Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, You Might Break the Internet in 2023 with These 5 Verzuz
During the pandemic, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland went track-for-track on Instagram live to see who had the better catalog. What they didn’t realize is that their bright idea would then turn into a million-dollar brand, Verzuz. The Verzuz rap battle series grew from a casual Instagram live to nostalgic live performances that can also be streamed from anywhere in the country.
After breaking an Instagram live stream record of over 6 Million views and regularly averaging 1 million viewers across all platforms, Timbaland and Swizz were able to scale and grow the brand. Last year, Triller acquired the series for about $55 million. The duo joined Triller’s management team, became shareholders in its parent company, split up a portion of their equity stake to 46 other artists who appeared on Verzuz, and the rest is history!
After some of hip-hop and R&B’s greatest artists made their appearances including Gucci Mane, Jeezy, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Brandi, Monica, and many others Verzuz is now tuning up for its’ third season and fans want more iconic match ups!
We’ve compiled 5 legendary match-ups that would be bound to break the internet.
5. Busta Rhymes vs Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne is one of the very few legends that have not participated in a Verzuz battle yet. He’d be one of the very few contemporary artists that can match Busta’s energy, or his catalog hit for hit. This makes for a great matchup.
4. Diddy vs Jermaine Dupri aka Bad Boy vs So So Def
Even after the viral moments of The Lox vs Dipset, Diddy vs Jermaine Dupri would be culture-shifting. Diddy and Jermaine Dupri both have a long history together and haven’t always seen eye to eye. However, the two have already had words about possibly doing a Verzuz with a night of no drama. “JD, if you want that smoke, you can get that smoke anytime,” said Diddy. “Let’s come together and do that Bad Boy, So So Def in Atlanta. It ain’t no Verzuz, it’s just hit for hit.”
3. Usher vs Chris Brown
Even though Usher doesn’t seem interested at the moment, battling Chris Brown would definitely be one of Verzuz’s best battles. Brown would likely dominate the stage with his club hits including Kiss Kiss, Pills & Automobiles, and Loyal and then switch up the tempo with some of his classics such as Yo (Excuse Me Miss), Grass Ain’t Greener, and Say Goodbye. Meanwhile, Usher would come in swinging with some of his biggest hits including U Don’t Have to Call, You Make Me Wanna, Superstar, and Confessions. Usher told Janine Rubenstein that he doesn’t even think Verzuz could handle his legendary hits. “I don’t think y’all ready for nothing like that. You might be ready for something like that on stage, maybe in the future. Stay tuned,” the seasoned artist also told E! Daily Pop.
2. Ye vs Drake
Given Kanye and Drake’s feudal back-and-forth moments that we’ve witnessed over the past several months, a Verzuz would be quite interesting to see from both of the highly successful artists. Both of them dropped chart-topping albums in 2021 in well — Drake with Certified Lover Boy and Ye with Donda. When Kanye made an appearance on Revolt’s Drink Champ’s, Ye spoke on doing a Verzuz stating, “I’m winning every situation … Yea, absolutely. But it already happened, he played one of my leaked songs and it was better than every other song this year.”
1. Jay Z vs Nas
From the untimely death of Notorious B.I.G. to Takeover to Ether, the battle for King of N.Y. will never die; not even with a Verzuz. Fans have long waited for Nas and JAY-Z to rekindle their rivalry in a Verzuz battle, which would make for arguably the biggest match-up in the series’ history.
Nas recently spoke on the beef between the two New York rappers on his latest album King’s Disease III.
“No beef or rivals, they playing ‘Ether’ on TIDAL,” Nas raps on the Hit-Boy-produced track. “Brothers can do anything when they decide to / In a Range Rover, dissecting bars from ‘Takeover.’”
It’s highly unlikely that this rap battle will actually happen. However, the match up would be a close one.
No matter if you’re a legend of 30 years or a young OG of the millennials, nearly every artist who appeared on VERZUZ has benefitted from “the VERZUZ Effect.” The Verzuz Effect is the aftermath of making a Verzuz appearance that includes a boost in streams, sales, and overall visibility artists that experience following a VERZUZ event. Outside of increased streams is its’ peacemaking effect. One of the most popular VERZUZ events was Gucci Mane and Jeezy’s heated competition in November. Prior to the event, Jeezy and Gucci were locked in a 15-year long beef, maybe the same will happen with Diddy vs. JD and Ye vs. Drake.