In essence, hip hop would not exist if it weren’t for some kind of competition. Rap battles are the most popular debate medium in the genre, but the musical conflict does not end there: deejays, dancers, and artists contend with each other in a variety of ways, from the local parties and community-based gatherings all the way to sanctioned competitions like the Red Bull Thre3style.
Rap music is no exemption, and some of its greatest writers have had to verbally cut a rug with each other for years. The battle of the Roxannes, LL Cool J taking on Kool Moe Dee, even Drake and Meek Mill: rappers beefing with each other is probably the most entertaining thing in rap itself. So much so, that two grudge-holders have refused to bury their hatchet years after the peak moments of their rap battle has passed.
KRS-One and MC Shan are those said two. It all began (restarted?) after Shan, while on the Murder Master Music Show, expressed his thoughts to (lyrically) duel KRS on the battle stage, with the Queens-bred veteran ultimately levying shots at the Bronx legend:
(check the 7:00 and 11:00 marks of the interview to hear it)
Naturally, KRS-One didn’t take so kind to those words, and he reacted in kind via song, “Take ‘Em Out.” Clearly, there is no love lost between the two who, at one point, had mimicked their quarrel in a Sprite commercial. Suffice to say, there’s no love lost.
