When LL Cool J's "The Ripper Is Back" debuted Monday night on New York's

Hot 97 (WQHT-FM), it was a monumental hip-hop moment.

Not only was it the legendary rapper's first public response to next-big-thing

Canibus' dis single, "2nd Round K.O.," but it also was the first time that hip-hop

has seen a high-profile rhyme battle since the deaths of arch-rivals Christopher

"Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur.

The seeds for the battle between the rap legend and the up-and-coming star

were first planted during the recording of the song "4,3,2,1," from LL Cool J's

latest, Phenomenon. According to Tom Moscato, webmaster for The

Greatest Hip-Hop Beefs Homepage

(http://members.tripod.com/~DonTeflon/BizBeef.html), a website that tracks hip-

hop rivalries, the song features guest appearances by Canibus, DMX, Redman

and Method Man and originally contained a line by Canibus that LL took as an

insult. Referring to LL's microphone tattoo, Canibus rapped about "ripping an

arm out a socket, taking a mic off it and letting a real MC rock it."

"Apparently, LL edited out that line and rewrote his rap as a dis toward

Canibus," Moscato explained from his Washington, D.C., home. The rap goes:

"When young sons fantasize of borrowing flows/ Tell little shorty with the big

mouth the bank is closed/ The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers/ You

hold the rusty swords I swing the Excalibur." That lyric and the fact that Canibus

was left out of the "4,3,2,1" video led to Canibus' "2nd Round K.O."

The first single form his forthcoming solo debut, "2nd Round K.O." features

Canibus tearing into LL Cool J's reputation between shouts of encouragement

from boxing legend Mike Tyson. In the song, Canibus outlines LL's past battles

with Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee and Jay-Z , saying that "99 percent of [his] fans wear

high heels," while threatening to battle LL "live in front of the cameras on your

own sitcom/ I'll let you kick a verse, fuck it, I'll let you kick them all/ I'll even wait

for the studio audience to applaud/ Now watch me rip the tatt from your arm/

Kick you in the groin, stick you for your Vanguard award."

That apparent verbal assault led to "The Ripper Is Back," a song that 17-year-

old LL Cool J fan and New York City resident Marcus Osborne called "a real

scorcher and an argument closer."

Long rumored on Net fan site bulletin boards as featuring such guests as

Master P and KRS-One, the song turns out to be just LL, with the rap legend

attacking Canibus with all the energy that he threw at Kool Moe Dee on 1990's

genre-defining "Mama Said Knock You Out."

In "The Ripper Is Back," LL calls Canibus tour mate and rap star in his own right

Wyclef Jean "the Bob Marley imposter." He also tells Canibus "Don't hate me

cause I'm paid; hate me because I'm everything you want to be -- handsome,

young, plus legendary," and then says of "2nd Round K.O." guest Mike Tyson,

"heard that convicted rapist on the record too/ Fresh out of jail, nigga, teeth still

black and blue/ Tell me 'bout the things Ear Biter taught you/ How to bust a nut

or two?"

For many hip-hop fans, this battle is a welcome return to the days when MCs

tried to best each other at weekly parties in the South Bronx. "I think [battle

rhymes are] just part of the nature of hip-hop itself," wrote rap fan Steve "DJ

Flash" Juon in an e-mail. "African storytellers used to tell boastful tales to

impress others and gain prestige and the next man would try to one-up him to

steal some prestige and spotlight."

As a devoted fan of hip-hop battles, Moscato said that this war of words is one of

the finest to come along in a while and that he hopes the parties involved will

keep it off the streets and on the mic. "I think Biggie/Tupac was the example of

what a beef shouldn't be," Moscato said, "with Tupac going overboard

and Biggie never responding, that was more personal than professional, like

many of the good beefs today. I think this is the hottest beef right now because

each party is willing to respond on the mic," he continued, "but only time will tell

how it stacks up to the greats."

Listeners who want to decide for themselves should keep their ears peeled to

the radio or pick up DMX's It's Hot and Hell is Hot on May 19. That CD

will come with a free CD entitled Survival of the Illest Vol. 1, a sampler

that will include the LL track plus songs by Onyx, DMX and Def Squad.

Canibus' "2nd Round K.O." is currently available in stores and will be included

on his solo debut, currently slated for a June release.