Battle rap fans may be starting to get impatient about King Los‘ return to the ring. Los has long been associated with the culture, both as a fan and as a participant, but he has yet to make his official debut on a major platform. Despite that, he keeps giving fans glimpses of how much potential he has as a battler, and for years they’ve been asking him to step up.
King Los is legit one of the only "mainstream" rappers I wanna see battle rap. Him, Kendrick, and Ab-Soul (again).
— LongLiveDre. (@TyDidThisBeat) January 29, 2016
king los is too much of a competitive rapper, he needs to stop making music and go to battle rap.
— D.Darko (@ThatNigga_Lolo) December 16, 2015
King Los legit NEEDS to do battle rap.
Bars after bars after bars for days.— Veteran Freshman (@yusufyuie) October 23, 2014
This past weekend, the former Bad Boy/current RCA Records artist hopped onto a filmed cypher during King Of The Dot’s “Massacre 2” weekend in Boston.
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While there, Rap Grid correspondent HeavyBag asked Los about when we might see him on the stage.
“Let me and Ol G chop it up ’cause I gotta get some fine tuning and then I’ma come out,” Los explained, referring to Harlem battle veteran Head I.C.E, who faced Bigg K the following day at the KOTD event. “I ain’t going for battle rap tutelage—we ’bout to go do some whole other shit. We gonna go build on some real nigga shit and I’ma get all that because you can’t beat that. That’s unbeatable.”
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He also showed his confidence in his lyrics, saying, “I’m gonna just get my mind ready … I got the hands. Nobody wanna go hand-for-hand with me. Can’t nobody punch with me.”
He doesn’t call out any opponents specifically, but teases that he’s been studying the game tapes just in case. “I really love the culture so much that I just got respect for everybody. I think that’s the only thing that might fuck me up. I love every battle rapper too much. But I also know you niggas’ weaknesses. ‘Cause I see y’all and I know where y’all be slipping’ and I know where y’all can be great at too. It’s just gonna be fun for me.”
One name that has recently been connected to Los as a theoretical opponent is Harlem battler and Wild ‘N Out Season 8 cast member Charlie Clips. The two traded shots on Instagram in a conversation magnified by another post from URL co-founder Eric Beasley.
The Baltimore native also seemed ready for war last year when Yasiin Bey (once known as Mos Def) called out all challengers for a battle, though Bey later backtracked on the offer, saying the video wasn’t meant for public consumption.
Yooooooo @MosDefOfficial let's do it … You kno I stay ready !!!!
— King Los (@iamKingLos) August 7, 2015
Last August, Los got into an impromptu battle with Danny Myers at URL’s “Traffic” event in Los Angeles that showed what he’s able to do spontaneously.
Los’ roots in battle rap go back more than a decade, as seen in this footage that’s reportedly from 2001.
