For rap fans old enough to remember the good old days of sparring rappers, this is all very dismaying. Then again, there may be a more charitable way of looking at all of these videos. No matter the quality, there is something undeniably charming about rappers diverting their energies to film these things in their back yards. Take, for instance, Cam'ron's nearly eight-minute sequel to "Curtis," titled "C.U.R.T.I.S." It opens with a hooded 50 Cent impersonator in a courtroom, ratting out everyone in sight. (An intertitle reveals that the acronym unpacks as "Co-operating Unit Reinforcing Telling In Secrecy.") At one point, Cam and his crew huddle around a trash-can fire, harmonizing about 50's snitching feats, as a sing-along subtitle mocks 50 for snitching on everyone and "thier inlaws" (sic).

The typo gives the clip the rough charm of teenagers drafting a school project. There are brisker, more efficient ways of making money—making music worth buying, for example. But if battling itself is an art, what bespeaks an art-for-art's-sake sensibility more than making things for free?