Opinion

MARTIN: Who Should Have the Next Verzuz Battle?

A recent trend has shaken up the Instagram world. 

On August 31, two beautiful queens took to Instagram on an American webcast known as “Verzuz” to battle it out with their great music. Monica Arnold, mostly known as Monica, and Brandy Norwood, also known as Brandy, faced off in a R&B showdown that broke Instagram and spilled over to Twitter. The fans desperately clamored for it and when these two artists delivered it was what the fans wanted and more. Obviously, Brandy and Monica had their fallouts, but they came together to make a great event for their fans.

November 19, we had another legendary Verzuz battle with two trap artists that have feuded over the years, Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Many fans loved it, even though it was way more intense than Brandy and Monica’s. Seeing this type of event bring in millions of viewers made me and many fans wonder, what would be the next great Verzuz battle. 

For me I would love to see two other Verzuz battles between legends, Lil Wayne and Eminem, and Mike Will Made-It and Metro Boomin. Lil Wayne and Eminem are the big one. They are so comparable, and it makes a lot of sense. I believe the amount of hits they both have and also the fanbases would be great. The flows of both artists are crazy, and the older generation of rap fans could definitely join in and enjoy this one. This might be one of the longest Verzuz too. These artists have albums worth of music that people love and would want to hear. Lil Wayne has the collection of “Tha Carter” albums and Eminem has “The Slim Shady”, “The Marshall Mathers LP”, and “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”. I believe if they could make this happen this would be the biggest audience they have ever had for an episode. 

An under the radar but legendary battle that would be Mike Will Made-It versus Metro Boomin. Right now, they are Atlanta legends that have defined the sound of the last decade with plenty of hits. Of the two Mike got the head start in the 2010’s with hits like, Future’s “Turn On The Lights”, 2 Chainz “No Lie”, and Kanye West’s “Mercy”. He also signed Rae Sremmurd and produced all of their hits. Later in the decade he did Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA” and Beyonce’s “Formation”. Metro Boomin is younger but has those hits too with songs like, Migos’ “Bad and Boujee”, Post Malone’s “Congratulations”, Future’s “Mask Off”, and iLoveMakonnen and Drake’s “Tuesday”. That Atlanta battle would have the whole nation rocking with memories of the last decade we shared.

With this webcast, it has given us something to look forward to while many quarantine and try to social distance the best way possible. Verzuz seems to be a great production so far and has gained traction over time with the big names on. For me, the next battles I would love to see is Lil Wayne versus Eminem and Mike Will Made-It versus Metro Boomin. Who do you believe should have the next Verzuz battle?

– De’Vante Martin Sophomore is a mass commincation major from St. Joseph, La.