8.Dizaster Vs. Arsonal
What: To be considered one of the year’s ten best, a battle can’t be lopsided. Dizaster and Arsonal are two of the most viewed battle rappers alive. They are also both criticized for lacking schemes, name flips and the rest of the tools and tricks most modern battlers have at their disposal. Nonetheless, Ars and Diz are two of the most popular and most viewed battle rappers alive for a reason: they are two of the biggest personalities in battle rap and even haters have to admit, both of them have earned what stripes they have and won multiple battles in their respective careers. Diz and Ars first faced off nearly 3 years ago at Grindtime’s Massacre of the Bay event, but after only a two and a half rounds the battle was shut down by police. That battle, even stunted as it is has over a million views.
Why? Both rappers were undeniably top tier and yet both were facing major criticism. Accusations that Arsonal “just raps” rather than battling and that Diz is sloppy plagued them both respectively. Diz had yet to recover fully from his battle with Arcane. Ultimately this battle will be remembered as the return of Dizaster. The battle began with Diz reminding the fans why is one of the best- a seamless combo of writtens and freestyle, and his unmatched ability to pivot on the spot. The entire venue erupted when he made his claim for the chain toward Pat Stay. Arsonal had an uphill climb ahead of him, but he came back doing what he does best-he even threw in a URL battler scheme for good measure. He also got in his opponent’s face as he’s known to do and then imitated Dizaster imitating him. The match would be decided by the third round wherein Dizaster used a “growing up in the middle east” angle that was won the room and the battle.
Highlight: “When you went to your first funeral because you lost your homies Terrence and Roc- By then I’d turned 20 and seen 37 of my friends and relatives get shot. I’ll be damned If I have an American tell me what I’m not. If my friends moved to your hood in Jersey, they’d think it’s heaven on your block. If your homies came and lived with us in Beirut they’d all be huddled together in a flock on a broken radio like, call up the embassy and tell em we’re from Watts! A real third world country is something he’s never seen in his life. He doesn’t understand what the feeling is like to have military beat you and trap you in a cage without reading your rights. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to have F-16’s bomb your region to the point where you can’t sleep in the night or to stare at your food for 7-hours straight cuz you can’t eat from the fright. To watching a grown man cry in the middle of the street holding a piece of his wife. – Dizaster, 3rd Round