Red Bull Music Academy has been in full effect in New York City for a few weeks, supplying the town with a pretty incredible series of lectures, a free newspaper, and bonkers live music events (as well as free studio time and access to a grip of equipment to a legion of international artists). Last night, Manhattan’s Roseland Ballroom played host to RBMA’s Culture Clash, a sound clash event featuring three DJ crews (dancehall massives Federation Sound, dance music smorgasbord-ers Trouble & Bass, and tropical bass trailblazers Que Bajo?!) and two of the city’s most famed hip-hop producers Just Blaze and Young Guru, battling each other to see who is best at starting a party.

For the uninitiated, a sound clash is, essentially, a DJ battle with origins in Jamaica, where different crews try to “kill” the others by out-spinning them. Last night’s event was broken up into four rounds — a friendly first, a follow-up, a Sleeping With The Enemy round where another crew’s genre had to be spun, and a final, balls-to-the-wall special guest/live performance ending. But with the notion of murder in the objective of the evening, each contestant was quick to drop tracks with R.I.P. themes from the get-go — Federation Sound had original tracks dissing the other DJs and Young Guru began his set announcing to the crowd, “everyone bow their heads and be silent because murder is not fun” right before Just took the stage in a pastor robe to conduct a funeral. But Trouble & Bass showed their teeth early, portending their ultimate victory. One of the crucial elements of the night was that once a song was played, it could not be spun again (original remixes and or a live performance component are allowed, however) lest the crew be disqualified for the round. During their first set, T&B played about two seconds of Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” taking the track off the table for the rest of the night, but playing such a small amount to compromise their deep cut integrity. The crowd didn’t know it, but their fate was sealed.

It seemed, from round one, that Just and Guru had it in the pocket. They brought out Roc-a-Fella vets Freeway and Memphis Bleek (spoiler: the Roc was never fully reunited, as they never brought out Jay-Z or Cam’ron) and it seemed like no other guests for the night could top it. Federation Sound brought out Brooklyn’s Ricky Blaze and Jamaica’s Tifa, and Spragga Benz, a real crowning moment for reggae fans, while Que Bajo?! had UK rap star Lady Leshurr make her stateside debut (an unfortunate moment of the evening was when the otherwise-excellent host, Hot 97’s Miss Info thought she was Azealia Banks). As awe-inspiring as these guests were, one could only surmise that Just and Guru were really going to take it over the edge. If you go to rap shows in NYC frequently, there is a cast of MCs that so frequently make cameos their presences loses its panache. Some of those guys are the LOX, Raekwon, and Bun B. When you have a deep catalogue of Jay and Dipset hits on your résumé, that’s who you should aim to have represent for you. Sadly for Just and Guru, they had the Always At The Party set, as well as a brief appearance from 2 Chainz (who is insanely tall), and couldn’t bring it over the edge. Trouble & Bass had already won every round, so their 1-2 punch to victory was almost unnecessary, but when ’90s house diva Robin S. took the stage to perform her enormous club hit “Show Me Love,” the crowd ignited in a way unseen for the entire evening. And they dug the knife in deeper by bringing out Diplomat Jim Jones to close out their set.

Even though the night was Dance Party Hunger Games, the bottom line was really about curating one of the best DJ nights in the city — and it worked. Each set of DJs are renowned for their own niche parties, but the union of so many sounds never got muddy. Even the Sleeping With The Enemy round was effective, specifically Que Bajo?! taking on hip-hop. Instead of going full-force on switching their mission, they reinterpreted rap hits through a diaspora lens. For this, they should have won the round and it’s unfortunate that T&B’s stronghold on having the best personalities in the building — they came equipped with different crowd-prompting signs and, at one point, held up one that read Farteration Sound — stole the victory.

RBMA continues through the rest of the month, including the US premiere of Pantha Du Prince & the Bell Laboratory’s Elements Of Light.