By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rapper Moses "Moe' Tre" Pullins, 24, of Avondale, is ready for the next bout.

Rapper Moses "Moe' Tre" Pullins (Michael Snyder photo)

After winning the Dec. 19 "Freestyle Fridays" MC battle on BET's 106 & Park: Top Ten Live, he'll be back in New York on Tuesday, as returning champion, to battle in the second round. The show airs at 6 p.m. Friday on BET. If he wins seven weekly battles, Pullins "retires" to the "Freestyle Fridays" Hall of Fame.

"Everybody that's been retired has either landed a record deal or a production deal," Pullins says.

In the BET battles, rappers take turns spinning impromptu rhymes in front of celebrity judges. MC battles are in Cincinnati, in clubs such as the Ritz, Top Cat's, Mad Frog and at the hip-hop festival at Annie's, Scribble Jam. The battles, which went mainstream in Eminem's hit film, 8 Mile, aren't as easy as they might look on BET, Pullins says.

"Battling on national TV is way different than battling in the club," he says. "When it's TV, it's one time and one time only, no do-overs."

But Pullins, who moved here from Chicago six years ago, is up to the pressure. "It's going to be a little more relaxing, since now that I won the first round, I go second. I'm going to stay with the same game plan. To be the champion, you got to knock 'em out. You can't just swing at him and hope something lands. I'm going to act like I'm the challenger, not the champ."

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E-mail lnager@enquirer.com