Swizz Beatz’ Instagram Verzuz Battles Will Soon Feature Jamaican Artistes
Celebrity musicians have been finding unique ways to keep the people and their fans who are staying at home relaxed and entertained. Of the many attempts at this form of entertainment are the ‘Verzuz’ battles which have without a doubt become the most popular of them.
American Hip Hop producer Swizz Beatz, who masterminded the new format of battles along with rapper-producer Timbaland, has announced that the Instagram live show may soon feature Reggae and Dancehall artistes and producers from Jamaica going head to head.
The information was revealed yesterday evening on Lila Iké’s Instagram Live listening party for her new EP, The ExPerience, which turned out to be a cool virtual hangout for some of the big names in Reggae and Dancehall, who called in to lend their support to the rising songstress.
Iké was flanked by her label boss Protoje and other artistes, like Koffee, Popcaan and Skillibeng, dropped by her energetic Live which didn’t just focus on her EP but also included several genres of music including rap. The Live which lasted just over two hours included several serious conversations with artistes about their approach to music.
Each artiste that virtually passed through raised the level of hype of Iké’s informal party and by the end she was sweaty from maintaining her energetic presence throughout.
Towards the end, Protoje encourages Beatz to call in. Beatz was not unfamiliar with Iké’s work as it seems Protoje had played some of her music for him in the studio before.
He then requested Iké’s I Spy, which he danced to while on camera. At the end of the song Protoje tells Beatz about the popularity of Verzuz with Jamaican people. “The whole a Jamaica lock into Verzuz,” he said.
To which Beatz replied: “We coming to Jamaica soon still with Verzuz so be ready.”
Protoje then assures Beatz that Jamaica is definitely ready for the battle. The conversation happens as Beatz’ wife, Alicia Keys casually plays a Stevie Wonder tune on the piano in the background.
Verzuz has continued to gain popularity by engaging some big names in the music biz, for example, tomorrow Nelly and Ludacris are expected to trade blows.
Two of the most well-known female artistes in R&B, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott brought in over a billion views and shares when they battled. Another epic battle that is still talked about was when Babyface and Teddy Riley came head to head.
It’s a very exciting prospect for Jamaican reggae and dancehall artistes as these battles are held on the world stage. Of course, it’s still early and no details have been released but there are endless possibilities of dancehall and reggae deejays and producers who can go head to head and provide exciting entertainment.
Fans were excited about the potential Jamaican Verzuz but many of them chose to let Iké know that they were very proud of her EP which has seven tracks and is available for streaming everywhere.