100 BARS MAGAZINE 011 JUL/AUG 2014 | Page 29

He’s more than a battle rapper. UFF Contender HA Double started rapping at the age of 13. Inspired by Southern artists like Master P and Cash Money, he slowly began building his own imprint, Uglyface Muzic — though he admits that battle rap has taken most of his free time as of late. When asked what prompted him to become a battle rapper, his answer equated to part love-part struggle, adding reluctantly that his rebuild post-Hurricane Katrina has put a lot of plans on hold. Double’s journey officially began in 2011, when he submitted a video of himself freestyling to a well known battle rapper from New Orleans named BC. BC put him on to his first battle on an up-andcoming battle rap league — New Orleans Battle Zone — where he battled BC himself. From there it was battle after battle, win after win, which landed him on the Proving Grounds against Anubis late last year, an opponent who HA says was his hardest competition thus far. When asked about his family, Double stated factually that, while he’s focused on success in battle rap, he’s twice as passionate about his daughter Peyton, who dominates his priorities while he works and uses his free time to focus on bars. Seeing how he’s well known for controlling the crowd with his witty bars and strong delivery, I found it fitting to open the interview with asking how he felt about Arsonal’s recent blog directing hate on his performance in his recent UFF battle versus Sno. Evelyn Ayalon: So I came across Arsonal’s blog where he expressed a rather strong opinion about your lack of skills and your corresponding blog where you highlighted some of his flaws onstage. How did that ultimately play out? HA Double: My whole response to what Arsonal was saying was, “before you start calling me trash, take a look at yourself.” I’m just a real n***a. I think Arsonal’s nice, but other people still think he’s trash though. No matter what class of battler you are, I say stop worrying about the Top Tiers. That’s why I don’t say anything about them, because I don’t care about them. We [PG battlers] are rapping because we are trying to get on too. I don’t need their approval that I can rap. There are already way too many PGs looking for approval to become somebody in battle rap. Eve: Would you still battle Arsonal? HA Double: Yeah, I would. I just hate that [Top Tier’s] are downplaying our skills; saying s**t like, “we sound like them.” I don’t need to battle you to make my own name, because I already made my own name. Eve: Since we are talking about ha double DONT SLEEP tiers; how you feel about them? Do you think the tiers in battle rap are based on politics? HA Double: It’s based on favoritism and politics. I think a lot of the non-Top Tiers can beat of a lot of the so called “Top Tiers.” When Smack first came out with the URL that was their proving grounds and ever since then that’s how we’ve watched battle rap grow. Some of them act like battle rap wouldn’t be s**t without them and I’m like, “No, battle rap was around before cameras were there to show it.” and that’s how it works. The only way for battle rap to grow is for the Top Tiers to battle the up-and-comers. Eve: With that said, do you think anyone needs to retire and make space for the new class? HA Double: I don