MOS DEF said he doesn't know why Jay-Z has given himself the title of 'Greatest Rapper Alive'.
The Ecstatic rapper reportedly said that he has issues with Jay-Z's alleged "trade claim", explaining that more deserving hip-hop artists have paved the way for the title.
He said: "My response was to me seeing an article where [Jay-Z] was referred to, with trademarks following it, as the 'Greatest Rapper Alive'.
"Now that don't have nothin' to do with me, but if you saying that, that's a trade claim...If you saying that, you saying you better than Slick Rick, who's still very alive and well? You saying you better than Rakim? You saying you better than Black Thought? People making that claim have never been in a position to defend that in an open forum."
He added: "I'm not talking about making a diss record or trying to go in on somebody's girl...When people start coming out and making claims they're gonna have to defend, like, who have you had to defend them against? It's certainly been with people not on your level."