The Team: The Horsemen and Co.

"Your bootleg was prosthetic, doctored by studio medics/
Zipped up in plastic bags and marketed as anasthetics/"

In 2001, I could rhyme... I could rhyme very nicely actually. But to write lines like the ones above... That took a lot of time, teaching, and training. I couldn't do it by myself.

But thru Stankonia, I've met cats who are elite amongst MCs; after seeing their verses, the common radio MCs don't thrill me anymore. I'd like to introduce you to the Horsemen.

The Horsemen are a band of deadly lyricists, originating in StankTown and now residing on www.Rapn4fx.com. Some of these guys I've known since the beginning of my weblife; some I haven't known so long, but they've impressed me nonetheless. They transformed me from unfocused sleeping potential into a true lyrical warrior with a conscious mastery words.

Now, don't get me wrong, battling never sat well with me, as I don't believe in insulting people and I don't think God wants us to do it. I spent my whole battle career rhyming without cursing against some of the best MCs you could imagine, and the handicap became a strengthening element that made me progress extremely quickly. But I never liked battle rapping, and I finally left it for good recently. The real reason I battled at first was to gain lyrical prowess (thought I had a couple of angry skirmishes too), and these cats helped me to find what I was looking for. From my first real battle with Cause of DEF, to my final battle against Battle Rhyming itself, side-by-side with Air Punisher, it's been quite a ride, and I have mad respect for these cats. And it's good to know that they respect me too. How do I know they respected me? Because I had the honor of being a Horseman; it really meant a lot to me to be counted with them. And it was hard for me to leave it, but when it's time, it's time, right? lol I'll find another place someday.

I called this post Horsemen and Co. because there have been a few others besides the Horsemen who have influenced my rhyming.

The Horsemen and Co.

Defcon_5 - lol... I don't really know much about this cat. Except that he's like the DEFCON_5 of the Horsemen! I've seen his name for years, but he was gone for a looooong time. He finally came back, and COD grabbed him right up... and after seeing a few of his verses I understand why, lol.

Billy Gunz/William Pistols - This cat is Legendary. Legend has it he taught COD. They call him the Drunken Master, because it's nothing for him to write a career-ending rhyme in just a few minutes, even when he's drunk, lol. Well... except for that one time I battled him... by the skin of my teethB-P Furthermore, on the audio side, Gunz has the most professional delivery I've seen from a netcee yet. He may be on the soundtrack to a game soon, so hopefully you'll get to hear him too.

Cause of DEF - The Cause. This cat is like my sensai. He handed me my first defeat, but he saw potential in me in one line: "I'ma hit you so hard that the seismograph gon' match the latest AOL." That one line set me on a course for rhyming enlightenment. And years later, while I was on a winning streak, I thought I'd test my skills against the sensai again. I came to discover that, as great as this cat had been wiping the floor with his opponents, he was holding back the whole time! So yeah, I got mopped again... But as I wiped the blood from my mouth, he commended me on forcing him to pull out the stops. Knowing that he actually put forth an effort to beat was good enough for me to accept defeat from him, lol. Peep his blogsite, www.curtissdrive.blogspot.com.

G-Shock - Aw man. I had the greatest battle of my career against this cat. It was my first victory against a vet. It was soooooo close, and it forced me to use everything I had in my arsenal at the time. I'm thankful because that was the battle that set the standard for me; I knew that I'd have to write lines like those consistently in order to earn my stripes. The opening lines of this article came from that great match. And I still see this cat as my equal, if not my better.

G-Rex - The wise one. A aspiring priest with a way with words. G-Rex is so knowledgeable about things and holds on to so many facts. Which is why you never wanna battle him in a topical battle. But I did... three times, lol. And I lost... three times. But he used my tenacity to teach me some things along the way. Now I'm known for topicals too, lol.

High Kill - This is one of the cats that kept me hungry to improve. I remember one time, because I fully got on the battle scene, I noticed his classic avatar. It's a scene from a Bruce Lee movie, Enter the Dragon I think. In the scene, Bruce Lee is arm-to-arm with a challenger, then he strikes the cat in the face so quick you barely see it. Well, I noticed the avatar, and I wrote a whole verse around it. High Kill noticed it and complimented me, saying with a little more work I could really be something. From there, events transpired that led me to become that something.

Kross Ova - Another mystery cat, lol. I never talked much to him, but I've seen his name around for ages. One day Cause just hit us with the announcement, "Kross is one of us". I trust Cause's judgment, so I watched Kross in action. Pretty soon it was obvious that Cause had made the right decision.

Complexity - The "woman's touch" of the crew. Not from Stankonia.com, but a deadly MC nonetheless. I bug her every now and again... Okay I can't lie. I'm doing it cuz Cause told me she's a dime and I wanna see for myself, lol. But nah, she really is a deadly lyricist with a unique style. And in battles, she definitely reps.

Steven Kang - lol... I think this is the "hot-head" of the crew. He's bold and very (maybe too much) confident. But because of that, when we competed with crews, he was always on the frontline. I remember one time he told us to just let him take on everybody in the opposing crew, lol. Of course we didn't do that, but it's inspirational when somebody has that much gump.

Ikso - When I left the Horsemen, I wanted somebody to fill in the gap; even tho I'm not a battle MC anymore, I didn't wanna see my old crew have a weak spot. I ran into Ikso thru one of my "students" from outside of Stankonia. It took a long time to prove it to the rest... but Ikso... Ikso might be the greatest MC ever on the Net. At 14, his mind is... I can't even explain it. He comes to me for advice, but what he shows me is superior to what it would take me a week to compose. And he does it in seconds. All I can do is ask him what he's going to do once he wins the match. And he doesn't even want to pursue writing! He wants to be an engineer!!! lol

Air Punisher - Ahh, the great Pun. He's not a Horseman; he's the leader of another crew, the A-Team. The most "gangsta" MC I've come across, lol. Most of the beefs that have occurred within the battle arena have involved Pun. The greatest beef was between him and Billy Gunz. I have no idea how it got started, but it lasted for years I think, lol. I don't think it was really anger-motivated though. Pun is a hungry MC who always pursues the throne, and Gunz just happened to be sitting on it. In their last battle, Pun launched a 10:00 minute series of battle songs called the Epic. That's dedication, lol. Outside of battling, Pun and I have talked on several occasions. And I've found that of all the MCs I know, he is the most warriorlike, which I identify with myself. So when it was time for me to retire, it was Pun who went to the last round-up with me, and we dropped "The Mission and the Journey".

Tiga - I called her LJ in an earlier "The Team" post. She's not a Horseman either. She doesn't consider herself a battle rapper, but she's respected by every battler that knows her, lol. Again, I credit her for just introducing me to Stankonia in the first place. I guess she set it all in motion in retrospect.


So now... I am a true MC, fully capable of writing the lines to achieve whatever I set out to achieve. And when I get to where I aspire to be, I'd like to meet all these cats face to face. Cause told me about a dream he had one time of all of us being on the same stage together, embarrassing all these garbage MCs u hear on the radio. The more I thnk about it, the more it seems like a very pleasant dreams. And pleasant dreams belong in reality.

Speaking of pleasant dreams, I wanna see all ya'll cats in Heaven too, so if you haven't already, get a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It won't be the same up there without cha...

Now get up on this ginger beer and toast wit me. All Love to the Horsemen and Co.B-)