Erykah Badu and Jill Scott’s display of neo-soul excellence took place on Saturday (May 9th), and the Instagram live stream garnered the most viewers on a “Verzuz” battle ever with nearly 750,000. Although many agreed that the “battle” felt more like a mutual celebration of each other’s talent and vast catalogues, it did mark the first female face-off of the “Verzuz” series, and it looks like the people showed their appreciation for finally including some ladies by tuning in in vast numbers. At one point, the two artists garnered nearly 750K, reaching just shy of it with 749K. Regardless, this number blows the previous record of roughly 500K set by Teddy Riley and Babyface last month out of the water.

To prepare for what would become a record-breaking battle, the two Grammy-winners launched a joint line of “Verzuz”-themed merch, which includes hoodies and graphic tees in black, white, gold, and orange colourways. The collection can be found on both Erykah and Jill’s websites here and here.

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The event was also done in partnership with Live Nation’s Femme It Forward series that celebrates women in entertainment. Watch the full battle below:

The Verzuz battles are the new wave, and artists are wanting their pie of the pie. From writers to producers to artists, millions of people have tuned into Instagram Live to watch Swizz Beatz & Timbaland‘s Verzuz series. This weekend (May 9) we’re all set to watch Erykah Badu and Jill Scott celebrate their hits with R&B-soul fans, and in a recent interview with Nick Cannon, John Legend hinted that he and Alicia Keys may have something cooking up, as well.

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“I think that would be the best thing,” he told Cannon. “Honestly, if we do it, like a dueling pianos—” Nick Cannon jumped in excitedly co-signing the idea. “That would be crazy! I would love to see that. I mean, obviously I’m a huge fan of both of you. Not just your songs and your artistry, but really, your musicianship,” Cannon said. “I feel like you guys don’t get the opportunity to show that off. Especially for this generation who needsd to understand musicality and the importance of theory and putting all of that together for people to be as successful as you and Alicia. We gotta see that.”

John Legend hinted that it actually may be in the works. “I think we will,” he replied. “What I do like with the way it’s been going so far is we’re seeing producers and writers, more than just artists. The producers and writers, what’s so cool about it is, maybe you didn’t know that they produced this song. For me and Alicia, you know it’s our songs ’cause we are the front person for them. We were on the radio singing them, but for all of these producers like Teddy [Riley], Babyface, and all these other producers, ‘Oh, I didn’t know they were behind that song.”‘ 

He added that the best part of the Verzuz series is the ability for audiences to learn about the music history behind the jams that we hold near and dear to our hearts. Watch John Legend chat with Nick Cannon below about his home life, quarantining, his forthcoming album, and new music.

The Verzuz IG Battles have music fans revisiting some of their favorite hits of yesteryear. Teddy Riley and Babyface’s “celebration of music” may have faced a few hiccups, but when the two megaproducers-artists were able to share a split-screen, nearly 4 million people tuned in to listen to many of their favorite jams from decades ago. Bobby Brown was an artist who made appearances on both sides as he’s worked with both Teddy and Babyface, and recently Teddy Riley spoke with ESSENCE to share a story about how “My Prerogative” almost didn’t happen.

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“Actually for ‘My Prerogative,’ we did it at the house,” Teddy Riley told the outlet of the song he produced. “He sung it just like how we wanted it. We was bull crapping around and that’s how it’s supposed to be. You’ve got to keep that same thing when you get to the studio. The problem was when we got to the studio and it was time to sing, he wanted to go on tenor only mode. I was like, ‘This song is too high for some tenor only mode.'”

The two couldn’t see eye to eye and according to the story, Bobby Brown “started flexing on the famed producer.” Riley didn’t take the bait. “I was like, ‘Well, listen. We don’t have to do this’ and then [Bobby] walked out on me… I was like, ‘I could take this song and give it to someone else.’ But this was made strictly for him.”

After taking a three-hour break, Brown returned and conceded. However, he let it be known that if he didn’t like the finished product, he was going to do things his way. He ended up loving it and “My Prerogative” topped Billboard charts for 24 weeks. “You’ve got to push an artist beyond what they’re thinking and what they feel like they can do. That’s when they know they can do more. Some artists, they just settle. I don’t settle.”

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Babyface and Teddy Riley's "Verzuz" battle Instagram live on Monday (April 20th) managed to turn into a big success after several delays, and even led both artists to experiencing a major surge in streams afterward. The legendary producers finally had the chance to face-off over IG live on Monday after multiple postponements had begun putting a damper on the whole affair. It was all worth the trouble, though, especially considering how much traffic the battle brought to both Babyface and Teddy's streaming numbers.

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According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data reports, all 49 tracks used in the battle combined garnered 3 million on-demand audio streams in the U.S. the day after the live event took place (April 21st). This is a massive increase from day prior, which only recorded 1.4 million cumulative streams, meaning Face and Teddy's collective numbers saw a 115% surge within the span of one day.

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The battle track that garnered the most streams on the 21st was the Babyface-produced "Can We Talk" by Tevin Campbell, with 232,000 on-demand audio streams, a 110% increase from the 110,000 streams the day before. During the battle, Tevin tweeted that "'Can We Talk' is a song about stalking but it works every time," which may have had something to do with the increased interest in streaming the song.

Could this really be happening? It was rumored that Dr. Dre was apprehensive about agreeing to a Verzuz music battle, but according to Diddy, things have been moving forward. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have created an entirely new lane for the music industry with their Verzuz series, and with each new matchup, they continue to break records. Teddy Riley and Babyface had over 500K viewers and a record 4 million people who tuned in to watch them relive their greatest hits.

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Of course, hip hop wants to see more icons and legends connect for Verzuz, and Diddy and Dr. Dre’s names were tossed around. It didn’t seem as if Dre was immediately on board, but during an Instagram Live chat with Fat Joe on Friday (April 24), Diddy confirmed that he and his famous friend are working out the details.

“We’re definitely talking about it,” Diddy revealed. “You heard it here. You heard it here on the show.” Fat Joe couldn’t contain himself. Soon, the two men were yelling over each other. “Joe-prah! Breaking news, Joe-prah!” Diddy teased. Swizz and Timbaland have previously stated that if this battle were to take place, it may come with a charge to viewers. However, Swizz later clarified and stated that if this one cost fans money, it would go to charity. Watch Diddy spill the beans to Fat Joe below.

These Instagram Live Battles have everyone desiring a chance to show off their catalog. Sure, any two artists can decide to go head-to-head at any time to please their fans, but because Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have created Verzuz, many artists want their stamps of approval. We've watched friendly battles between Scott Storch and Mannie Fresh, T-Pain and Lil Jon, RZA and DJ Premier, The-Dream and Sean Garrett... and now Ray J wants his turn.

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While Teddy Riley—who just faced off against Babyface in a battle between legends—was livestreaming, Ray J was spotted in the comments letting it be known that he's ready. "Yo @timbaland I'm next up!! Who want the smoke?" The innocent request quickly circulated on social media, and since then, people have been weighing in with their opinions. Let's just say, not everyone has been kind. 

"Ray J wants to do an IG live battle, and I say let 'em. He can play 'Wait A Minute' and clear the place out," one Twitter user wrote. Another added, "Not everybody that’s in the music scene deserve a battle. Im not trying to see a Ray J, Romeo, Bow Wow, Lil Salt Shaker, mixed paprika smoke or emcee basura go beat for beat or bar for bar. Let’s cut the bulls**t people. ???‍♂️."

Supporters of the singer-reality star pointed out his discography including tracks like "Wait a Minute" with Lil Kim, "Another Day in Paradise" with his sister Brandy, "Sexy Can I" featuring Young Berg also known as Hitmaka, "Famous" with Chris Brown, and "Tie Me Down" with the New Boyz. Some have suggested Ray J battle against artists like Fabolous or Chris Brown, but not everyone was on board. If Ray J did participate in a Verzuz battle, who do you think he should go up against?

Teddy Riley and Babyface finally went head-to-head in a battle of the hits on Instagram Live, facing off as part of the Verzuz challenge with minimal technical difficulties this time. In the middle of their face-off, Dr. Dre called up Teddy Riley and spoke about the prospect of his battle against Diddy, which was suggested by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland. 

During the call, Dre calls Teddy Riley a legend and commends him and Babyface for finally figuring out how to live-stream for the culture. Then, he repeatedly states that he's unsure this sort of challenge is right for him.

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"I don't know if I'm interested in it," says Dre after Teddy tells him he already knows the rapper/producer would kill it. "I don't know if I'm interested in doing that but we'll see what it is. I was going back and forth with Puff earlier today."

As of now, it doesn't look like this proposed Verzuz battle between Dr. Dre and Diddy will actually happen. Unless Dre changes his mind, you can probably count this one out.

Who do you think would make a good replacement for Dr. Dre against Diddy? Does anybody have the hits to match his catalog?

We've watched a number of our favorite artists go toe-to-toe in friendly Instagram Live Battles. The events were first created to pass the time during quarantine, and now Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have turned them into a full-on business. The award-winning artists have become some sort of online music promoters as they broker many of these battles, and one that fans have been looking forward to for weeks was between music legends Teddy Riley and Babyface.

Both men are icons in their own right, and from the inception, Babyface been made clear that their "battle" was really just a celebration of Black music. The men attempted to connect over the weekend, but a series of unfortunate events—Teddy's technical issues—caused a cancelation just three songs into the battle. They were finally able to come together once again on Monday (April 20), giving everyone the 4-20 they deserve.

Over 500K people were tuned at one time and after the battle was over, Swizz revealed that over 3 million people watched in total. If you were one of the lucky fans (like myself) who was able to groove to some classic hits, you would've also seen a few familiar faces in the comments including Scott Storch, Diddy, Pusha T, Common, Busta Rhymes, 2 Chainz, Common, Tamar Braxton, Mariah Carey, Raekwon, Eniko Hart, Fat Joe, Boosie Badazz, Snoop Dogg, Brandy, Ludacris, Kandi Burruss, Ashanti, Gabrielle Union, Brian-Michael Cox, Keyshia Cole, Charlamagne Tha God, Anthony Anderson, Chris Tucker...and many, many more.

Toni Braxton became the talk of social media following the first Instagram Live attempt between Teddy and Babyface for her seemingly funny, yet shady, tweets. She emerged as a viewer for Monday's Live, revealing that there was a song that went to another artist that she wished was her own. "I was so jealous," she commented as Babyface played Tevin Campbell's "I'm Ready." She added, "When I heard that I wanted that song so bad!" Check out a few highlights and memes about the battle between Teddy Riley and Babyface below. Let us know your favorite songs from either one of these greats in the comments.

Toni Braxton was on the same page as most viewers who tuned in to watch Babyface and Teddy Riley attempt to go head to head on Saturday, and her whole befuddled journey has been immortalized in a series of live tweets. After their initial Verzuz battle was postponed due to Babyface's unfortunate diagnosis with coronavirus (from which he has now recovered), the legendary producers surprised fans by announcing that they'd finally be going up against one another on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, a myriad of issues caused the live streamed event to turn into an even greater disappointment than the prior cancellation. Teddy Riley showed up with a full entourage complete with a live band, camera crew, and a backup dancer. To top it all off, his sound was absolutely terrible, which ultimately led to the battle having to be postponed yet again. Practically everyone was appalled at how drastically this battle went up in smoke, and that even included Babyface's work wife, Toni Braxton.

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When the night began, Toni was stoked to observe what should have been history going down between her "musical husband" and Mr. Riley, retweeting Babyface's announcement of the battle and adding, "Oh wow this is gonna be lit."

To call Babyface a “music legend” is an understatement. During his decades-long career, he’s crafted dozens of No. 1 hits and worked with the likes of Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Lil Wayne, TLC, Tevin Campbell, Whitney Houston, Ariana Grande, Az Yet, Boyz II Men, Madonna, Bobby Brown, Dru Hill, Bruno Mars, En Vogue, Brandy, Tamia, Fall Out Boy, Diana Ross, Beyoncé, Faith Evans, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and many others. The 62-year-old singer-songwriter-producer has also released a string of successful solo and collaborative albums, making his imprint on music one that can never be duplicated.

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Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have been coordinating Instagram Live Battles between music greats. Last week, fans were thrilled to hear that Babyface and Teddy Riley—another artist who goes beyond “music legend” status—would join together to take fans on a walk down memory lane. However, the battle was canceled at the last minute with promises that it would be rescheduled at a later date.

Today (April 10), Babyface addressed why he had to delay his IG Battle with Teddy Riley, sharing with the world that he tested positive for COVID-19. He thanked those who sent him well wishes for his birthday and shared that he feels “blessed” so see another celebration of his birth. “I tested positive for the Covid19 virus, as did my family. It’s an incredibly scary thing to go through my friends,” he wrote on social media.

“I’m happy to report we have now tested negative and are on our way back to full health,” Babyface continued. He then “officially” accepted the invitation to face off with Teddy Riley in a friendly IG Battle that he called “a Celebration of Black Music Excellence.” He added, “Get ready for a night of groove and love. Ladies… put on your red dress...light the candles, pour some wine, and don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes.”

The party is scheduled or Saturday, April 18 at 6:00 p.m. PST/9:00 p.m. EST. Check out Babyface’s message in full below.