The IG Live Battle That You're Missing

If this crisis has meant anything, it has shown us the dedication of healthcare professionals, the stamina of essential grocery-store and pharmacy employees, and more. However, it has also created an avenue for new forms of creativity that are sure to be the hot, cool brands to watch going forward.  Verzuz.tv is just that!

While we already knew that mega-producers Timbaland and Swizz Beats were killer with music, we didn't know that they were also amazing content producers as well. Somehow the two have teamed up to create one of the most anticipated events on Instagram.  It also doesn't hurt that these guys are so connected that their "co-workers" do drops for them on IG which builds up the anticipation. Missy Elliott and Jamie Foxx are only a few of the massive names to do so.

This is about a friendly battle between two producing legends in music where the fans decide the informal winner. To date, such giants as Rza have gone up against DJ Premiere and Babyface against Teddy Riley. But these battles are so much more than some form of competition. 

There's a moment of community and true democracy between the glitterati and Joe Public as everyone from Michelle Obama to Mariah Carey to Raekwon to your neighbor down the hall are all gathered together to comment, crack jokes, swoon, and more in real-time as they watch the split-screen of these legends talk to each other, give a behind-the-scenes known previously only to insiders about the making of the track and/or anecdotes about the singers involved. It's all so intimate because it's right in the palm of your hand as you hold the phone while sending mad hearts, and sending up comments. Talk about a walk down memory lane! If after listing to the top 20 hits that these creatives select to play live doesn't get your spirits up and make you think of club days, parties with friends, special moments in life then nothing will.  Call it a virtual studio visit. Indeed,  people are so into it that the streams of each produced track wildly for days after from Spotify and other platforms. 

We can only wait to see who is next. Indeed, the match between Riley and Babyface topped 500k viewers and basically sent IG into a bit of a tailspin since the program was not designed for such capacity for one particular stream at one time. In addition, Riley quickly found that more is in fact so much that they had to re-schedule the first match due to the fact that he had so much equipment, video, audio that it actually worked against any type of smooth performance.  In the world of live social media, less is more so that the tech functions more as a conduit rather than a true virtual stage-of-sorts. 

This is where the cool kidz official are for the lockdown.  Rumors are swirling about Dr. Dre participation!?! Don't be on the outside looking in. For more info: http://verzuztv.com/