Juvenile recently sat down for a virtual interview with Melissa Rios, Teddy Mora and DJ Carisma for an episode of Power 106’s Daily Dose series.
As they discussed Juvenile’s contributions to Southern rap (specifically 1999’s smash hit “Back That Azz Up”), the topic of Verzuz popped up. The Hot Boys rapper proclaimed the only person who he thinks could really give Lil Wayne a run for his money in a Verzuz battle is JAY-Z.
“JAY-Z and Wayne,” he said around the 9:21-minute mark. “C’mon, let’s stop playin’. JAY-Z, Wayne. I’m puttin’ Drake in the conversation, but let it be one of them three. Let it be the top dogs. I’ve been telling Wayne he was the best rapper since day one. He used to always put JAY-Z on a pedestal and I used to tell him ‘Aye, man. You not hearing what I’m hearing.'”
The Verzuz series seemed to pick up steam in April not long after the COVID-19 pandemic started taking over the world. For one particular event, DJ Premier and RZA went head-to-head and drew in over 90,000 viewers in roughly two minutes.
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Subsequent battles have included Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Teddy Riley and Babyface, Snoop Dogg and DMX and, more recently, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz. Due to the platform’s success, Apple Music struck up a deal with Verzuz co-founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland last month.
Timbaland & Swizz Beatz Team With Apple Music To Make 'Verzuz' IG Battle Series Even Better
Episodes are now simulcast live on Apple Music and Beats 1 simultaneously as the Verzuz Instagram Live channel. They’re also exclusively available via Apple Music on-demand following the live stream. Apple Music is working alongside Swizz and Timbo to produce new episodes of Verzuz to “continue giving fans a truly premium, high quality shared experience.”
If Juvenile has his way, Weezy and Hov will step into the arena next. Hip Hop fans can only hope.
