Timbaland and Swizz Beatz on ‘VERZUZ’ battle series: “We want to celebrate the architects of good music”
You may have heard Swizz Beatz and Timbaland‘s names mentioned a lot more than usual as of late. It’s not because they’ve released any new music, instead they’ve created an online cultural movement put together to entertain the world as it sits in quarantine due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
An extension of rap’s battle scene, VERZUZ puts fans and artists together in one (virtual) room as some of music’s most talented creators take turns playing 20 of their biggest hits trying to outdo their opponent. Kicked off by the super producers themselves when they faced off against each other at the end of March, battles since have included The-Dream vs Sean Garrett, Hit-Boy vs Boi-1da and Ne-Yo vs Johnta Austin.
Here, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz speak exclusively to NME about the online series, the most requested match-ups, and live music’s digital future.
Why the decision to turn your initial battle into a series?
Timbaland: “Well, it’s not really a battle – it’s a celebration of our heroes in music, the ones who make us feel a certain type of way. Given what’s currently going on in the world, it’s a way to give back. It’s also an education, it’s educating people on the music, its creators and where this feeling comes from.”
So what are the rules exactly?
Swizz Beatz: “Each artist plays 20 hits. They get to play a verse and a chorus and there’s no rewinding songs. We would prefer less talking but we can’t stop people from talking; a lot of people talk when they get nervous.”
Why do you think VERZUZ is so popular?
Swizz Beatz: “It’s authentic. It’s educational, it’s interesting and it’s music. People love music, and they love good music. So what we wanted to do was celebrate the architects of good music – whether it was the writers, whether it was the producers, and we’re about to take it to a lot of different areas and a lot of different places.
“With me and Tim putting our name on it, fans know that they’re gonna get quality, and I think that has a lot to do with it because there are a lot of channels and a lot of people doing the same things on Instagram Live and a lot of people are trying to copy what we’ve been doing, which is cool, but we’re really into the curation and we’re really into the quality and making it special and keeping it special.”
