The Swamp Rats need a swamp rap.

The New Jersey Nets — imprisoned for a few more years in the marshlands of the Garden State suburbs before a proposed moved to Brooklyn — have asked budding rappers to write the ultimate urban paean to the team.

And one of the Nets’ owners — some guy named Shawn Carter — will pick the winning rhyme.

But shouldn’t Carter — also known by the nom de guerre Jay-Z — be writing the rap himself?

His spokeswoman refused to explain why the four-time Grammy winner can’t find the time to shout his favorite team’s theme song.

But in a statement, the future Mr. Beyonce Knowles suggested that it’s more fun to listen to the caterwauling of hip-hopping amateurs.

“It’s going to be fun to hear the different ways that fans capture the flavor of Nets basketball through music,” he said. “The Nets are a hot team and we’re looking for a song to match the intensity of the players and the game experience.”

The winning song will become part of the sonic assault at the Continental Airlines Arena. In addition, the winning songwriter — call him Vanilla Coke — will get to hang out with Jay-Z at a future game.

To enter the contest, record your Nets-inspired rhymes on a CD or cassette and send them to “Nets Song Contest,” Nets Basketball, 390 Murray Hill Pkwy, East Rutherford, NJ 07073 by March 5.

Inspired by the contest, The Brooklyn Papers is submitting this entry:

“The Nets are coming on and how!
And just like Duvall in Apocalypse Now
The whiff in the air is the smell of victory
Or maybe just the swamps of northern Jersey”

©2006 Community Newspaper Group