Arsonal has been one of the top battle rappers for the past few years, thanks in large part to his charisma, aggression, lyricism, great delivery and fearlessness in bringing up topics that many people dared not touch. But the time has finally come for him to end his career and concentrate on other things, and the timing couldn’t be better. In a culture where most never leave on their own accord it’s great to see someone who left it all in the proverbial ring walk out on his own terms. His final battle is going to be against another legendary battler Loaded Lux. The event is scheduled for August 5th 2017 at the Alpha N Omega pay-per-view which is going to be presented by Arsonal’s own UDubb Network battle rap league. Neither Lux nor Arsonal have battled in a while so this one is bound to be a special treat.
Ars announced up his plans to retire a year ago in a tweet in which he mentioned 5 names he was hoping to face in his final battle. The names were Murda Mook, Loaded Lux, Cassidy, Tay Roc and Hollow Da Don.
When you hear of the retirement of someone who’s been doing something at such a high level consistently for a long time you tend to wonder what they will move onto. With Ars it’s probably safe to assume that he’ll still be visible in the battle rap scene but I expect that he’ll be focused on organizing and behind-the-scenes work. After all the UDubb Network is a prolific league which features battles from big names so it’s likely he’ll be working on elevating it higher to reach the status of other leagues such as Ultimate Rap League, King of the Dot and Don’t Flop Entertainment.
Another possibility is that he could be shifting his attention towards recording music. Most battlers tend to have records they’re pushing on the side too, just watch the beginning of any battle on YouTube and you’ll likely hear some battlers spitting bars over beats with promotional messages showing you where you can purchase their music.
Or we may find hear that Arsonal has surprised us by venturing into something completely unexpected. Whatever the case Ars has done a great deal for the battle rap culture and now is a good a time as any for him to leave, while he’s still on top so that we’re left with memories of him in his prime. No one likes to look back at people whose talent they admired and remember a washed-up has-been.
Here’s to hearing “once again I’m here in another ni**a state” one last time.
