As you may have read in this paper two weeks ago, Will Sheridan bleeds blue and white, and he proved it again by co-hosting the freestyle battle sponsored by WXVU and Milkboy Recording Studio. The event took place on April 18 in the Connelly Center Cinema and was sold out.

It was definitely a positive experience and definitely successful because it was another year for hip hop to continue on campus,” Sheridan said. “Hip-hop culture is strong. We charged, made it a good situation overall.”

The performers were chosen by their own expressed interest or through recruitment, and although some did not show, it did not stop the battle. The rules were slightly different this year, allowing one curse word per round; however, more than that and the rapper was disqualified. Each emcee had 30 seconds in the first round, 60 seconds in the second, and the final round was titled, “Spit ’til you quit.”

Up first was Flawless Frank, the returning champion, against J. Costello. After some zingers on each end, J. Costello won with a reference to the Baby Gap. Neil Scott came up next battling Twizz, but it seemed that nicknames don’t make the emcee; lyrics do. Neil won with his line “I rap better than Will plays basketball.” Dalmar Verite won against T-man, and amazingly, after filling in for a performer who did not show up, Sheridan’s co-host Andrew Stadelberger (aka Stats) beat out Just J with his witty rhymes.

J. Costello went head-to-head with Verite in the second round, but he couldn’t quite impress the crowd enough to stay. Scott battled Stats but proved that it’s easy to get tripped up on your words. In the end, it was Verite versus Stats in a round where each emcee could rap until they ran out of air or inspiration. Impressively, Stats liked to make jokes about not only his competitor but also himself, which proved to be a large crowd pleaser. It was his comedic rhymes and laid-back style that won him the crown of ultimate freestyler.

The show ended with Sheridan performing some freestyling of his own, as well as a performance by Doodlebug from the Grammy Award-winning group Digable Planets.