The Great Experiment has finally arrived. King of the Dot’s much-anticipated Blackout 4 kicked off last night in Toronto. The card features arguably the deepest roster of talent ever assembled for a single event, plus it also boasts a novel concept: the majority of battles are being announced live at the event, rather than weeks/months in advance.
The title match was supposed to be a cakewalk for Pat Stay. Clearly that wasn’t the case. It’s been about a week since the YouTube footage dropped for King of the Dot’s most recent title match, and the result is more debatable than most expected. Ultimately, Pat Stay used humour to unchain the reigning champ. But even in defeat, Arcane found some level of redemption by taking a no-nonsense, bar-heavy approach against the odds-on favourite. Many fans even think Arcane won the battle, which is remarkable considering the blow to his reputation after BarGate.
We spoke with Arcane the day after the footage dropped about his impressions of the title match, whether it was an unwinnable battle, and whether a battle against Caustic is in his future.
Day 2 of World Domination 4 was another great night of battles, featuring a few classics with definite replay value. Like all big KOTD events, there was a contingent of assholes in the back, so a few battles were affected by an unruly crowd. Regardless, the biggest battles of the night found a receptive audience, and there were no wack performances from the big names, all of whom brought their A-games.
Once again, we watched the battles from the VIP section in front. The event popped off around 8:30 p.m. — which is probably a KOTD record for earliest start time — and it was clear that attendance was higher for Saturday’s edition.
Here’s our breakdown of the Day 2 battles. If you haven’t read our Day 1 recap yet, it’s here. Spoilers ahead:
The title match was significantly closer than most will admit. From the start, it was clear the audience was fucking with Pat heavy. For instance, the crowd went bananas after his first five words: “Arcane, that’s a hard name.”
We could see The Saurus saying “It’s over” just barely into Pat’s first round. Pat also pulled out his patented scheme: “He mad right now. Trying to log into PayPal right now. He wants to get the mobile app so bad right now.”
Credit must be given to Arcane for making the battle close. His writing was impeccable, and without the surrounding drama, he might have had a chance. There was a small slip-up in Round 3 from him, which likely gave the judges their reason to unchain him. Either way, it’s Pat’s chain now, and the league is probably relieved to put the Arcane/Caustic/Dizaster situation behind them.
The days before an event are always the most exciting. Every battle still has potential to be the greatest ever, and every battler is poised to have the next scene-shattering performance. Right now, battlers from around the world are congregating in Toronto for the biggest battle rap event the city has even seen. The whole rap landscape could be changed after this weekend. Legends will rise, reputations will be destroyed, etc.
Here’s how we see it happening:
Dizaster vs Arsonal
Becomes the highest-viewed battle of all time. Everyone on RMBVA hates it.
Arcane vs Pat Stay
Arcane has the performance of his career until Pat Stay noogies him.
Charron vs Shotgun Suge
Suge no-shows, and if he doesn’t Charron pocket-checks him in the first round. If Suge shows up and loses, he’s going to his car, getting his other gun, and shooting everybody’s ass.
Ask any fan who the best battle rapper in Canada is and chances are they’ll say Pat Stay. The Nova Scotian heavyweight started battling in Halifax’s Elements League in 2006 and with his King of the Dot appearances has earned the respect of both fans and battlers worldwide. He’s also poised to become the most-viewed Canadian battle rapper on YouTube after his highly anticipated title match against Arcane at World Domination 4.
T.O. Battle Blog caught up with Pat over breakfast in his hometown of Dartmouth in late June. We talked about why he finally took the title shot, his beef with Marv One, his thoughts on the current state of battle rap and more.
King of the Dot is in a tough spot. They’ve got a controversial champion who needs to prove himself against a top-tier opponent and no clear No. 1 contender. A transition to more international promo battles has left KOTD’s best prospects with vague records as of late. They could cherry-pick someone based on loyalty or performance or popularity, but that would alienate the rappers and fans who disagreed with the choice.
Charron has been campaigning for a King of the Dot title shot for as long as we can remember. And lately, he’s made a compelling case for getting that opportunity.
Just a few weeks ago, Charron won 106 & Park‘s Freestyle Friday tournament, taking home a $5,000 cheque in the process. Now, he wants to put his $5K on the line in a $10,000 title match. The other $5K, of course, would come from Arcane, the current title holder and last year’s Grand Prix champion.
In a video released yesterday (above), Arcane accepted the $10K battle. The trouble for Charron is that Arcane is unwilling to put the title on the line. According to Arcane, Charron hasn’t staked his claim as the No. 1 contender, nor has he defeated enough top-tier opponents to earn a title shot. Simply put, Arcane doesn’t think Charron deserves the opportunity.
Organik even took time from his Mexico vacation to issue a statement on Facebook:
Just for the record…
Campaigning for title shots does NOT guarantee you a title shot. We think it shows drive and we like that hunger but their are no guarantee’s until KOTD officially sets the match up regardless if the champ accepts a challenge. Also, no champion will battle in KOTD without defending the title. If KOTD feels their is a true contender and the champion turns it down they will be stripped of the title and another match will be set up for the title. This goes for the #1 contender spot as well.
The next Title Match will happen at WD4… Lets make history & let the debating begin!
If not Charron, who deserves a title shot? It’s a difficult question, as there are few obvious contenders. But we’ve assembled a short list of worthy opponents for Arcane.