Photo by D-Nice

MIKEY D VS MELLE MEL

DATE: 1989

VENUE: New Musical Seminar Battle for MC Supremacy @ the Marriot Marquis

THE COMPETITORS: Mikey D, the young upstart from Queens who went on to work with Paul C and replace Large Professor in Main Source; Melle Mel, the pioneer MC who had a worldwide smash with “The Message” as part of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5.

LET’S BATTLE: Even though the new school was already in full swing, Melle wasn’t going to accept the changing of the guard without a fight. Having won the MC battle the previous year, he stepped to Mikey D just after he accepted his belt for winning the final against Bango from Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate.

DJ Johnny Juice: “Melle came up on stage dressed like a World Wrestling Federation dude. He had these tights on and a dude with him who looked like a referee [Grandmaster Caz]. Dude was wearing a white and black striped shirt and the black pants. [Melle] said: ‘To be the man, you gotta beat the man! Whoever wins takes both belts home’”.

Mikey D: “He’s talking about ‘He’s nobody! He don’t deserve this belt!’ I said ‘I’m not gonna battle you for the belt, ’cos I just won this!”.

JJ: “But the crowd was like ‘Come on! What the fuck? That’s some bullshit! You gonna let him talk to you like that?’ So Mikey was like ‘Alright, fuck it! Let’s do it!’”

MD: “So he said his shit, and I liked it – it was pretty cute. But then it was my turn. Now this guy had the nerve to start doing push-ups on stage! I tell the guys with the SP12’s: ‘Turn the music off!’, and I started goin’ on him, off the beats of his push-ups! The crowd went wild! That was round one”.

JJ: “Mikey came back on his second verse and destroyed Melle. Mel came back and stared doing a written rhyme – it wasn’t even a battle rhyme – and everybody started booing. In the middle of his rhymes he was like ‘Well fuck y’all motherfuckers! I’m takin’ the belts anyway!’”

MD: “Grandmaster Caz picked both of the belts up, when I had my back turned, and started walking off!”

JJ: “Mikey didn’t try to stop ‘em, and that pissed me off. I’m thinking ‘Don’t let that motherfucker walk off the stage with your belt!’, and he walked the fuck out! Mikey’s just standing there. I think he’s in shock”.

MD: “Big Daddy Kane was tryin’ to stop Melle Mel. He pushed Kane right down the stairs!”

THE AFTERMATH: Mikey never recovered the original belt, but was given a “bigger and better” one by the organizers. Melle hung onto his two.

THE WINNER: Wrestling?

Originally printed in Hip-Hop Connection #220.