In the space of a week, Australians have been treated to some out-of-the-ordinary performances by not one but two of their political leaders, with Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten both dropping some dope rhymes.

On the eve of grand final weekend, the Prime Minister appeared on Channel Ten's The Project, and managed to sneak in some off-the-cuff rapping in a chat about the footy.

Sorry, this video has expired Turnbull surprised The Project panel with some quick rhymes

Seven days later, the Opposition Leader used an interview with Nova radio hosts Fitzy and Wippa to test out his own poetic prowess.

Sorry, this video has expired DJ Shorty fired back with his own hot track

So who did it better? Let's examine the phat beats of each candidate and compare them in some key performance areas.

Freestyle flow

As the first to enter the rap battle arena, the Prime Minister was always on the front-foot in the freestyling stakes.

While DJ Bill went into his interview with Fitzy and Wippa ready to rap, MC Mal's foray came off as more organic.

The panel had already been discussing rap, with Macklemore set to appear at the NRL grand final.

Host Gorgi Cochlan then asked: "So, Prime Minister, do you have a favourite hip hop artist?"

The Prime Minister admitted that he was, in fact, still grieving Tupac, which led to his short, tasty rhyme.

MC Mal: 1

DJ Shorty: 0

Quality of rhymes

With only two stanzas to compare from MC Mal, he'd want a pretty high strike rate in terms of rhyme quality.

"Waleed, you're the man, you're the Tigers fan."

In case you were wondering, Waleed Aly is indeed a big Tigers fan. He used to be their mascot.

Back to the critique though, aside from cat sat on a mat, man/fan has to be one of the easiest rhymes around.

"Fitzy can talk, but the Crows can squawk."

Not a strong finish from the PM, but it works. (FWIW: Yes, this is the same Fitzy of Fitzy and Wippa fame. He's a regular on The Project's Friday panel.)

Now Billie Smalls, having come prepared, had almost an entire soliloquy. He started with some simple rhymes in pack/sack, time/rhyme, before taking a chance with this lyric:

"Our economy's in debt, but Malcolm's just chillin'. "Hey Malcolm, can you lend us a couple of million?"

It's not a slick rhyme, but purely for creativity, we're giving this one to Bill.i.am.

MC Mal: 0

DJ Shorty: 1

Sledging

Once again, there's not a lot to dissect in the Prime Minister's track. We've only really got one diss to rate him on — and it's that Fitzy, a morning radio talk show host, can talk.

But no-one is safe with DJ Shorty on the case. Fitzy cops it again, as does the affable Wippa, but the Labor leader saves his best sledges for fellow politicians.

"Each day I listen to you fellas whinge and whine, "I'd rather go to Question Time with Christopher Pyne!"

The punches don't stop there.

"Will I rap again, it's anyone's guess But there's more chance of Tony Abbott voting Yes."

So there's a pretty clear winner in the sledging stakes.

MC Malcolm: 0

DJ Shorty: 1

Penalties

We do have to deduct one point from DJ Shorty for dabbing at the end of the rap. Unacceptable.

DJ Shorty: -1

And the winner is...

Democracy. With our competitors tied at 1-1 after penalties, this contest just goes to show that attaining sweet street cred is not the end-game.

Any politician's real MO is, of course, getting re-elected. Whether this rap battle will mean anything for either of the leaders on that front remains to be seen.