Labeling rap star LL Cool J a balding, washed-up sell-out, hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean responded on Tuesday to LL Cool J's rhymed put-down "The Ripper Strikes Back" by releasing the track "Retaliation" to a select few DJs in New York.

Wyclef's song is the latest entry in the continuing battle between rappers Canibus and LL Cool J, a war of words that also has merited a response from underground rap performer Truck Turner, who has released a single entitled "Canibitch."

According to Tom Moscato, 19, webmaster of "The Greatest Hip-Hop Beefs" site, Wyclef was brought into the fray by being so closely associated with Canibus. "Wyclef is Canibus' producer," Moscato explained, "and he appeared as the announcer in [Canibus'] '2nd Round K.O.' video. In ['The Ripper Strikes Back'], LL Cool J calls [Wyclef] a 'Bob Marley imposter,' which is why Wyclef responded with this song."

Moscato also said that KRS-One associate Truck Turner issued his song after hearing Canibus say that he had an ego as big as KRS-One's on a number that he performed with the Lost Boyz.

The seeds for the battle between Fugee member Wyclef Jean, up-and-coming star Canibus and longtime hip-hop hero LL Cool J were first planted during the recording of the song "4,3,2,1" from LL Cool J's latest album, Phenomenon. The song, which contains guest appearances by Canibus, DMX, Redman and Method Man, originally featured Canibus rapping about (in reference to LL's microphone tattoo) "ripping an arm out a socket, taking a mic off it and letting a real MC rock it."

The diminutive Canibus re-recorded his part with different lyrics at LL Cool J's request and was surprised to hear LL rhyming "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" when "4,3,2,1" was finally released.

After Canibus was left out of the "4,3,2,1" video, he teamed up with former boxing champion Mike Tyson and recorded "2nd Round K.O." (RealAudio excerpt). The single features Canibus tearing into LL Cool J's reputation between shouts of encouragement from Tyson.

Outlining LL Cool J's past feuds with rappers Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee and Jay-Z, the lyrics of the song included the assertion that "99 percent of your fans wear high heels." Canibus also threatened to battle part-time TV star LL "live in front of the cameras on your own sitcom/ I'll let you kick a verse ... I'll even wait for the studio audience to applaud/ Now watch me rip the tatt from your arm/ Kick you in the groin."

That verbal assault led to LL's "The Ripper Strikes Back" (RealAudio excerpt), which first appeared on New York's Hot 97 (WQHT-FM) and was released last Tuesday on Survival of the Illest Vol. 1, a free companion CD to rapper DMX's It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, the #1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Long rumored on Net fan sites and bulletin boards to feature such guests as Master P and KRS-One, the song turned out to be LL attacking Canibus solo.

Besides slamming Canibus and his colleague Wyclef on "The Ripper Strikes Back," LL takes on "2nd Round K.O." guest Tyson, tagging the boxer as a "convicted rapist ... fresh out of jail" and an "Ear Biter."

Which brings us to Wyclef Jean's "Retaliation," a mid-tempo song with echoes of telephone busy-signals and a recitation by supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is heard telling LL Cool J to "just give it up." Its chorus -- "What's 'Clef got to do with this, got to do with this?/ What's 'Clef, I'm not a Bob Marley impostor/ What's 'Clef got to do with this, got to do with this?/ Tell your ghostwriters, go write something better" -- mirrors that of Tina Turner's hit "What's Love Got To Do With It" and incorporates just a touch of Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up."

The "ghostwriters" dig is a reference to the fact that LL Cool J's 1997 autobiography, "I Make My Own Rules," was written with the assistance of Karen Hunter.

"And I'll even get you an add in The Source/ You'll be the first rapper, to sell a product for hair loss," Wyclef raps, making fun of LL Cool J's elder-statesman status in hip-hop.

With Wyclef jumping into the battle and Turner's "Canibitch" buzzing in underground hip-hop circles, this fracas could escalate like the flood of attack and response records that came in the wake of the '80s rap hit "Roxanne Roxanne."

"They could keep it between the two groups," Moscato explained, "but you never know who's gonna jump in for fame. Personally, I think Truck Turner is just doing it to cash in."

On the other hand, Moscato added, "It's great that they're keeping it on wax. It's great that they're using words instead of violence."

The "2nd Round K.O." single is currently in stores and will be on Canibus' forthcoming debut album. "The Ripper Strikes Back" is only available on the Survival of the Illest Vol. 1 CD that accompanies the current DMX album. Truck Turner's "Canibitch" is currently circulating on mix tapes in the hip-hop underground and can be heard in RealAudio format at http://members.aol.com/tphiphop. Representatives for Wyclef couldn't be reached by press time to comment on an official release for "Retaliation," but it can currently be found on Wyclef's official website at www.wyclef.com/Haps/index.html.