The KOTD Title & Judged Battles

In light of the recent title match, I'd like to pose a question to battle rap fans and specifically King Of The Dot fans, Is there a viable contender for the KOTD Title? That's not a snide question and that's not a question to be taken lightly. I'm asking this because for the many battlers that KOTD has, not many of them are interested in or strong enough to garner attention for the chain should they be a considered. But those are just the broad strokes, let me go in depth after the break.

So Pat Stay defeated Charron, for better or worse, Charron was the best contender for the chain. I'm not saying that because of Charron Win/Loss record, after all with KOTD and just about every other battle league doing away with judged battles, wins and losses are pretty much left in the air. Charron was the best contender for his efforts outside of battle rap, getting on BET, dropping 2 albums, freestyling the weather on the news and basically building up a reputation. Charron has successfully marketed his own brand and earned himself a title shot, whether you like him or not you can't deny all the effort he's put in to get that title shot.

But now we're at a very strange place with the KOTD title, because now that judged battles are done away with, who in KOTD has the same kind of veracity to become #1 contender? There are a few names that have been tossed about here and there and I'll explain why none of them are exactly deserving of the title. However, before I get into that I'd like to discuss the "title match" with Daylyt, as it will help me illustrate my point later. Daylyt for all intents and purposes is a character, he's not a battle rapper, he's a character. Daylyt has gone on record as saying he wants to be talked about, he wants to be the focus of attention, and "losing is the new winning.". This is a person who stripped down to a loin cloth, who pulled his pants down and attempted to defecate on stage,

Regardless of what you think about Daylyt, the only reason Daylyt found himself on stage in what I can only call a mock title match against Pat Stay was because of views. People only watch Daylyt battles to see what Daylyt is going to do, that's it. Everyone going into that "title match" knew Daylyt wasn't going to win, the goal never was to win but to once again be the center of attention and in that he succeeded. This is part in parcel with what's wrong with Battle Rap and Battle Rap Titles as it stands now, no one cares about winning because there is no winning. Sure, you can win a battle in your own mind, sure you can win a battle if your opponent chokes big time or spits a bunch of horrible bars and sure you can win a battle in the form of public opinion, but to actually win a battle...that's a dead concept.

Which brings me to KOTD! Is there a viable contender for The KOTD Title? My answer is no. Now there are some names that have been tossed around for the next title match and I'm going to explain why none of them work.

Charlie Clips, for starters, Charlie Clips has never had an interest in the KOTD Title, and if he does he's never expressed it. Secondly, Clips only has 3 battles on KOTD, and while those battles were good, 3 battles hardly qualifies you for being a KOTD Title Contender. Don't get me wrong, Clips is a very high profile battler and has done many battles and almost always turns in an excellent performance, but the KOTD Title is a King Of The Dot Title, not a Battle Rap, and to earn a King Of The Dot Title you have to do for King Of The Dot and 3 battles ain't enough.

DNA's name has been tossed around a lot as well and while DNA has vocally expressed interest in the chain, DNA has the same problem Charlie Clips has. Also DNA arrived in the era of Promo Battles and therefore doesn't have a solid win/loss record to support his case. Despite having his best battles on KOTD, DNA hasn't been a KOTD staple like previous champions have been. DNA has done excellent work for battle rap but he's only had a handful of battles on KOTD that most would call debatable.

Rone's name has been thrown around a lot and while Rone is an excellent battler, his last few battles haven't been 100%. His battle with Real Deal was very debatable and while I haven't seen his battle with Big T (I'm sure it's a classic) Rone still hasn't been a KOTD main stay. Also, Rone already had a compliment battle against Pat Stay and I doubt Pat Stay would be willing to battle Rone again so soon. Also Rone hasn't done enough to earn him a title shot. I'm sorry, I love Rone but he hasn't been putting in the work to climb the ladder to get the chain.

But the problem is THERE IS NO LADDER! Consider this, immediately after Dizaster lost the chain to Arcane and Arcane lost the chain to Pat Stay, who was the next contender? DIZASTER! Yet again?! Did he invoke some WWE style rematch clause we're unaware of? And I know Pat Stay wanted to battle Dizaster and Dizaster didn't wanna battle Pat unless it was for the chain, but again, Dizaster already lost!? Pat Stay could've waited to battle Dizaster AFTER he went through the Grand Prix and EARNED his spot (like everyone else did). But no, immediately after losing the chain, Dizaster once again finds himself next in line.

Back when KOTD was first starting out, we could see who was gonna be next in line in the Grand Prix, which were judged. We could see up and coming battlers rise to fame after Winning and Losing and duking it out against some of the best and worst. We could see the judges nod in agreement when a certain battler goes home with the W and everyone agrees that this guy is the next contender. These days, not so much. These days every victory that agrees with the public is a win and every loss that disagrees with the public is a robbery, videos get flagged, voted down, rage in the comment sections, etc. etc. and for what? Because some battlers don't want legitimate loses on their records? It's not like they're being paid less for losing and if they are well then that sucks. And while it sucks that some AR's won't sign certain battle rappers if they lose battles, you honestly can't account for someone's opinion.

So what do we do about the judging situation as that has the most to do with the current battle scene at large. All battle league should do the following:
#1: Have a total of 5 judges who judge the event at the venue on the spot.
#2: Set up an online poll for the battle on the official website and have it established for a week during the battle's release.
#3: Each Judge counts for 20% of the fans therefore collectively the judges equal 100%. Therefore, if 20% of the fans vote for Battler #1, they equal 1 judge.
With this simple system you can have a collective agreement on the outcome of the battles and who won, as you'd have judges and fans deciding on the victor. Now there's an obvious flaw with this system (spammers) and at the end of the day judging battles is still subjective but this is the most comprehensive way to judge a battle.

If we bring back judged battles we can bring back some legitimacy to the KOTD Title and what it means to go for the chain. You can also keep every battle promo but create a separate class for Title Contenders, therefore battlers who aren't ready can hone their skills in promo battles until they're ready to go for the title and have judged battles. Let me know what you think and I'll see you guys later!