Tag Archives: Arsonal Da Rebel

Arsonal Talks Cassidy, Rappers Who Can’t Battle + More on ‘The Breakfast Club’

January 18, 2020 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Newark battle rap legend and recording artist Arsonal da Rebel took to The Breakfast Club to discuss all things battle rap, beating Cassidy recently in his home town of Philadelphia on SMACK/ URLTV plus a whole lot more with DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee.

“The leagues know they’re gonna bank off of Cassidy ’cause he’s a delusional character that everybody’s like enjoying to watch,” Arsonal said. “They enjoy watching him get beat up like that. ‘Cause before me, he battled my man Goodz and he tore him up. It’s like, they know the fans is gon’ watch it. They gon’ pay for it. They gon’ come to the event. So why not use ’em?”

The world’s highest viewed battle rapper ever and recently crowned battler of the decade, Arsonal has progressively been transitioning also into mainstream recording music while locking down his legacy as one of the most respected and ultimately disrespectful battle rappers to emerge.

His battle rap legacy is impressive, to say the least, having faced off against the likes of Loaded Lux, Charlie Clips, Hitman Holla, Conceited, DNA, Pat Stay, Hollow Da Don, Charron, K-Shine, Dizaster across all big leagues worldwide including URLTV, KOTD, RBE, Don’t Flop (UK), Fight Klub, Grind Time Now, Bullpen, Black Ice Cartel, Lionz Den, Rap Grid as well as being handpicked for Snoop Dogg’s Gladiator School and both Eminem’s Total Slaughter and Bodied movie.

Intent on breaking down the unwarranted stereotype that battle rappers can’t make music, Arsonal has recently made music with Scarface, Chris Brown, Wyclef Jean, Snoop Dogg, Fetty Wap and Tay Roc proving like Tsu Surf, Goodz and Loaded Lux that the two can successfully coexist.

He also has one of the highest viewed individual battles against Manchester Sony Recording Artist and UK battle rap legend Shotty Horroh as 12.6 million views from late 2012, only recently eclipsed by the unique Dizaster vs. Oxxxymiron (Russia) battle on KOTD currently sitting at 13.5 million views from late 2017. Beyond music, Arsonal has recently launched So Disrespectful Apparel clothing line and has been successfully running his own battle rap league in New Jersey – U DUBB Network – since 2012. Dangerous on the battle rap stage, in the cipher and on stage in his own right, Arsonal is one to watch for in the near future. Jersey.

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BREAKING!!!! The Long Awaited SMACK Battle Rap Experience in Philly, Cassidy Vs. Arsonal Headline ‘Lock Down’

September 2, 2019 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Hold your cheesesteaks! Hold your motherflubbing cheesesteaks! For the first time in the history of the league, SMACK URL will host their first battle rap experience in Philadelphia, PA on the Lock Down card on October 6th. The announcement was made exclusively on the SMACK URL app.

Emceeing and Philly actually goes hand-in-hand.

Approximately 94 miles up i95, access to the bubbling rap scene in the 70s was easy and open. In fact OG’s from the Hilltop section of West Philly, Lawrence “L.G.” Goodman and Dana Goodman, made that b-line up to the Big Apple with their early rap label Pop Art Records. Contracts in hand, they created reality out of the dreams of many of Hip-Hop’s early stars (just ask Salt-N-Pepa and the entire Juice Crew)! Out of this lot came the Godmother of Battle Rap, Roxanne Shante… and so having an eye for battle rap is something in the Schuylkill punch.

But you don’t have to go back into the glory years of Hip-Hop to find that NYC/ Philly connection. Over the last 15, artists like Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Shawn Smith, E Ness, Black Thought, Meek Mill and yes, Cassidy have kept bars alive by see-sawing between the commercial success of the industry and having one foot squarely in the sand of underground Hip-Hop. They all have done this by performing in cyphers, spitting fire freestyles and battling.

And so today, what in the name of Ishkabibles does that really mean?

It kinda means that SMACK URL took too damn long to set up a franchise event in the City of Brotherly Love. It also means that now that they they are scheduled to execute this card, the ink is dried on the contracts and fans have been alerted… fans will experience one of the most incredible explosion of battle rap culture and authentication ever seen in the culture. Headlining will be Philly hometown hero Cassidy (who contends he is 5002-0).

No one can deny that Cassidy is instrumental in building the legacy of battle rap. Arguably one of the best to ever touch the mic, he is about to face one of his toughest opponents ever in Arsonal da Rebel.

Both incredibly cocky. Both incredibly skilled with the lyrics. Both on a mission to cement their legacy. This is gonna be a battle for the ages.

It took years to come… but now that it is here…and the city where the underdog Rocky is the municipal god, the soft pretzel is the city staple food, they laugh at Auntie Annie’s pretzels (what are those) and hoagies are not subs is about to get SMACK!

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Nome9 Proves That There Are Levels To This Rapping Stuff

June 10, 2019 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

If you love Hip-Hop, you understand that there are levels to this sh*t.

You can be an MC, mastering the art of moving the crowd or being the mic controller. You can also be a rapper, one who understands the industry and how it works, producing rap songs that fit into a particular kind of programming. A rapper can also be define as some who gets busy stringing creative words that rhyme, in a fashion that people get the vibe and love the song. Or, you can be a lyricist. The type of entertainer that values words, and constructs the poetry of them in such a way that the listener is enveloped with ooooohs and aaaaahhhs.

Battle rap as an industry that takes all three, and melts them into a aural cornucopia bursting with skill, passion and flavor. No other platform nurtures and showcase this top notch talent like the well-oiled SMACK/ URL battle rap league. URL’s most recent card, Night Of Main Events 9 (NOME9) ,was the kind of lyrical smorgasbord that MCs, rappers and lyricists a like take pride in indulging.

And a few of the battlers on the card shined, while others looked tarnished. Check out how the fans reacted to the most elite battlers go bar-for-bar.

The first battle was John John Da Don vs. Jakkboy Maine.

This long standing grudge match was a prime example of a battler not being cooked enough to be a main course meal. Jakkboy allowed his emotionality to shift significantly his standing as a rising star on the “world’s most respected stage.” The pressure was on. After all, he initiated the battle by poking the bear inside of JJDD.

Bad move.

Not because he is not talented, but because he as a battler is immature (not quite developed enough for the big stage). And John John knows that stage, he thrives on that stage and through his Bullpen rap league (a league that JKBM was once down with). On Bullpen, JJDD nurtures others who are willing to follow behind his leadership and make a name for themselves in this competitive rap space. This battle launched the night, showing that there are levels to this rapping stuff that these young whipper-snappers with a fire pen, some exciting moves and social media fan base may not understand. JKBM… did not understand until standing under those big lights and standing in front of THAT particular vet.

The next battle was between Newark’s Shotgun Suge and Canada’s Pat Stay.

This was another example of how levels come into play in battle rap. In this case the levels are manifested in an extraordinary style clash. Smack White himself acknowledged that this battle was (at least in the building) was a preference battle, executed by two skilled performers on a master level. Shotgun Suge might have elevated his game for this contest and by pairing up against the former King of The Dot champion, many thought that Shotgun Suge would out-classed. Nothing could be further from the truth. This battle showed by over and over again that the Newark spit-kicker can’t be taken lightly ever. He came to rap. He came to bully. He came to win (and depending on who you talked to he did). Pat Stay also transferred all of his crowd-controlling appeal to invite the audience into his wonderfully wonky and talent-specific world. For every bomb that was dropped by Suge, Stay found a way to weave is cool and collective manner into something that only Stay can do… a jokey jokey laced with bar-heavy intensity. There were levels to both of their offerings.

After Suge and Stay, Ave and Arsonal took the stage.

THERE IS SOMETHING NEW ABOUT AVE.

Over the last few months, something has clicked for this Virginia native, making his personality and grown-man swag stand out more than ever. Everyone knows that he can rap… we all know that… why else would he be a part of the Cave Gang team if he couldn’t… but many would admit that he was not main stage exciting.

>>> awkwardly points to the K. Shine battle at Strike 2.5>>>>

But that was last year, almost another lifetime ago. This Ave, with his punching self, brought his new showmanship to NOME9, and basically leveled up on veteran (and debatably Mt. Rushmore contender) Arsonal Da Rebel. When we talk about what levels are in battle rap, you have to address the elephant in the room. And that is that there is a difference between rap styles based on your lyrical generation and heritage. Arsonal, who just bodied Champion of The Year Geechi Gotti on a previous card, could not stand strong against Tay Roc’s Sergeant.

The K. Shine and Rum Nitty and the Tsu Surf and Geechi Gotti battles showed that there are a multiplicity of performance styles that not only elevates the art of lyrical combat, by enhances the experience for the audience. K. Shine and Rum Nitty were excellent opponents, bringing the best out of each other. It is hard to talk about K. Shine without talking about performance and showmanship. As one of the leaders of NWX and The Source‘s 2018 Battler of The Year, K. Shine brings his Harlem grit to the fight out performing anyone in front of him. Nitty is known for bars. Like Ave, Nitty has recently adjusted to the bigger stages with confidence and intensity. Despite his chokes, which may have cost him the battle for battle rap enthusiasts, he had his work cut out for him opposing the the ex-Dot Mobber. But K. Shine was in rare form. When Nitty pushed to one boundary, K. Shine up the ante. Fans teetered back and forth over who won the competition. The answer is simple: The Culture did.

Tsu Surf and Geechi Gotti also was a barfest.

Two style clashes were at play in this performance. East Coast confidence met with West Coast swag to dominate the stage. Two crip brothers, Neighborhood vs. Nutty Block, Motherland vs. a Battle Rap Farm, fans were divided from the start about which way it was going to go. But once Tsu climbed off his surf board and truly invested himself into the battle (you know considering he is on tour and recording with the likes of Mozzy and Chris Brown), he surgically snatched the hopes of a body from Gotti. Surf never sweated. Surf never looked uncomfortable. And even with Gotti’s crew mobbing the stage in support of their hometown hero, Surf backed by his Jersey homies seemed strong enough to stand on his own. And he took everything he could to rip out any momentum pushing Gotti to stardom. Fans who paid their tickets to see The Wave in person, got their money’s worth. To that end, Gotti still was cooking… it just was not enough to survive Tsunami. He took to that stage with the showmanship that only the Newark native could, overwhelming it and unfortunately Gotti, much like the 2004 massive Indonesian tsunami that that killed thousands. JERSEY!!!!

There is not just one battle of the night, but three: Shotgun Suge vs. Pat Stay, K. Shine vs. Rum Nitty and Tsu Surf vs. Geechi Gotti.

Lastly, Loaded Lux and Aye Verb both performed on various levels and exceeded expectations. Both rappers understood the competition was rooted in more than just contest, but was the culmination of years of conflict. Verb represented the underdog finally addressing the champion that has been in the spotlight for so long, and who remains in the way for this quest to be a legend. Lux represents battle rap royalty, who in the spaciousness of his vocabulary, brings the next level of intellectuality reserved for god-tier emcee. To reiterate there are levels to this… the question is, does Verb step up to match this divine plateau? Verb does transcend to this level of Mt. Rushmoredom. While there surprisingly, it is not his “SHOWTIME” that keeps him flying in the company of the battle rap god… it was his craftiness with words. Showing fans that he too is (in his own words) special… This bout is not as impactful if you are looking to it only to find a winner or a loser (you won’t because there is much more at play here). The real impact is the making of room for Verb in a conversation that he has previously been denied existence in.