Shopping cart

Shopping Cart

You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address.
The password field is case sensitive.

Forgot Password? Click here.


Not a Rap Grid Member yet?

Register New Account

Battle Rap News

CASE STUDY: HOW CASSIDY CAN BEAT DIZASTER

September 7, 2014, 5:15 am

Image by Rehab Regime

 

CASE STUDY:

HOW CASSIDY CAN BEAT DIZASTER

By Drect

 

Yes, I said Cassidy can beat Dizaster.

 

When I first heard the battle announcement, I was mad.  How could Cassidy come back and not battle someone who specializes in writing punch lines?  How could he come back and NOT make his battle league debut on URL?  How could he come back and NOT battle Conceited?  I felt deceived; the battle culture that I love so much has been toying with me lately.  On one hand, I was happy for my boy Dizaster, who will be getting a well-deserved pay day and a nice matchup. On the other hand, this wasn't the match fans wanted.

 

Reluctantly, I watched the press conference.  If nothing else, I knew I had to write something about the battle on Rap Grid to bring more traffic to the site.  Halfway through the press conference, a few friends and I found ourselves laughing along with the crowd and actually enjoying the video, despite Cassidy appearing as a hologram on stage.  Every time Dizaster brought up a decent point, Cass seemed to deliver a crisp rebuttal.  His sky-high confidence and arrogant (yet hilarious and well-articulated) points caused me to pause for a second and think to myself, "Wait ... Maybe he can beat Dizaster."

 

Do not mistake my intent.  I am not saying that Cassidy will beat Dizaster, just that it is a possibility.

 

At one point in time, a large portion of battle rap fans thought (music) industry rappers could effectively jump into a battle league and put on a top level performance (that would rival those of the greatest battle rappers.)  Some time in between Canibus' notebook and Joe Budden vs Hollow, most of us realized that battle rapping and music making do not exist on parallel planes of the space and time continuum; it take two different skills sets for one to excel in each arena.  With this realization came an unprecedented amount of hate, disgust and loathe for any "industry rapper" that even toyed with the idea of making a debut in a battle league.  I respect the opinions of most my peers, but do not take kindly to the "bandwagon hating" that I believe has become the norm in the "celebrity vs battle rapper" argument.  After giving it some serious thought, I am confident that Cassidy can excel in this modern era of battle rap.  Not a believer?  I've prepared a case study on the downfall of those that came before Cassidy and why he doesn't share the same fate as his celebrity predecessors.  Break out your notepads; there is a science to this.

 

COMPARABLE COMEBACKS

Mac Lethal made a comeback to battle The Saurus with one day preparation and put on one hell of a performance.  This is the most overlooked battle comeback of all time.  A special case due to the fact that Lethal relied heavily on (perfect) freestyle rebuttals, flips and comedy.

 

No one is sure if Cassidy even possess this skill set, but his opponent does, which will definitely make victory hard to come by.

 

Serius Jones is a very beloved and charismatic person.  Whatever rust he had during his comeback battle with Charlie Clips was masked by his first round rebuttal and Charlie’s lack of a third round.

 

Cassidy doesn’t have the same type of fun-loving personality as Serius, whose ability to clown people could work in his favor against someone as aggressive and dynamic Dizaster.  Essentially, this gives Cassidy less room for error - especially if he doesn’t have any material that will make the crowd laugh.

 

Canibus is the clear example of what not to do in a battle.  On top of him not being prepared and spitting lackluster material, his mindstate coming into the battle was questionable.

 

Cassidy will not have any of these issues.  Matter of fact, no one but Canibus will ever have any of these issues.  (I didn’t mention the notebook on purpose.)

 

Reed Dollaz had a few classic moments in which he revisited that throwback aggressive in-your-face Philly battle style that he helped make very popular in the early days of youtube.  The problem here is that Reed tried to make too much of an adjustment - he did not play to his strengths enough.  Fans wanted to hear more “Is he John John, John Cena, or John Legend?” and less (attempted) double meanings and wordplay.

 

Cass is not only one of the pioneers of the classic philly style, he is arguably the best punchline rapper of all time.  His knack for manipulating words and spitting socially-relevant material may leave fans hard pressed to say his style is out-dated.  Cassidy has the ability to win over both old and new crowds with HIS style of battle rapping alone.

 

Joe Budden slowly walked across the stage and took his time adjusting to a live battle crowd.  He had a lot of “rapper-performing-a-show” habits that didn’t properly translate into the battle realm.  The way Joe constructs his metaphors and punchlines isn’t as fast paced as the norm for a professional battle rapper.

 

Unlike Joey, Cassidy’s style is more battle rap than music performance, so he shouldn’t run into the same obstacles.  The only question is: Can he keep up with Dizaster’s pace or find some way to neutralize it?

 

ON PAPER BAR COMPARISON

Let’s take a look at some bars from both Dizaster and Cassidy on paper:

 

Dizaster -  Round 1 vs DNA (2011)

 

“I do this for my fans, you motherfuckers ain't shit to me

Are y'all kidding me? I'm fucking bum rushing the enemy

These knuckles will leave you buckling instantly

Start punching you viciously, uppercuts will leave your stomach in misery like muscular dystrophy

That's for thinking you can come online publicly dissing me

You can pop your fists while I'm still crushing you physically

This shit is child's play, you get ate side ways like the number infinity

I said, you need artist development 'fore you come on the blog and then mention me

I'll stomp you out and make you a part of this history

*Organik signals to call time*

Don't show me that cause this is about to be the bodybag of the century!

Hold on! Hold on! You motherfuckers ain't shit to me

They say karma's a bitch, for you it's probably dentistry

Because the part of your mouth that's missing is only a reflection, of what's scaring you mentally

So the gap between your teeth exists merely as an object of imagery to distract you from the real gap between us and that's bars and delivery!

 

Cassidy - 2002 Freestyle

 

“The shit I spit in my rhyme shit I say in a conversation

Cats kinda on my pipe, but they kinda hatin'

One minute I'm hot, one minute I'm wack

But I finish a rap in fifteen minutes or flat

I hit the sixteen before Swizz finished the track

Make some noise, the boy from big business is back

I got that put it in your nose and sniff it

My record's like the directions to the road to riches

I knock down your door like Jehova Witness

And bring niggas in your crib like your older sisters

You can't hold your liquor, stop drinkin'

Cause you not thinkin'

But watch you sober up when that shot's stinging

And the box stinkin murder for hire

Spread your herb ass on the grass like fertilizer

I heard your album ain't get nowhere

What happened

I'm going Platinum like Sisqo hair”

 

Obviously, there is a nine year difference in when these lyrics debuted, so the first thing you may notice is the outdated reference of “Sisqo’s hair” - dont focus on that right now.  

 

Dizaster’s first round against DNA is one of the best rounds in battle history - he gets no better than this: you can see where he adjusted his material on the fly, exercised his vocabulary and used his ability to tailor his biggest punchline to fit his opponent perfectly.

 

Lets be honest - Cassidy can spit this same verse right now in a battle and it would be a lot better than some overhyped mega-popular battlers, whom I will not name.  The material needs an update and the punchline rate needs to be raised.  He can’t afford to not use personals or say irrelevant punchlines for too long, unless his momentum is CRAZY or Dizaster messes up.  Til this day, i’ve never heard anyone say “Knock on your door like a Jehovah’s witness and bring niggas in your crib like your older sisters.”  If Cassidy can cook up five or six regular bars like thta (per round) and mix his material with a good personal attack, the battle should be great.

 

If you doubt Cass’s ability to write on topic, watch the CRAZY gospel verse he spit at a Hot 97 concert or his remix of Nicki Minaj’s “Lookin Ass Niggas.”

 

THE VARIABLES

DIzaster is undoubtedly one of the top 10 battle rappers of all time.  He has had a few slip-ups recently, but I expect him to be in top form.  

There are three variable here:

 

  • Performance - Dizaster’s live performance is crazy, there is a very small number of battle rappers that can match his intensity, if Cass can come close at all, it will be HUGE.

 

  • Writing - Is Cassidy going to just say hot punchlines, or is he going to say hot punchlines that tie connect directly to the situation and have a impact on Dizaster?  There is a big difference.

 

  • Capturing the Moment - Dizaster’s freestyle ability and spontaneity give him the ability to escape defeat or place his opponent in a very large body bag.  To the general public’s knowledge, Cassidy may not possess this same skill.

 

Im not that guy that is going to sit here and tell people, “Don’t sleep on a legend” and give you a drawn-out biased fan-boy opinion because I collected all of Cassidy’s mixtapes in high school (I didn’t, but my boy Evan did.)  Realistically, Dizaster has a big advantage, but Cassidy isn’t stupid - he knows exactly what to do.

 

I have a good feeling about this one.

 

Follow Drect on Twitter