94
Bars/Wordplay 10
Can you see the difference between metaphors and real raps? How a ***** with metaphors can really rap?! Your slogan? That shit a propped-up scheme, for the skill you lack...All that fake ass gun clappin 'Landslide,' that’s for caskets, you know I kill, you can read, everything in my bio has it (hazard)...How y’all disrespect God? How did y’all disrespect god?Ain’t it evil to live backwards?Let me bring that back ‘cause I need y’all to grasp it, ain’t it evil to live backwards? I’m just askin" Regarded as the most prolific pen in battle rap, Lux raps as if his words are gospel as if he got them from the good book itself. While his delivery/performance is likely the most to thank for his overall mystique, beneath the theatrics is clever wordplay that is masterfully put together to make maximum impact, along with OG wisdom that any man with real life experience could respect - [a vast deviation from 90% of the gangster fantasies that dilutes the art form - and the most substantial reason as to why he deserves a 10 in the category.]
Delivery/Performance 10
"Baby, you a star, they love you the way you are, but I love you enough to not leave you the way you are, you make it hard for people that say what they mean, and mean what they say cause thats what they mean, how they gone follow a junkie? Be a fan, not a fiend, and you, be a ***** from Queens, not a queen, man up cause stand up ***** don’t lean!" When Lux is on stage it feels like a movie, and that’s because above anything else he’s mastered the art of showmanship. To say Lux can control a crowd is an understatement, as the audience is always captivated by his words and his performance, no matter if the message goes over their heads to the point of leaving them mystified. Lux plays off that mystique as good as anyone, and in that regards he’s often competing against himself, considering that his appeal is a separate entity from the rest of his peers- whereas his performances are mostly judged by how they compare to his last.
Originality 10
"You’s a waste of my motherfucking time,*****, and you’re cutting into your mother’s fucking time, *****" Like all the legends in battle rap there’s nobody like Lux, even if some of the new PGs would like to emulate his success. Beyond being a pioneer of the current state of battle rap, Lux has a demeanor as one whose wise beyond his years, in which case the content of his raps have always stood out amongst the crowd. Essentially when Lux rap he’s a sure thing to say something that’s never been said before, and for that reason he should be considered nothing less than an original.
Versatility/Jokes 9
"Had my peoples investigate you pal, Instagram for you Calicoe fans that have yet to browse, July 17th, 8:40 PM, you posted up, Ah *****, you know what’s up, we kept the file, you’ve got some explaining to do, can we address the crowd? Exhibit A, so that’s how Detroit gangstas do? Skinny dipping gone wild? Well we ain’t judging though, you ain’t on trial" Hilarious but versatility is actually not his best quality, simply because his rhyme patterns and physical demeanor couldn’t change that much even if he tried. That’s been demonstrated in previous battles when he’s tried to switch up his persona (UW Lux to Total Slaughter Lux), and essentially it was the same Lux with a different outfit, regardless of how his performance was received. Otherwise considering how he’s always looking to educate, he’s usually not one to lighten the mood with jokes, although his personality is certainly intricate enough to take it there if he wanted to.
Freestyle/Rebuttals 8
"They ain't even book you ***** rooms, I told em Harlem hospital giving beds out….. *flat line*.... And there you have it, "he couldn’t find anything to rhyme with hospital beds… not popped with the lead, shot in the head, drop til you dead… he even talked about Calicoe’s pops with the feds…. and even that rhymes with hospital bed…” yet in his most decorated moment it can’t be overlooked that he completely choked in the first round, no matter if you look at the other rounds and the large picture. While Lux undeniably has a gift with words, he clearly doesn’t have the capacity to improvise like Hollow or Clips, and in key moments where he loses his place that absence of talent is all the more recognizable.
play it at livemixtapes.com
Impact/Brand 10
I tried to give him the large picture, your pops wasn’t no gangster, he was just another lost *****, you think it’s gangster, to let a mother love that dope more than her daughter? shoot a father from his son, then turn around and put that boy on the corner? Or leave your son out here alone to fend for himself, knowing he need order? Is your money being long worth your lifespan being shorter? Huh? But I’m just trying to give you the large picture, your pops wasn’t no gangster, he was just another lost *****" If for no other reason than the mystique that follows him, Lux deserves a 10 in this category mainly because of his ability to amass such a faithful following. Although he was always respected since the Lionz Den days, his reputation sparked in notoriety after his battle with Calicoe, in which case he’s now been branded as a God MC no matter if there’s others who feel that he’s a false prophet. As the Calicoe footage went viral and You Gon Get This Work became a national tagline, even Jay Z showed his respect with a public endorsement, a moment which forever put Lux into a different stratosphere of battle rap fame.
Views/Numbers/Multiple Formats 10
"You see, before the URL, me and the good folks over at Lionz Den we took battle rap, revamped and new breeded this department, you know, I even had a couple legends come meet us off their starships, I showed how bad Goodz was, I let K shine ICE would freeze a ***** before the sparks went, remember where you seen it first, Arsonal and Clips both cleaning out their cartridge, gave Rich Dollaz a lean target, goddamnit, we got Big T started, word, if it wasn’t for us, shieet, ***** Verb would still be in the flea market" Lux always has done his numbers, on Lionz Den, URL, UW, or Total Slaughter, while his most prominent battle with Calicoe did a staggering 4 ½ million; the most watched battle in URL history. While it would be nice to see him put up those numbers more outside of his comfort zone (KOTD), it’s fair to speculate he would do just as well over there just the same, in which case you can say a lot about Lux but you can’t say he doesn’t do his numbers. Like Hollow he’s also in the 106 & Park Hall of Fame, proving he can battle rap on beats (and national television) and do it as well as the best of them.
No Stumbles/Chokes 8
"All first verse...he ain't even get the second verse but he gon get this work" To date it seems as if Lux has only choked or stumbled once during a battle, which is a better percentage than most even if he has limited battles on camera, yet the glaring issue of course is that he has maybe the most infamous choke in battle rap history. Mind you he was able to recover in his later rounds, but for Lux to forget his rhymes and not be able to improvise will forever be held against him, which is fair game considering an MC of his reputation and stature.
watch the face-off
Stays Active/Consistency 9
"Sold my weed, I fought all of my own fights, Up moved some coke I pitched in, that’s just it, Conscious brother, street *****, I’ve been in both positions to know the difference, Enough of holmes who’s listening to my storyline, I don’t glorify, I report it wise, told the ending" Despite being active in the early DVD days Lux only battles on occasion in the recent URL era, with notable battles with Calicoe, Hollow, Mook, and Clips as his only battles in recent memory. While that is strategic to say the least, none of his performances that followed Calicoe had the same impact or quality (all blatant chokes aside), whereas if he wants to truly live up to his name he needs to battle more often and to better results.
Bodybags 10
"Look at you, emotional..." Although it’s tough to qualify the Calicoe battle as a true body considering the choke, one can never diminish the impact that it made for Lux’s career and battle rap alike, to such a degree that many people regard it as the greatest body bag of all time. Many years earlier however Lux had a much cleaner bodybag when his opponent was Young Miles, a complete dismantling that made it clear to everyone that Lux wasn't an ordinary MC.