Red Bull Crowns Beat Champ, Just Blaze/Alchemist Battle
06. Nov, 2009 
5 Comments
On Tuesday (November 3) in Atlanta, Red Bull crowned their 2009 national Big Tune champion after a beat battle featuring 16 talented producers from around the country.
The finalists were last year’s runner-up and 3 year veteran Frank Dukes, and New Orleans’ Hannibal the Beat Animal.
Throughout the night, Hannibal was the crowd favorite courtesy of a Hannibal Lecter inspired mask, and acting out his beats on stage.
For example, when the eccentric beatmaker showcased a Nintendo Punchout sampling track, he ran to stage center and began the Lil Mac jogging routine seen in the 8-Bit classic.
In the end, it was Dukes’ low end bass sound that won out over the theatrics, which entitles the fledgling producer to a collaboration with an A-list emcee of his choice.
Last year’s winner, C-Sick, selected Nas and created the track “Film” which hit the net several months ago.
“It would be really cool to chop it up with guys on that level. In my session, I’ll try to push forward and hopefully it will stand the test of time. That’s my goal,” Dukes explained afterward. “Yeah for awhile it seemed like people was caught up in the theatrics of Hannibal, but I’m happy to have won with my skill and nothing else.”
One of the highlights of the show was the Just Blaze/Alchemist battle, where both producers traded their best released and unreleased beats back and forth with crowd response determining the winner.
Alchemist held his ground and enthralled Tri-State area transplants with hard tracks like “Surgical Gloves,” “Backwards,” and “The Realest.”
However, Just Blaze took the friendly contest with his assortment of orchestral songs that translate well in club atmospheres such as “Breathe,” “U Don’t Know,” “What We Do,” “Hovi Baby,” and “I Really Mean It.”
Afterward, Just stated it was important for established and upcoming producers to put egos aside to inspire and develop ideas amongst each other.
“It’s good for them to be able to pick our brains and it helps us hear new talent and keep us on our toes,” Just Blaze explained.
In addition to the Blaze/Alchemist set, Atlanta fans were treated to an even battle between production duo Tha Bizness and Denaun Porter, along with a 20 minute concert set from Jadakiss.
1. NOE
2. Nipsey Hu$$le
3. Carlito Rossi
4. Torch
5. Eternia
6. Cau2G$
7. Chinx Drugz
8. 810
“In the end, it was Dukes’ low end bass sound that won out over the theatrics…..” WOW!
I was there & Hannibal was killin it thru the whole show! I’ve been seein articles and posts blastin Hannibal based on a biased edited vid that Red Bull posted on YouTube. To all those people (especially the ones who werent there!) I want to comment that the crowd was jus as crazy over Hannibal as Frank Dukes at the end! In fact, Hannibal was the ONLY ONE who got that consistent response from the crowd! They jus went crazy over that last beat u saw in the vid cuz Frank finally hit us wit something hard and finally displayed some swag (versus lookin all timid the rest of the night) by steppin out to the front of the stage! Not to hate on Frank cuz I’m from Detroit too but all his ish sounded the same thru the whole battle! The only beat he came wit that was fiyah was the one at the end! People can criticize Hannibal’s “antics” if they want to but dont hate cuz he is an entertainer as much as he is an incredible producer! There were several points in the battle when the crowds energy was dead and Hannibal’s presence brought it back up every single time he played a new track! He was CONSISTENT and he was versatile and he displayed tru musicianship and is clearly the most creative one of them all! Mask or no mask, he was KILLIN these dudes 4real! People that were there could see that, so pls dont hate based on a clearly over-edited video intended to show that “real hip-hop” aint dead by hyping up a dude jus becuz he continuously reuses the same typical hip-hop loops in all his tracks! Hip-Hop is a multi-faceted movement across the world, so why are u people limiting its scope? Why cant a dude like Hannibal be a great hip-hop producer just because his tracks actually have dynamic multi-layered instruments, build-ups, bridges and break downs? Jus like Hannibal’s fans were accused of favoring him bcuz of his showmanship and not his beats, I contend that those that are accusing him of not having talent are judging him unfairly just because he actually has PERSONALITY (whether u cared for it or not)! You are the ones who have totally disregarded the tru measure of a talented producer (which btw is far more than a just a beat-maker)!
you talk so much shit you must be one hannibals home boys grow who made you the authority on hip hop take your sunglasses off buddy
It was a great nite for all of us that were there! Just blaze & Alchemist ripped it up & Jadakiss was fantastic live (plus the whole thing was free!)
As for this Hannibal thing, Hannibal did kill it all nite. I think you could argue that he DID lose in the end but he was mad entertaining & his beats was killer! Props to the winner and RED Bull for keeping hiphop alive!
I definitely agree that the entire night was great but there’s no way in hell that you can argue that Frank deserved to win that battle! He may have played 3 hot beats all night & Hannibal the beat animal killed it from beginning to end. He had that Coldplay joint, that movie studio intro, the big boi record, that video game joint, & that last joint – Better than Dukes!?! He had a beat that was dissing Frank in the beat! That’s some next level shit rightb there!
Hannibal the beat animal was kinda like the best niga there all night. He played the dopest tracks & he was the most fun to watch on stage. Red Bull fucked up on this one…