10 years ago I created this event to bridge the hyper-segregated Milwaukee music community. With the current landscape we find ourselves in Milwaukee, I feel the mission has been accomplished. Granted we have a long way to go, but artist like Mike Regal, Klassik, and Webster X ( to name only a few of the many great acts in our city ) are releasing music in a collaborative and encouraging environment. The concepts of east-side or north-side Hip Hop are, in essence, gone. The line between electronic and rap music have blurred so much, no one even care how you label a “genre” of music in this day and age.
So with that, I am announcing the END of the MILTOWN BEAT DOWN.
To celebrate the amazing artists who have participated in this event, we are hosting a final Battle Royale, featuring all past champions of the event. We’ve lined up Mike Regal, Reason, Bubba, CameOne, Da Ricanstrukta, Jihad Baracus, J Todd, Lex Luther, Magic Fingaz, Major On Da Beatz Ad Lib, and the people’s champion 40 Mil.
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In our last night of the 2014 Miltown Beat Down Preliminary Rounds, we reached our closest score of the entire competition.
Here’s how the points added up…
Battle One : Sumthin Gunny [326] VS Lex Luther [383]
New comer Sumthin Gunny stepped to the stage with some freshman jitters, but still wowed the judges with his slumpy and gritty sounds. Former MTBD champions and seasoned battle veteran Lex Luther was ready to show the audience some his his new styles. With a close battle of 326 to 383, Lex Luther won the first round.
Battle Two : Fooki [401] VS Martie McFly [299]
Rookies Fooki and Martie McFly each took a very different approach to the battle format. Martie was confident and braggadocious, while Fooki was clam, cool and collected. These two had very differnt styles, which made for a very fun battle. While Martie brought a lot of energy and huge sounds, Fooki’s “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Beat” mentality won over the crowd and the judges in this round.
Battle Three: Sumthin Gunny [404] VS Fooki [398]
After a few trip ups in his first round, Sumthin Gunny came back to the stage with guns blazing. His #bizzonface inducing, stanky funk was tough even for Fooki. This battle was like Jupiter vs. Mars. While Fooki’s spcey trap-inspired sounds were out there, Gunny was light years away with his future funk. Gunny won this battle with a score of 404, while using his SP404. HA!
Battle Four: Lex Luther [412] VS Martie McFly [390]
Battle vet Lex, wasn’t afraid to try some new approaches to his battle technique in this round. Martie was on point with great samples, and HUGE drums. Lex decided to flip his usual boom-bap style, and surprised everyone with some slow tempo bangers. A close battle but Lex pulled out another win with a score of 412.
Battle Five: Sumthin Gunny [416] VS Martie McFly [426]
Martie McFly stepped it up in his last round on stage, and racked the highest single round score of the night in this battle. Gunny seemed a little out if it in his last appearance of the night, and his space daze worked against him. Martie however was floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. With only a ten point differential, Martie McFly won with a high score of 426!
Battle Six: Lex Luther [425] VS Fooki [417]
In the last battle of the 2014 prelims, front runners Fooki and Lex Luther brought the heat! Lex proved his mastery of the MPC, and knocked the speakers to the max, while Fooki surprised the crowd with big electronic sounds from the future. This battle was WAY to close to call, and we went to a tie breaker #beatoff. After 8 beats, Lex only won this battle by 8 points!
Lex Luther gets another shot at the crown, but only by a margin of 4 points. Honorable mention goes to Fooki, who would’ve won the whole thing if he’s scored a mere 1.5 more points per round. That’s a close one y’all. Lex Luther tries to win another Miltown Beat Down championship on November 8th at the Miramar Theater.
Our 6th evening of battle in the 2014 competition saw a few (almost perfect scores) from young sensation Auggie and the talented rookie Strehlow. With exciting new sounds from rookie KT KILLIN EM and dynamic performances from Elete Trax; this was our favorite night of battle so far!
Round1: Auggie [368] vs Elete Trax [385]
Battle vets Elete Trax and Auggie know how to win at the Miltown Beat Down. Both have found themselves in the finals in year’s past, so we knew the night would start off with some bangers. Elete brought his sample savvy funk, while Auggie hit us with some tempos and sounds we’ve never heard before. After 6 beats, Elete Trax came out ahead in the first battle.
Round 2: Strehlow [448] vs KT Killin Em [383]
Miltown Beat Down rookies Strehlow and KT we ready to show the crowd what they were packing in round 2. KT hit us up with some dark and bass heavy beats that explained exactly why he goes under the moniker KT Killin Em. Then Strehlow showed how he lives up the MTBD motto, “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Beat.” He brought a big beat, then another and another. He kept that stride though out the battle, and won his first battle by a large lead.
Round 3: Auggie [446] vs KT Killin Em [370]
Auggie had some ground to make up in the second battle. While KT kept coming at Auggie with dark trap tempo beats, Auggie’s unique sounds and samples impressed the judges and the crowd. He seemed to draw from a style of electronic music we were not ready for, and when we got the groove, it captivated everyone. Auggie racked up an impressive 446 points, and won that round.
Round 4: Strehlow [465] vs Elete Trax [425]
Elete Trax knew he had his work cut out for him in round four, but little did we know he had a few tricks up his sleeve. ( or rather in his pocket ). Strehlow again raised the bar on sound, creativity and crowd participation, getting pretty much everyone in the room to OOH and AHH at every beat he played. By the time we reached the end of the battle, Elete said, “Fuck It’ and pulled out his phone. Now this would usually be a cheesy and poor decision to make, but Elete Trax wowed everyone in the room, when he perfectly executed a live beat from 16 pads on his Samsung! With both producers scoring over 400 points in this round, Strehlow won with a total of 465.
ROund 5: Elete Trax [394] vs KT Killin Em [372]
Riding high from the reception he received in the last round of battle, Elete Trax brought some very creative beats in his battle against KT. Their styles were very different, and each brought his A game for this last appearance on stage. Without a doubt, the reason Elete Trax won this battle, was his live manipulation of his beats. He beat KT with a score of 394.
Round 6: Strehlow [479] vs Auggie [451]
Strehlow and Auggie were without a doubt the most sonically dynamic producers on the stage in night six. Each of them saved their best for last, and brought the energy level up to 11 in this last bout. Auggie’s playlist was loaded with huge synths and more high energy electronic vibes. But Strehlow was not bowing down. He proved that he deserved this win, and expertly orchestrated a completely original style of chill tempo high energy beats. The crowd had a really difficult time picking a winner for this battle, and we went into a MTBD#beatoff. With a total of 8 beats in this bout, Strehlow came out on top.
In his final appearance of the night, Strehlow got a damn near perfect score, 479 out of 495. With a grand total of 1,392, our winner for round six is Strehlow. He will compete with the top 8 producers in the 2014 Finals, on November 8th at the Miramar Theater.
The fourth evening of battles in the 2014 Miltown Beat Down featured DJ/Producer Moses, MTBD veteran Soul Trak and was dominated by two dynamic producers; Bennie D and *hitmayng. Live scratching, creative synthesizer performance and technical difficulties were some of the highlights of the night.
Here is how it went down..
Round 1: *hitmayng [450] VS Bennie D [444]
If there was ever a battle that was too close to call, it was our first round. New comer Bennie D brought a high impact and high energy style that was tough for the seasoned MTBD vet *hitmayng. Now Bennie is no battle rookie, but the crowd didn’t know what to expect from the new producer. He caught everyone’s attention right away. Riddled with technical difficulty, *hitmayng simply closed his laptop and freaked some beats on his SP-404. In the history of this event, producers with this much technical woes have bowed out, or just lost. But *hitmayng fought through it, and WON his first round of battle.
Round 2: Soul Trak [416] VS Moses [435]
Armed to the teeth, with turntables, scratch records and fresh beats, rookie Moses made quite the impression on the crowd in his first Miltown Beat Down appearance. Soul Trak and Moses had almost opposite styles. While Moses focused on funky samples and big bass, Soul Track showed us he was a synth guru. The crowd seemed with Moses from the jump, while the judges seemed to be impressed with Soul Trak’s unique style. A close one, but Moses came out on top.
Round 3: *hitmayng [410] VS Soul Trak [332]
After some computer TLC, *hitmayng returned ready to win in his second appearance. Soul Trak brought a variety of new sounds we’d not heard on the MTBD stage this year. While he won over many of the judges, Soul Trak was no match for *hitmayng’s slumpy and fat sound.
Round 4: Bennie D [442] VS Moses [371]
Rookies Bennie D and Moses faced off in the fourth round of battle with a completely different approach. Mosese was trying to get the audience hype to his energetic style and dynamic scratch techniques. While Bennie D played it cool, and let the beats do all the work for him. Bennie threw out a few flips that won over the judges and the crowd ( that wasn’t yelling for Moses ).
Round 5: Bennie D [465] VS Soul Trak [341]
Bennie D stepped back into the ring to face Soul Trak in their final appearance of the night. Bennie wasn’t just going for the win, he was throwing everything he had at em. While Soul Trak definitely brought some of his best beats in this last round, Bennie D flipped a Daft Punk classic into a hip-hop / house hybrid that took him over the top with the crowd.
Round 6: *hitmayng [462] VS Moses [398]
Off stage, these two are friends and collaborators, but in the ring of battle, there were no holds barred. Moses was ready to out perform *hitmayng, but unfortunately for Moses, *hitmayng’s computer was back up and running. We can only imagine the heat that *hitmayng was planning to bring in the competition, because the three beats he played in this round nearly started a riot! Moses, a true master of ceremonies, got the audience so into what he was doing, that we had to go into a tie breaker #beatoff. After 4 beats, *hitmayng came out on top.
With a total score of 1,322 *hitmayng was runner-up to Bennie D’s impressive final score of 1,351.
Bennie D moves on to the finals at the Miramar Theater on November 8th 2014.
Back for Night 6 of the 2013 Miltown Beat Down, with shortage of amazing beats! The night featured 2010 Miltown Beat Down champion; Lex Luther and MTBD vet Grandmaster O, with rookie McThree and Fillippo Stlyes. The rookies seemed to be the stars of the show in night 6, here is our recap.
McThree [494] vs Filippo Styles [466]
Filippo Styles [381] vs DJ Grandmaster O [363]
Lex Luther [476] vs DJ Grandmaster O [359]
Lex Luther [480] vs Filippo Styles [401]
McThree [437] vs DJ Grandmaster O [411]
Lex Luther [477] vs McThree [489]
McThree moves on to the FINALS at Turner Hall Ballroom May 3rd with Dj Shadow.
Miltown Beat Down Battle 