Cassidy vs. Dizaster: Who You Got?

Dizaster might be on of the most decorated battle rappers at this point. While he's never gotten the shine he rightfully deserves, he's taken down the great Canibus and a multitude of other battle rappers, and a recent addition to his list of accomplishments is being one of the first 8 battle rappers to be included on Slaughterhouse's Total Slaughter battle rap competition. His amazing free styling ability along with his great lyrical capabilities are almost one of a kind, even looking at the battle rap circuit as a whole, and his ability to think on his feet so quickly is another aspect of what makes him so great. But he is being challenged yet again by another very noble challenger who is believed by many to be the father of the battle rap style:  Cassidy.

So the headlining point here is that Cassidy is taking his chances in the battle rap ring, just as Joe Budden did in the first annual Total Slaughter. Budden certainly got his butt handed to him, not because his abilities didn't match up, but because he "isn't a battle rapper" is what many people used as their main argument. That is where the argument shifts with somebody like Cassidy:  he's a proven emcee with battle rap experience and bars to build a prison (did you like that line?  I might give this rap thing a try myself). In case your unaware of Cassidy's abilities, here's a pretty good example of them. The song "Mr. Chicken", supposedly put out in early October that includes jabs at fellow battlers Goodz and Dizaster.

Certainly a slept on lyricist who takes pride in what he does, and Dizaster knows who he will be faced up against when the time comes to battle. Dizaster actually spoke about the battle and some details about it on The Heavy Bag Show with host Heavy Bag, and when asked about the details of who will be hosting the battle, Diz said that "it won't be a King Of The Dot event, but they want to incorporate it somehow." The main reason for King Of The Dot having no part in anything Dizaster related is probably because of Diz's highly publicized fight with Math Hoffa during their battle less than a year ago. Diz also stated that they are aiming to take the battle to television, although they're not certain who would host the actual battle.

So now comes the question: who do you got winning this one?  This one to me seems pretty fair and seems like it could be pretty close knowing both battlers' history in the ring, although they have almost complete opposite styles in the ring. Dizaster goes for a more out of control, in your face approach and tries his hardest to embarrass you, while Cassidy is used to the stylish, flavorful rhymes, though they are still filled with heavy punches.

I hate to give an opinion so early, but I feel this one goes to Diz. His energy will probably be a lot for Cassidy to handle, being that Cass is usually the more laid back type of rapper who doesn't put very much emphasis on his lines, although I haven't actually seen Cassidy battle, so maybe his battling style is different from his actual recorded song style. And it is known that if there isn't a rapper that you want to go bar for bar with, it's probably Cassidy (just ask Meek Mill). But I need to know what you think!  Let me know who you think takes it and why in the comment section below, on Twitter, or Google+, and check out Dizaster giving details about the battle in the interview below.

                                   (*I do not own any of these videos, or the rights to them*)

  








      

Road To Total Slaughter: Episode 4 Recap

And now the moment of truth. With Total Slaughter nearing its close, each battler seemingly more annoyed with the others by the episode and the drama reaching a peak, you know it had to end some time. Normally I would be whining about not being able to see Total Slaughter the night of it airing, but I got the pleasure of actually having a Time Warner Cable connection at my disposal this past Wednesday night (thank you Lil B). Now to kick off the final episode recap of The Road Total Slaughter!

This episode starts off on a different note, but an interesting one at that with Dizaster singing in a room with Daylyt, Mook, and Joell Ortiz present. Mook and Ortiz are clearly impressed with his talent as they give him props for the quick ballad and Mook goes on to say that "nobody would expect that" out of him. And I certainly couldn't correct him when he said that. Diz goes on to say that he has always had interest in pursuing a musical career, but has been sidetracked on sticking with it because of battle rap. If my voice carried any weight, I certainly would encourage him to stick with this path as he clearly has talent not only in his lyrical miracle type of battle rap, but in his singing voice as well.

But this leads into one of the two final battles heading into the headlining event of Total Slaughter. The first battle up is T-Rex vs. Big-T; the battle of who would be the better T (better, not bigger, clearly Big T earned his name). This battle I had many questions for, especially after the battle, mostly stemming from why they would bring T-Rex in out of nowhere 1 episode in and just have him dominate everyone the way he has throughout the show? And when Mook says "may the Rex man, I mean, may the best man win." What is that? Why were they pulling for this guy throughout the entire show like they did? Personally I hated seeing it. I give respect where it is due, and Rex is one hell of a battle rapper, but why bring in a guy who no one has any clue about and have him dominate everybody? It almost ruins the competitive aspect of the show I think. It certainly added to the "expect the unexpected" aspect of the show, but watching it and not having a clue of who he was at first really threw off my focus from the other battlers. I like the unexpected a lot, especially in a show like this, but to bring him in with the timing they did, it didn't seem right to me.

Now aside from all the T-Rex hoopla (you can call it hate if you want, haters), we still had a whole second battle to deal with, and that battle was Dizaster vs. Daylyt. With all the drama surrounding these two, inside and outside of rap, how could this not be entertaining? Diz has come out saying if he didn't succeed he was going to quit rap for good, just recently the two had apparently gotten into a pretty big fist fight with each other before Total Slaughter aired (Google it, Twitter it, wherever you'll find it), and on top of that they're best friends? I didn't even know that until I watched this episode myself. This battle was nothing short of epic, very hard to pick a winner for anyone, although I had a winner in mind. No spoilers here except for the Cain and Able references for each? How did they even know to do that? Must of had discussions with each other beforehand. Regardless of all the chatter outside of the microphone, this battle was something to see.

And that does it for this recap of  the final episode of 'The Road to Total Slaughter." Despite the downs and the negative attention it might have gotten, with the fights and egos colliding, all the way down to some contestants getting banned from battle rap circuits outside of Total Slaughter, most of the attention it got from people was very good. But you know what they say, any press is good press. Whoever those rap fans were that didn't know about battle rap before certainly know about it now, I know that was the case for me. As for the Total Slaughter event in NYC? Some disappointing news for Budden fans I hear. I haven't seen any of the footage yet, but I'll certainly be checking that out as soon as possible. All I can say is it sucks that it's over, but it's cool that it happened. I'll definitely be tuned in for next years edition, if they choose to continue it. Check out episode 4 in full below.

  


(*Disclaimer: I do not own this video or the rights to it*)
             

Road To Total Slaughter: Episode 1 Recap

In the Road To Total Slaughter presented by Eminem, Slaughterhouse and Watchloud.com, you finally have an opportunity to watch the inner workings of battle rap. That is unless of course you don't get Fuse TV like me, in which case you're very salty about not being able to watch all of this exciting drama and rap skill take place. But wait, there is this fantastic place we call the internet where you can watch practically anything you want at any time (as long as its posted)!  So for those less fortunate to not be blessed with a Time Warner Cable connection, we'll do this little review of what happens on the show, my thoughts on what happens on the show, and a post of the actual Road To Total Slaughter episode itself. Its just too bad this is only going down for 4 weeks. Anyways, lets get right into it.

So right off the bat there is clear tension with everyone entering in the house. As soon as everyone walks in, they give an introduction to why they're here and why they deserve to be. Everybody meets each other slowly getting settled in, finding their sleeping quarters and whatnot, when the 7 contestants notice that the last contestant is not in the house. Knowing who Daylyt is and what he's known for, they're not surprised to notice him finally stumbling in wearing only a pair of boxers and boots, being very loud and obnoxious while eating all the food that has been put out for the contestants. This does not go over well with the contestants, and Marv Won and Cortez voice their opinions very clearly with the controversial battle rapper.

After everyone settles down following the Daylyt incident, they all make their way to what looks like a living room, with chairs and a chess board set up. Murda Mook states that the chess board is used to clear ones mind when tension starts to set in when living in a house full of testosterone and egos clashing. Cortez also proceeds to challenge Loaded Lux to a chess match as they playfully banter back and forth eventually leading to a Lux victory. After this, everyone seems to get a moment to themselves as Dizaster walks into a conversation being had by Aye Verb and Marv Won. Dizaster goes on to tell Aye Verb that the only fans he had in their battle were his haters, and one of the lines he came up with in the battle was "the most simple shit he'd ever heard."

So yeah, do you feel the love yet?  After this settles down Mook and Lux gather everyone in the house to the living room telling them that they will be having a special guest giving them an introduction to the circuit. It is none other than DJ Kay Slay who shows up and tells them very briefly about the competition and how it will work in seemingly less than 5 or 6 sentences. Makes me wonder if they paid him for what he said or if he will be included in the show later?  If not, very weird that it happened nonetheless, as it seemed he gave his 5 or 6 sentences and just left.

But, as they say the show must go on!  The next morning Slaughterhouse shows up unexpectedly and gathers everyone into the living  room the discuss a sort of "wild card" match up between a new battler they brought in by the name of T-Rex, and a battler of his choosing from within the house. The loser of this match is out of the tournament if they lose, and has to sleep on the couch. I really don't know if its for the night or if its the entire time they're there, but regardless all the battlers see this as a low blow. Bringing in someone unexpectedly and giving them stakes to win or lose at?  It surely didn't seem to go over well with the contestants. This definitely opened up their eyes and they knew to be prepared at all times after this happened.

So there you have it, the episode 1 of 4 recap. With this episode setting the tone in what seems to be a very tension filled house, we'll see how many surprises not only Slaughterhouse, but the battlers bring as well. A fist fight maybe?  Some more insane antics from Daylyt that the battlers seem not to appreciate?  Will we see more unexpected guests?  How about more egos clashing?  We know the latter will happen at least. Stay tuned for episode 2 Wednesday at midnight if you're lucky enough to get Fuse TV. If you do, just know that I envy you, you lucky bastards. If not, then stay tuned for episode 2 online next Monday, and a recap right here shortly thereafter.

 
(*Disclaimer: I do not own this video or the rights to it*)