On Friday, Saint Andrews Hall in Detroit played host to the Detroit Red Bull EmSee battles. The night was hosted by legendary southern rapper Bun B of the seminal hip-hop group UGK, and included performances from all the judges between rounds that included Trick Trick, Royce Da 5’9″, and Denaun Porter. Last year’s EmSee nationals winner, Detroit’s own Fowl, was brought on stage during Denaun Porter’s performance along with one of Porter’s signees, Marvwon.

The eight emcees that competed had a heavy task of sight and memory that included freestyling using a selected group of words and images that each rapper had to commit to mind right there on the spot for the first two rounds. While a few of the emcees were quite entertaining, Hostyle looked to be the battle’s frontrunner after the first round, and won by an unanimous decision by the panel of judges in the final around against Cash Eatin’.

While most battles tend to get quite cutthroat, the EmSee battles showed a side of creativity from the emcees involved. While it’s always a job to punk out your opponent and knock them down a few pegs, there were definite signs of respect from everyone and an all around good time.

“They can not be afraid to lose, but they can not be afraid to win,” says Emsee host Bun B in an interview beforehand. “Confidence is key. They definitely going to need some character. Just be honest. Just be real with people. You don’t go up there and tell them what you going to do to somebody because you are not going to fool anybody.”

The EmSee battles will wind up their tour on November 16th in Miami before the national finals in Atlanta later this year. For more information, keep an eye on the Red Bull EmSee 2011 web site.