Although Mos Def came up through freestyles and ciphers (as chronicled in Kevin Fitzgerald’s 2000 film, Freestyle), the Brooklyn, New Yorker is not typically thought of as a battle MC. Often outspoken about his peers, the artist now known as Yasiin Bey released a video today (August 7) by YouTube user RRVid718 that shows a raw competitive spirit.

With a smile, Yasiin told the camera, “Me, Black Thought, [and] King Los [versus] anybody—everybody! [We will] battle anybody; I don’t care who you tell. Red Bull Music Academy, put up a [million dollars] on that. We’ll give our winnings to charity and take your money too. I’m tired of these dudes pretendin’ like they’re dope. You’re alright, but relax! Dope niggas that think they dope—you ain’t as dope as you think. You cool, but you ain’t that deal. We don’t have to make no back-and-forth corny records about it, we can put it on its feet for the world to see.” Despite his smirk, Yasiin alluded that this is a continuation of something he said in 2010, at New Orleans, Louisiana’s Superdome—not at all a joke. “And I’m dead-ass serious—I know niggas be thinkin’ I’m crazy or whateva, I ain’t playin’.” Yasiin urged anybody that takes the message as a threat to put up their best work. “[This proposition] go for any set, any time—champion sound, for real. So let’s go. The word is out.”

In 1999, Mos Def appeared on The Roots’ Things Fall Apart album, in addition to 2008’s Rising Down. In 2000, Mos Def and Black Thought worked together on “Hurricane.” King Los, the RCA Records artist who just released his studio debut God, Money, War has not released material with Yasiin or Thought.

Check out AFH for a series of Black Thought freestyles, King Los freestyles, and Yasiin’s freestyles—and you decide. Can this unlikely trio defeat all takers? If not, who can best them?

Related: Yasiin Bey Explains His New Creative Process and Worldview in Detail (Video)