An all-day competition of verbal dexterity and insults comes to Monterey.

A rap battle is one of the fiercest and most competitive contests in hip-hop. Two rappers – or four, in team battles – enter a makeshift “ring” called a cypher to outperform each other for the favor of the crowd or judges. It combines the verbal dexterity of debate club, the musicality of poetry, and the speed and aggression of boxing.

You might have seen a rap battle in Eminem’s 8 Mile or on Epic Rap Battles of History. And now you can see one in North Monterey.

One of the biggest rap battle leagues in North America, King of the Dot (a Toronto outfit that Drake is a big fan of), is co-sponsoring a local battle rap league called Chamber Battles run by Keegan Russell. And that partnership is bringing lots of talent to the day-long fight cards.

The event is called The Last Word and will be filmed and uploaded to YouTube (where thousands of rap battles are shared and archived) – and it may be the last Chamber Battle we see here.

“As I move forward in working with KOTD and GZ, I’ll be throwing events in major cities from Oakland to L.A.,” Russell writes by email.

Local battle rappers will represent: Maniacal and Archon are from Pacific Grove, Miggi and Bart Pimpson are from Seaside, while The Saurus, a legend who’s won back-to-back World Rap Championships, grew up in P.G.

“Saurus demands respect [for what] he’s given to the culture,” Russell says.

There are 12 battles lined up. That’s 24 competitors. That’s a lot of wordplay, lyrics, intelligence and cuss words too, honestly. It is a bastion for no-holds-barred language, and it’s mostly a young man’s game. But if you’re down, and can take the heat, count yourself lucky. It’s an impressive art form that’s so close to the street you can smell the asphalt.

THE LAST WORD happens 2-9pm Saturday, Feb. 22, at Silva’s Nightclub, 2110 N. Fremont St., Monterey. $20 (18+). KOTDtv.com.