An up-and-coming teenage rapper from England has been sentenced to nearly five years behind bars after pleading guilty to killing a young man earlier this year.

According to the BBC, an unnamed 18 year-old was given four and a half years in prison for the manslaughter of Ikye Nmezu from north London last February. Ikye's death was the result of a back-and-forth exchange of rap lyrics via the Internet.

Reports claim the two teens came across one another in Ponders End, north London when the defendant used a brick to hit Iyke on the forehead before running away.

The 16-year-old victim was later taken to two hospitals and was treated for a couple weeks before finally collapsing and passing away due to an abscess to the brain caused by infection.

A friend of the suspect, Daryl Palmer, pleaded guilty to telling police he and his friend were not at the scene of the crime during the physical rap confrontation. Palmer, 20, was sentenced to two years' youth custody.