waster, which Eminem only used to buys some time to think up more rhymes.

When you have a 1-round-each battle, the two contestants have to use different skills. The guy who goes first is showing his pre-composition skill: Since he's going first, he has nothing to reply to, so all of his rhymes will be pre-written and prepared. Lotto's rhyme was an excellent example of this, again with a coherent story, clever and accented timing, rehearsed movements, etc. He even got lucky with the perfect timing of the horn when he says "You think these niggers gonna feel shit you say?".

The guy who goes second, has to show a completely different skill set, which is improvisation. He has to respond to every criticism and insult thrown his way. Only one thing Eminem could have been seen as improve, which is the response to the Leave It To Beaver stuff. The other responses, "blah ba di bloop ba", "you're saying the same shit he said", and "you see how far the white jokes get you", are all generic enough that they could have easily been prepared in advanced. If all Eminem didn't think he'd be able to improv, he should have chosen to go first. Since he chose to go second, he really has to show that his rhymes are all improvised.