Two weeks into VIBE Presents The Best Rapper Ever, and the competition is starting to heat up. Based on your votes, the original field of 128 rappers from all eras, dead or alive, has been narrowed down to a slim 32, and one of the biggest names in the game is lucky to be left standing, while two others are now set to go head-to-head.
In an unexpectedly close match-up pitting No. 2 seeded Lil Wayne against No. 15 seeded Fabolous in the bottom half of Bracket II, the self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive Since the Best Rapper Retired” narrowly squeaked by F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S by just two percentage points, taking 51 percent of all the votes cast at VIBE.com to Fab’s 49 percent. The win by Wayne sets up a Round 3 face off with the legendary Rev Run, who easily pushed past Posdnuos of De La Soul with 84 percent of the vote (to Pos’ 16 percent). By Monday of next week, we’ll know if Fab just has a lot of fans out there on the Internets, or if the Lil Wayne backlash is truly in full swing.
Speaking of potential signs of backlash, in what amounts to a minor upset, DMX, Bracket I’s No. 10 seed, took out the No. 7 seeded 50 Cent with 52 percent of the vote to Curly’s 48 percent. Clearly the Dog’s still got bite. As does Mase (although bite may not be the phrase for the retired rapper cum pastor), who pulled off Round Two’s biggest upset by defeating the legendary Grandmaster Melle Mel with 57 percent of the vote, despite being Bracket I’s No. 12 seed (Mel entered the tournament as a No. 5 seed). The victory makes Mase the lowest seeded rapper to advance to Round Three.
Elsewhere, in Round Two, the No. 1 seeds in all four brackets continued to cruise with Eminem, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., and Rakim all easily advancing (once again, Rakim faced the biggest challenge—his 71 percent of the vote over No. 17 seeded Mos Def was the lowest clocked of any of the No. 1 seeds). The other No. 2 seeds—Jay-Z, Ice Cube, and LL Cool J—all also marched on and with much more breathing room than Lil Wayne. Lauryn Hill remained the last woman standing after Snoop Dogg and Biggie Smalls both mopped the floor with their female competitors (Snoop beat Missy Elliott with 92 percent of the vote while Big took down former protégé Lil’ Kim with 96 percent of votes cast). Lauryn beat Treach 70 percent to 30 percent and moves on to face off against Scarface, who eliminated Xzibit 68 percent to Mr. X-to-tha-Z’s 32 percent.
Other matchups we have our eye on in Round Three include Big Daddy Kane vs. Mase, Snoop vs. Too $hort, and DMX vs. LL Cool J, all in Bracket I, Kool G Rap vs. KRS-One in Bracket II, Nas vs. Q-Tip and T.I. vs Ice Cube in Bracket III, and Ghostface Killah vs Slick Rick in Bracket IV.
But the most interesting face off going into the third week of voting comes at the bottom of Bracket IV, where Jay-Z is now set to take on Kanye West in a No. 2 vs. No. 7 match-up that should rock the Net. Get it: “Roc the ’Net?” Voting on Round Three is open now and runs until midnight next Sunday, June 7, 2009. Vote early and often to make sure your favorite rapper makes the sweet sixteen and be sure to check back daily for more news on VIBE Presents The Best Rapper Ever!
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