MCs and DJs slay each other at Versus 4 this weekend

Sharp rhymes, biting insults and cutting punch lines — for fans in need of a furious lyrical showdown, this year’s Versus Battle at RecordBar won’t disappoint. It’s the fourth incarnation of the local hip-hop and beat battle in which MCs are pitted against one another. At stake: a $600 prize. (DJs have their own sideshow, blowing out sound systems and eardrums in a battle for $200.) Kansas City’s MCs are starved for opportunities to gut competitors’ egos with fiery verse, and each annual Versus is all the more brutal for it.