The last episode left us with Heize about to face Yubin in the solo battle. First up is Yubin, who says she hates going first. She was first for the cypher battle and was shaking because she was so nervous. Yubin starts off strong and then suddenly messes up her lyrics…

 

She continues but when she finishes she’s almost out of breath.

Heize raps next and I thought she did well (she was in the news recently after it was revealed she’s been dating rapper Crucial Star for a while).

The producers deliberate. SanE liked Heize’s lyrics and Jessi said she didn’t think Yubin was that great in the first place although she fit Verbal Jint’s track better.

Heize is declared the winner for the 2nd track. Yubin is really upset following her performance. We see footage of her rehearsal for the cypher battle and she was really pleased with herself. What happened Yubin??

The next day all 11 rappers are back and San E introduces the new producers. Then San-E makes a startling announcement:

This will be the first permanent elimination mission. San E says that not only will someone leave, two rappers will be leaving the show.
A 1v1 battle will be the first part of the mission. Live online voting will decide the winner. KittyB shares that she thinks popularity will be a factor.

Hyorin denies that her fandom is that big but Yubin admits she has an advantage which means she must work even harder.

The girls’ names are picked one by one and they get to choose their opponent. Hyorin is first and chooses Kasper (a bit surprising). AshB is next and selects…

Gilme knows Ash-B thinks she’s an easy target because she forgot her lyrics in the last battle. KittyB picks Heize, wanting to prove herself.
Trudy’s name is pulled next. SanE asks if the person she wants to challenge is still available and Trudy says she’s standing behind her. We of course revisit the Sua/Trudy drama and we’re baited to believe Sua will be chosen by Trudy (I think Sua thought she would be too).

When asked why she chose Soo Min, Trudy says something to the effect of “I’ve ran hard til now” and “I wanted to rest a little”. RUDE.  Her cockiness knows no limit. This leaves Yubin, Yezi and Sua in a group of 3.
We see the girls practicing for several days and then the day of the 1v1 battle arrives.

Gilme is so confident! Maybe she took those vitamins. I’m excited to see her take Ash-B out. Zico and Mad Clown are guests. Zico is asked who he is looking forward to:

 

No one is surprised. She “left a very great impression” he says…Try not to be such a basic b***h Zico…

Hyorin vs Kasper is the first battle. Up til now we haven’t seen what Hyorin is capable of but Kasper seemed surprised when Hyorin was practicing.

Mad Clown thought Kasper’s rap was “very tight” but she seemed nervous and could have done more. Zico thinks Hyorin did well and said her lyrics had depth.

The live online votes reveal Hyorin has won by 360 votes. AshB and Gilme are next.

YES GILME. Let her know.
The lyrics Gilme has prepared seem to channel a lot of anger. She is determined to show her talent properly this time.
I was not impressed with AshB and Zico thinks her performance was too exaggerated and he couldn’t hear her lyrics well.
Gilme played no games with this mission. She brought it. From the other contestants’ reactions alone it seems Gilme has this in the bag. But what did the audience at home think?
Gilme wins by a difference of 776 votes! KittyB vs Heize is next. KittyB is still salty about getting second place for the 2nd track mission. Heize got really excited about the hook during practice but she hadn’t finished her own lyrics.
I liked Heize’s hook but KittyB thinks this is risky as Heize has still not finished preparing her own lyrics.

The battle goes well for Heize but KittyB has a hard time.

Looks like maybe KittyB should have worried about herself.

Mad Clown doesn’t think KittyB’s lyrical mistake was a big deal, complementing her performance.

Zico thought Heize stood out and sounded unique. San-E complements Heize on her hook and Zico said KittyB had a lot of potential but was nervous in the beginning. This may be the closest battle so far.

In the end, it is revealed that Kitty B has won by 215 votes. Heize is shocked and KittyB is beaming.

Trudy and Soomin are next but we see that during practice they can’t seem to agree on anything. Soomin is fed up with Trudy’s cockiness (she ain’t the only one), warning her to watch herself.

Trudy insults Soo Min, saying she sounds like a mosquito. Soo Min says at least she doesn’t sound like somebody else (oooooh, got her).

You go girl. I like Soo Min’s attitude. They end up rapping to the ‘Born Hater’ beat. KittyB and Yubin are hoping Soo Min does well.

When the battle is over, Mad Clown thinks Trudy has won easily and Heize agrees, saying she’s just so good.
Zico makes an excellent point. He’s not denying Trudy’s talent but because she reminds them of Yoonmirae it leaves something to be desired.

Trudy gets over 1500 points and at this point, Soomin can only hope to get close but I wanted at least that much for her.
Trudy wins by 396 votes. Not a bad gap at all for Soomin.

The group of three is next. Sua predicts Yubin 1st, herself 2nd and Yezi 3rd. We see that while deciding what beat to use, Yezi shot down all of Sua’s ideas and only consulted Yubin.
During the battle I was actually impressed with Yezi and Yubin KILLED the game.
Sua is up next and does well but Zico says she seemed to work a LOT off of her youthful energy (and then calls her cute…get out Zico)

It is revealed that someone has gotten a total of 2,149 votes, the highest number of votes this round. It’s Yubin of course.
But who’s in second place?? I actually didn’t know who it would be, it really depends on who’s style you liked more. The gap is 585 points which is wider than I expected but Sua is the victor.

Popularity could have indeed been at work. After the 1v1 battles there are 5 rappers in danger of being eliminated, but lo and behold, there is another loophole.

Two rappers will be saved by the producers. Zico chooses Kasper because he says he wants to see her again.
Who’s the last rapper to be saved? Heize is rescued from being eliminated next.

Now it’s time for the solo battles to begin – Yezi vs Soomin vs AshB. I’m not sure if we will just hear the raps they’ve already prepared or if they’ll be free-styling.
AshB is first…I just can’t take her seriously…her rap had no clear message and overall was just really weak.
Ahn Soo Min is next…

I thought Soo Min’s performance was really strong, I’m mad there was no producer feedback. Yezi shocked everyone a bit with her ‘Crazy Dog’ lyrics. She held nothing back. Even Trudy, of all people, said she might be threatened facing Yezi in a battle.

So who is going home?

AshB is the first to be eliminated, leaving Ahn Soo Min and Yezi.

San-E begins to announce the second person to leave..
…and it’s Ahn Soomin. Everyone seems sad to see her go…well, everyone but Trudy. Mad Clown and Zico praise Yezi once again, and San-E said her rap was the “most fabulous” one he’s seen on the show so far.
After the elimination round is over, the girls are enjoying a meal together when someone enters all of a sudden…

Yet another twist. Check back here soon for a recap of Episode 4.