BET has released Youtube videos of the cypher sessions from their Hip Hop Awards. For folks who don’t know, “cypher” refers to freestyle rapping, in a non-battle context. I often prefer it to battles, because it’s focused more on lyrical and improvisational skill, rather than the take-down of an opponent with insults.
A pure display of talent — check this out, for example. Three of the top MCs in the business — Mos Def, Black Thought and Eminem — off the top of their heads. Fucking brilliant.
EDIT: Youtube took the vid down, here is another version:
(Here’s the link for when this copies over to Facebook and they miss the embed, as usual.)