Charles Hamilton
Up and coming rap cat Charles Hamilton, a rapidly rising blip on the rap radar (sorry Elliott Wilson), known to anyone due to his very effective internet marketing prowess, stumbled a bit the other night at NY club SOBs, when he voluntarily, and largely “for fun”, challenged battle-rap veteran Serius Jones to a bit of hip-hop verbal sparring. It was widely reported amongst internet murmuring, that Hamilton lost pretty badly.
My good friend, and obviously, my Favorite White Boy, broke down his declaration of victory for Charles Hamilton that night, backed by a solid argument. Part of his reasoning:
Serius Jones is known primarily as a battle rapper. Most heads saw him kill Jin on the mic a few years back. This dude is comfortable in a battle going off the top. And its not like Charles Hamilton doesn’t provide ample amounts of material to mock. So, Serius in a battle is nothing new. Oh, and he has an album to promote.
Charles on the other hand has been widely dismissed as a “rapper/blogger” who really shouldn’t be taken seriously as a hip-hop artist. He wears pink and talks about air conditioners and God. Its no small feat that this dude stepped up and went toe-to-toe with a battle vet and left standing. And if you watch the video, he held his own.
Serius Jones
Ok, fair enough. However, I then conducted a quick, non-scientific poll. I twitter searched “Hamilton” and “Serius” and counted the responses that were more than just someone sharing a link. I counted any tweet that had an opinion. 11/11 declared that Serius “murked”, “killed”, “got in that a**”, or otherwise affirmed what I have felt is a general consensus that Hamilton lost this semi-friendly battle.
Some excerpts from that “poll”:
djbigdaddy: I’m a fan of Charles Hamilton but Serius Jones got in that a**
DutchDNRO: Charles Hamilton = FAIL < Serius Jones = Funny MoFo
lsessons: Got damn Charles Hamilton is having an awful week. First Serius Jones and now Rhymefest.
djpointblanc: Did anyone see the Serius Jones & Chuck Hamilton freestyle/battle circulating???…..Serius sonnnned dude…
Pretty one-sided.
So, the point here really is, as someone as tuned in to the effects of internet-aided, mass-media circulation as Hamilton is (he essentially is building his career on it), he might want to be more careful about offering himself up in such a manner that could backfire.
Of course, regardless, people are talking him up. So, we’ll have to wait and see if the old saying, “there’s no such thing as BAD publicity”, is at work here… And out of the two, all publicity being equal, helps Hamilton more than Jones, as Hamilton is already percolating strong on blogs, magazines and iPods.
So, even in losing, Hamilton could win. Thoughts?
Here’s the actual battle:
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Yeah, he kinda got it handed to him in this battle, but I’m def hearing his name more. So he very well may come out on the winning end!
‘Sonic the Loserhog’ HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Props for the, er, props. Site looks dope too.
I have to say you make a really good point – well done on the Twitter poll. But my idea is that Serius won the battle, no question. But Hamilton, in rising far above (fairly low) expectations, won the “war” so to speak.
Of course, I understand that hip-hop battles are like boxing matches and unlike political debates. Its not about spin afterward, etc. Its about who got the most jabs in and did someone score a KO?
On that score, Serius didn’t knock Sonic out, but he definitely won.
B -
Oh, I totally understood your reasoning, and it was extremely valid. I kinda think you’re right, but for a different reason.
You touched on the question I’m really posing here.. You said “I understand that hip-hop battles are like boxing matches and unlike political debates. Its not about spin afterward, etc.”
Well. Maybe. But Nas “ethered” Jay. And (many would argue) Canibus got the better of LL. I think that Jay and L had the star power, media reach, and other resources to actually be able to conduct some form of spin in their respective battles. Will Hamilton be able to do the same after this? He’s still green, but he is already more ‘mainstream’ than Jones, so he may be able to brush a battle loss off his shoulders. I think it WILL require spin, and maybe if it were a Jadakiss or another more prominent member of the hip-hop music world, it might have sunk him, a la Canibus, who at the very least completely held his own, to no avail. But because Jones unfortunately has no “serius” mainstream recognition (ha!), and Hamilton is one of hip-hop’s new darling children, Sonic may be able to spin his way out of it, grab a few gold rings in the process (obligatory Sonic reference).
Well played on the Sonic reference. I also think you’re right. Right now as its playing out, I think Rhymefest may be the “October surprise”, to maintain the political analogy. He was only ancillary to the battle, but he has now become almost the main CH opponent.
Your comment opens up an interesting point re: Canibus (don;t take my idea for a new post! LOL). I always thought he lost because he made a weak, extremely weird album. Most people were checking for him after the LL battle, but after he talked about masons and aliens, people were like “WTF????”