The verdict is in: Rick Ross and 2 Chainz will go head-to-head in the next Verzuz battle on Thursday, Aug. 6, which has been billed the “high roller edition.”
The VerzuzTV Instagram account announced the latest pairing Tuesday (July 28) with a sleek black-and-red poster of a two-seater Verzuz-branded sports car.
The online battle series was launched in March by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. It sees competitors taking it in turns to play a song from a list of 20 tracks from across their discography as fans, friends and fellow artists tune in. A champion is later decided by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.
Their new head-to-head comes shortly after Snoop Dogg and DMX faced each other earlier this month, in what was regarded as “the battle of the dogs.” The pair ran through their hits in a swooping 21 rounds, which saw both artists praise each other and reveal their inspirations during the live streamed event which was watched by over 500,000 people. While going through their impressive roster of hits, including ‘Deep Cover’, ‘Where My Dogs At’, ‘Gin and Juice’, ‘Who Am I (What’s My Name)’ and ‘Some X Shit’, Snoop also performed ‘Ain’t No Fun’, which featured the late Nate Dogg before DMX also launched into ‘Back in One Piece’, his track with Aaliyah, who suffered a fatal plane crash in 2001.
As the series has clearly gained traction and has tarnsitioned from a quarantine pass time, to a reputable competition, mega hip-hop producer and Verzuz co-starter Timbaland is already asking frequent viewers and music lovers who should go for a spin after Chainz and Ross before they’ve even hit the stage. “What’s the next @verzuzonline ?!” the 48-year-old hitmaker wrote on Twitter Monday (July 27).
This tweet opened up the already looming discussion about how women have rarely been enlisted to compete. In May, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott made history as the first, and seemingly the last female singers/writers/produce to grace the stage.
Upon Timbaland posing the question, highly interested candidates like Missy Elliot have risen to the occasion saying, “Missy Vs Misdemeanor I’m just playin,” she replied with laughing emojis in regards to her famous nickname. But she did co-sign a fan’s Verzuz battle suggestion between female R&B groups SWV and Xscape by commenting, “Both these groups fire” with the flaming emojis.
While it is unclear whether women will be given a chance to equally participate in this platform, we can look forward to the battle between 2 Chains and Rick Ross, which will premiere on Instagram Live and Apple Music on Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. ET.
