I normally wouldn’t take time to break down a battle that’s coming up. However, this one is a bit different. There are a lot of dynamics that will factor in both the public perception as well as the reality of this match up. I’ll try not to get too long winded but, just know I analyzed this from both ends and I just want to make sure I weigh it as fair as humanly possible. So let’s get to it.

Hollow Da Don – Hollows VERY NICE! I feel he ate Loaded Lux alive. You can only kick so much knowledge in a battle scene. Hollow gave the people what the wanted. A great fearless battle and somebody really willing to compete. I think he won all 3 rounds but, once again that’s me and my opinion.

Hollow has pretty much scared a LOT of battle emcees with his performance against Lux. However, that doesn’t make his pending match with Budden easy. Do I feel Hollows the best battle rapper out? Yes. Let’s be real, its only a literal handful of NICE battle rappers. The majority of these cats are just great at cussing loud, talking about shooting 1,000 guns, 1,000 ways and bringing a lot of they people out to venues to sway votes and public perception.

Joe Budden – I think Joey is one of the most unappreciated lyricist of this era and millennium. Budden lyrically is nicer than definitely 93% of the game, EASILY. You can keep talking about Pump It Up and Fire all you want to but, understand overall that album as a whole got him a plaque, a grammy nod and a vibe award and Pump It Up is one of the few Rap/Hip-Hop singles that you can associate with the NBA Finals EVER!

Budden is not so mainstream that he “looks weird” battling. Budden is also not so underground or independent that this won’t garner some mainstream attention. That LAHH exposure doesn’t matter here. The real Budden fans aren’t watching that. We’d rather Joe Budden TV make a return.

So we’ve introduced the rappers. Now lets talk the elements.

The Crowd: There is a GREAT CHANCE that the entire crowd that comes out to this battle will be “Cats that just like seeing people battle” and “Cats who are fans of Hollow Da Don”. Joey’s first release was 11 years ago now. The people coming out to see Joe Budden want to hear songs, get in that mood. See some Slaughterhouse antics and hear some dope verses. Will the real Joe Budden crowd be in attendance? Honestly we won’t know until that night. Definite Con for Joey.

Battle Shape: Hollow do this. He’s going to be in battle shape. And with him fresh off the Lux W, he will be FEELING IT! We know Budden can rap for 10 minutes or better but, that’s on a track of him speaking on his personal life. He definitely has the ability but Hollows elevated over the last few years in the aspect of actual battling. Pro for Hollow but a grey area Con for Budden.

Pedigree: Hollow hasn’t even put out a mixtape as far as I know. I’ll be honest I don’t go looking for his music because he’s known first as a battle rapper. His song structure and hit making ability holds no weight in the world he currently runs. Even the fact that Hollow is battling Budden doesn’t make me want to hear his music if he has any.

Joe Budden has been putting out solo albums, group albums and classic mixtapes for at least 14-15 years now. You can make the argument that Joey has put out enough hot bars that he shouldn’t even battle anybody that doesn’t have at least 5 critically acclaim mixtapes out AT MINIMUM. Budden fans check for the album, like they check for the cyphers, like they check for the freestyles. Battles still remain to be seen and in his fans eyes, he can’t lose because the bars he said in 2008 are more than enough for them to not even listen to the battle he’s about to have.

Cassidy said something very enlightening about this. He said “I wouldn’t battle if it doesn’t make sense.” and  “I wouldn’t battle anybody who never put a song out”. He also went on to say even for material purposes it would be a disadvantage because his whole life is on display and he could possibly Google his opponent and find nothing about them at all. The obvious bullet in Hollows chamber, is Tahiry, Love and Hip-Hop and Joey’s past drug issues. BUT! Every situation can’t be like the final scene of 8 mile. Yeah we know the info is out but that don’t mean it can’t be rapped about. However, Hollow runs the risk of being cliche and “saying things we already know” so that would in essence hurt all of his rounds. The Pro in this for Joey is that you can’t use a lot of material that he’s given us over the last 5-10 years, which forces Hollows “how well can you flat out rap” hand. It would be foolish for Hollow to say anything about his singles because Hollow hasn’t had one hit. Joe Budden will be the biggest selling participant in this whole card by AT LEAST 500,000 copies sold and an additional million downloads. Dwarfs can’t make fun of midgets…plain and simple. Pro and Con for BOTH depending on how you see your glass.

Who Needs To Show Up: I have no doubt in my mind the Hollow that showed up to let Lux have will be present at this battle against Joe Budden. No doubt. I seen his interview and he is NOT taking this lightly. He sees this as a win-win more than a win-lose. He’s know its more eyes on this battle and the attention has gotten broader and a decisive W would set the game on FIRE! I expect an epic performance from Hollow

In my mind and to be specific…Mood Muzik 2 Joe Budden needs to show up. Lets be honest. We really haven’t heard Joey go in for some time now. He’s made some dope records and giving us a lot of his life in his music but, the BARS have kind of taken a backseat to a degree. I was listening to Mood Muzik 2 last week…Let me tell you, Mood Muzik Joe Budden is one of the best emcees to EVER touch a mic! That’s not debatable in my view. You don’t agree, then you definitely haven’t listened. Period.

The Win vs. The Loss:

If Hollow wins you might hear the following:

Well he a battle rapper, of course he was going to win. That don’t mean he’s a better rapper than Joe Budden though.

Well…now who is he going to battle since he beat somebody in the industry?

If Hollow loses you’ll hear:

Them battle cats can’t mess with the mainstream rap vets man. Did you think he had a chance?

Budden killed dude…man he didn’t even beat Lux to keep it real [you know how cats switch sides on you]

If Budden wins you might hear:

Ok…..so what! You beat some battle cat that your fans probably never heard of

What did you gain from doing that to dude?

You been in the game for how long? You don’t get no points for this.

If Budden Loses you’ll hear:

What were you thinking!?!? We never even heard you battle before

Keep pumpin it up dude…that’s what you’re good at

Budden trash though, Hollow wouldn’t do that to  Wayne, Jay, Nas, Eminem or anybodies favorite rapper here.

WRAP IT UP: The real rap fans will respect the competition of this and commend both of them for taking this chance. Honestly, everything either one of them has done doesn’t really matter. It’s all about the night itself. People love to bring up Canibus pulling out the notepad as a “What If” scenario but, I don’t hear anybody ALSO talking about how Canibus was revamping 1998 rhymes to spit for a 2012 audience. That’s just a No No period! So that Canibus situation doesn’t even hold weight in real life to me. We should NEVER expect a notepad or old rhymes in ANY BATTLE! 

In public perception and under the act of RNS, a lot of fans will see pedigree and status and make this a Win-Lose for both emcees. Their either going to get too much credit for winning or too much slander for losing…or vice versa. This will be one of the most talked about battles ever just because of the barriers it breaks. I don’t know the last emcee that had a Grammy nod to actually jump in the ring AFTER the fact. I also don’t remember a battle emcee being nice enough to get a serious inquiry or attention from any rapper that had a major label deal. One things for sure it will be some ILL BARS on display. I hope it lives up to all the hype it’s getting no matter who wins.

Joe Budden vs Hollow Da Don…I’ll tune in…