The Bay Area radio program The Wake Up Show on KMEL, hosted by Sway and Tech, held hip-hop court when they invited Saafir and Casual up to the station to settle their differences in a freestyle, free-for-all battle. Casual, backed by the Hieroglyphics crew, and Saafir, surrounded by his posse the Hobo Junction, agreed to participate in the event that originally began in a local Bay Area nightclub earlier that month. Riddled with numerous personal attacks, and at times becoming so intense that some participants had to be restrained from fighting, the heated battle kept listeners glued to their radios for nearly an hour. After all was said and done, listeners who called in appeared to be divided down the middle as to who the winner was, but all agreed that the lyrical artillery was potent on both sides. - The Source, 1995. Casual recently uploaded a short film detailing the battle in its proper context, and offering interviews with those involved. The Battle of the Bay took place in mid-November, 1994. but with no clear winner announced, you'll have to decide for yourself! There are some highlights from the battle included in the article above + full lyrics on Genius. Props to Shomari Smith for producing this short film. Who do you got? Check it out below...
You can also listen to the full audio via RandomRapRadio below...