Post-Battle Breakdown: Arsonal vs. Bishop Brigante

Jason "Majin" Dotts digs into the "Blackout 5" match-up.

What's up everybody? Sorry for what appears to be a late-ass review, I'm not one of those cats who scrambles to get a review out just to be the first to do so. I analyze and over-critique and because of that, this shit takes time but it's worth it yo.

Arsonal

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The most viewed and disrespectful battle rapper of our time. Arsonal has been telling battlers shit that most niggas would've heard and one-inch-punched his dreads off his cranium. There's focused Arsonal and there's "I'm just here for the other half of my deposit" Arsonal and the second one has been showing up to battles way too damn much lately. He's unorthodox lyrically (like most Jersey battlers) and his filler supplies a dangerous punch. But said filler makes him ramble like Nas on a track where he doesn't rhyme and it becomes hit or miss. But I walk into this with hope.

Bishop Brigante

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Another legend. While most cats thought he was just Organik's homie who probably sold shirts and cleaned the stage after the battles, Bishop has been taking heads off with bars for a minute. His return to the game gives him a strength and a weakness. The strength is, not knowing if he can still do it. That's also his weakness. I'm sorry, but the "I'm back battling" thing hasn't worked for most. They're still sweeping Reed Dollaz' ashes off the stage but again, I walk into this with hope.

It pops off with a KOTD hat and kicks commercial. Gonna need that Snapback.

Round 1

Arsonal

Arsonal wastes NO time. Went from 0 to disrespect QUICK. The multis, the cadence ... where the fuck has this Arsonal been yo? But ... why did he say "I'll smoke a fag ... cigarette"? I get it was part of the multi set up but we've been letting Ars slide and giving this nigga passes for this shit WAY too much yo ("I used to fall asleep in Math" vs. Math, etc.). Just thought I'd state that. He's losing momentum and rambling. I kinda see this shit coming. Decent enders to what could've been haymakers and these slipups/stumbles kinda took the steam out of what would've been a perfect round. Now it's on Bishop.

Bishop Brigante

Bishop starts with disrespect, that artichoke line was pretty hot and set the tone for this round. Sports bars and a Drake shot take up a good part of this round and the filler is decent in its own right, but the potency of the end of Bishop's lines fluctuates. I get what he's doing, but it wasn't necessary. There's the lead/line draw scheme that was slept on. I dug it. Round 1 could be debatable in most circles. But I gave it to Bishop.

Round 2

Arsonal

Arsonal starts the round with a multi and Street Fighter ender. And as a man who has been atomic pile driving niggas in that game for years, I'm not mad at it. The personals come via wordplay and makes an effective but predictable breakdown. I'm surprised that KOTD didn't put closed captioning there because we all saw where he was going. It goes into a roasting session of sorts and the crowd loves it. But this "I'm gonna repeat my previous line to get back on track" shit is happening too often. And the silence of the crowd when he does shows. And then it happens.

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CHOKE! Ars says "aw man" and shakes his head like he woke up and saw his girl and his phone were no longer in the same room. The crowd boos. And here comes the freestyle ... Me personally? I'd would've let it go and just took my possible L for this round. It didn't work when Okwerdz did it against Rone or when Clips battled Illmac. Even his entourage had a look that said "you might have to walk back to America my nigga."

Bishop Brigante

Photo by Zach Macphoto for KOTD.

Round 2 Bishop. There's a relationship set up that leads to a bar that ... let's be real, Laura Tarsi is getting mentioned in battles a LOT nowadays. Shorty is like a gun bar with a handbag. [UPDATE: Oh actually, my bad, it was Mystique, not Laura that Bishop mentioned. Same goes for her too though I guess.] The jokes fly and the personals about Arsonal's lady with the Orange Is The New Black punch hit good. The "I took three shots of Gin (Jin), you couldn't handle your Rum" bar was better than the crowd made it out to be. I heard the hearse line before but honestly, Bishop didn't even have to do much to win this round. Bishop could've handed Drake a copy of "The Notebook" and a Bed Bath & Beyond gift card and said "time!" and won this round. 2-0 bishop.

Round 3

Arsonal

I get that he choked and Bishop has home court advantage but that opening to Arsonal's third was good. Damn good. Ars is coming back with it. This round is looking good for him. The crowd doesn't want to rock with Ars much but he's actually spitting.

Aaaaand it pretty much goes downhill from there.

The shots at Drake and Mook just showed that Ars gave 0 fucks about this battle. I mean not a 747 flying fuck was given. Then Ars had the nerve to say he 3-0'ed Bishop like it was Opposite Day or some shit. Nah. Just nah. If I was Organik, I would've grabbed the mic by the cord and swung that shit at Ars until he ran off stage.

Bishop Brigante

Lot of dread bars here. But thank GOD someone is bringing up the race bars and cracker lines Ars gave The Saurus and calling him out for it. Here's the thing about race bars in 2015. Given all the racial tension in this country, using those tragedies to sculpt bars is pathetic and to do it to win points with the crowd? Nah. We saw Suge turn into Malcolm Extra Cheese vs. Charron and I'm just not a fan of it. Bishop is running a clinic of personals on Arsonal and even Ars is giving him respect for them. Bishop's wordplay has a dope dynamic to it in this round and yeah, pretty clear who won this round.

Final Thoughts

So that was Bishop vs. Arsonal ... 3-0.

I'm sorry, but you gotta be delusional to think Arsonal won here. Few personals, a choke and a deviation from his opponent that took up the last half of his third cost him this battle. Only one allowed to call out niggas in the third is Real Deal yo. I ain't mad at Bishop's rounds either but I felt that they could've had more oomph. He proved the comeback theory wrong and put on for the crowd even though without a hat, son looks like J-Pro with a thicker goatee.

Side note, thanks to everyone who read my previous reviews. Th3 Saga vs. Suge next. I'm Majin and I'm out.

Peace.

Photos by Zach Macphoto and Dan Gibs for KOTD.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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