Versus 3: A Hip-Hop Battle

A rap battle, like a moonlit knife fight, is a brutally beautiful art form. Battle rapping between talented MCs leaves innards of ego spilt on the barroom floor as audiences cheer with the sadism of cage-fighting fans. Reputations are frequently won — and lost — during freestyle battles. Kansas City doesn’t have a thriving battle scene, so the rare local event that pits MC combatants against one another in a freestyling standoff is all the merrier — for the audience, at least. Sixteen local MCs draw lyrical swords during Saturday’s third-annual Versus 3: A Hip-Hop Battle at RecordBar, for a grand prize of $500. DJs, hip-hop’s stepchildren, square off for a lesser cash prize of $100. Tonight sets the schadenfreude aflame, in contrast to the recent cold-ass weather.