Run the Jewels vs. Hieroglyphics – Underground Kings, Round 1

It’s men versus man as underground heavyweights from N.Y. and ATL go against an indie hip-hop crew that’s become a Bay Area institution.

Run the Jewels, the group comprised of El-P and Killer Mike, is new. Its members, however, are anything but new to the game. El-P has been “independent as f---" since he began his career in the mid-90s with Company Flow. Killer Mike came out of the gate in the late ‘90s under the auspices of OutKast. Now partnered with Fool’s Gold Records, they’ve put out one of the best releases of 2013, and showed that you only need two people to form a super group.

And speaking of supergroups, for the most part, the Hiero crew comprised of Del the Funkee Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Pep Love, Casual and Domino started off signed to major labels but went the indie route when they became free agents. Besides being a collective of Oakland’s best lyricists and producers, they were some of the first rap artists to use the Internet as a marketing tool and to embrace the action sports community.

Who should advance to the next round? Cast your vote for the Greatest Indie Rapper Ever in the poll below.

Voting for this round closes on Thursday Oct. 31 at 3:59PM ET. Fans can vote once per hour, so keep coming back to make sure that your favorite indie rap act wins.