Hip-hop face-off

Scribe and Savage go head to head in the Ultimate Battle of the Century Tour. Photos / Supplied

When two local hip-hop stars hit the road in April and May Scribe will not be giving it up for Savage like he once said in his song Not Many.

This time the heavyweights will be at war on the Scribe vs Savage tour, also known as the Ultimate Battle of the Century Tour.

Ladies and gentleman, in the red corner, hailing from South Auckland, founding member of New Zealand's most prolific hip-hop group the Deceptikonz, multi-platinum selling solo artist, and the first NZ hip-hop artist to sell two million singles in the United States, it's the Bodysnatcher, Savage.

And in the blue corner, hailing from Christchurch, the holder of the longest-charting single in New Zealand, the artist who has sold over a quarter of a million albums in Australia and New Zealand, the MC Australasian Rolling Stone readers voted their second-favourite rapper (after Eminem) it's The Crusader, Scribe.

The idea for the show came about following the I Love the Islands Samoa Benefit tour with one of the highlights being the battle between the two MCs. That show was such a hit with the audiences the rappers decided to make a nationwide tour out of it.

Scribe is also featured in the upcoming first episode of Savage's new TV show Hip Hop High to be screened on TV2 soon.

* The tour starts in Timaru on Apr 23, before heading to the Colosseum, Tauranga, Apr 29; Sessions, Gisborne, Apr 30; Sideline Bar, Napier, May 1; Republic Bar, Auckland, May 7; Flow, Hamilton, May 8 and Twin Peaks, Kaitaia, May 21. Tickets ($25) go on sale Monday from dawnraid.nztix.co.nz or 09 887 1004.