Ok, so now from that video to another one from Mos Def. In the video, Mos is hanging out with his crew at night, challenging Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Andre 3000, among others. Honestly, If we did like a NBA Championship, best of 7 series, I think Mos could win against any of these MCs. I think he would definitely take out Wayne in a battle. No disrespect, but lyrically, Mos Def has Wayne beat. However, I would pay to see him go against 3000 or Jay. I think you could go back and forth in either of those battles and there would be a different winner every time. 

Regardless of whether this ever happens or not (which I seriously doubt it will, but would be extremely excited about if it ever did), these kind of battles is how MCs used to sharpen their skills. I don't think many really do this any more. They just go into the studio and start recording, but Jay-Z, Andre, Mos, and many other critically acclaimed artists have all professed to their battles back in the day helping to sharpen their skills. 

One day, we need to just get like 20 of the sickest MCs in one room, and just have battles until only one remains. You guys remember the best rapper bracket that Vibe did? Just set it up like that, get everybody in the same spot, just a real hip hop environment, and have people go at it. Of course this may never come to fruition because once artists finally enter the game, the more established they become, the less battles they actually do. Sure they might do beef/diss records, but there's no more of that friendly competition. You might catch a video or two every now and then of artists battling behind the scenes right before a show or something, but it's not a regular practice. I'd like to see artists get back to that and for them to be shown on TV on a regular basis. But unless the network that's showing it is guaranteed high ratings, which hip hop heads alone won't provide them with, it won't happen. Oh well. You can always dream, right?

Here's the video. The first video around 3:00 mark is when Mos starts to name people. Notice how some dude keeps saying that Andre 3000 isn't a real rapper. And that Kanye isn't a good rapper. What is he talking about? He says it so many times, I can't tell if he's kidding or not. Either way, he's smokin'. And the second video, check out home girl flow. She is nice! Hopefully she's on the new Mos Def project, The Ecstatic, which is supposed to be dropping in the summer. Everybody look out for her, though. She might be the next female rapper to come up. It's been a while since we've had one hold it down. 

That's it for me. Who do you guys think would win the battle? Who would you like for Mos Def to battle? Would you watch a lot of well-known MCs battle it out on TV? Let me hear something. Comment or hit me at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com. 

Peace.