The Brandy and Monica “Verzuz” battle was one for the books. With 1.2 million viewers virtually in attendance shortly after the session started, the ladies made “Verzuz” history as the feelings of nostalgia flowed throughout the night.
Hits were played, but not before the ’90’s princesses of R&B addressed the elephant in the room — their longstanding beef, which Monica referred to as “brilliant marketing,” thanks to their hit song “The Boy Is Mine” adding fuel to the possible fan-created feud. The “Knock Knock” songstress even revealed at one point that the two had not been in contact in eight years before the showdown.
“I wanted to speak to you face to face,” Monica told Brandy. “The more we’re talked about, the more it came to be difficult, unnecessarily. And I really really am a straight shooter, and I really do admire what you’ve done musically and what you’ve had to endure personally.”
The “Full Moon” songstress mirrored those sentiments saying, “I have the utmost love and respect for you as well, for somebody to start at 12 years old,” said Brandy, “the longevity of your career, nobody [knows] what you’ve been through.”
Once the ice broke, the two women proceeded with the hit-for-hit, and some B-sides, battle. Brandy, who delivered random a capella outbursts throughout the night, kept the audience entertained with stories of rappers name dropping her in their songs. She also mentioned how, during the battle, her hands were tied legally from playing the theme song from her popular ’90’s/2000’s sitcom “Moesha,” which now is on Netflix. The actress also took a moment to dedicate “Missing You” to late entertainers such as Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, Whitney Houston and more.
But what would a legendary night of music with two legendary artists be if there wasn’t a little shade thrown between two rivals — and of course, Black Twitter was there to catch and comment on it all.
One Twitter user poked fun at Brandy’s failed attempt to solidify her friendship with Monica, writing, “Brandy said we lowkey a group right now and Monica said, “WE ARE NOT A GROUP!” Lmaooooooo chileeeee just turn it off and hang it up for the night #Verzuz.”
Meanwhile, another viewer tweeted, “There’s been a lot of cringe moments… but brandy attempting to force monica into a live duet takes the cake #Verzuz.”
The forced moments and face gestures from Monica had many people comparing the two to Issa and Molly from HBO’s “Insecure;” in the recent season, the friendship between those characters has been very rocky with many thinking they might not make it.
Nevertheless, the night was memorable like most “Verzuz” battles, but the biggest disappointment of the nearly three-hour-long combat might’ve come when Monica seemingly forgot the words to “The Boy Is Mine.” Fans were upset, and they had plenty of questions, including one fan who tweeted, “Did Monica forget the lyrics or does she truly just not want to sing with this girl? #Verzuz.”
While another user tweeted, “Me after the boy is mine didn’t go as planned #Verzuz,” and attached a GIF of the iconic moment from “America’s Next Top Model,” where Tyra Banks tells one of the contestants “I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you.”
Check out some of the other reactions to the battle below.
