Singer Ashanti is appreciative that she’s being included as part of the “Verzuz” trailblazing transition.
By now, many have learned that the popular social media musical event created by super producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland has entered into a partnership with social networking platform Triller. In the deal, “Verzuz” is slated to branch outside of the U.S. by building a hub for global creatives. However, the most noteworthy aspect of the agreement may be that the 43 artists who participated in the live Instagram battles are now Triller shareholders.
Ashanti is one of the 43 artists who performed during “Verzuz” and she took to her Instagram page on Wednesday, March 10, with a warm message to the founders following the huge announcement. “The importance of ownership… the generosity in sharing and the power of being put in a position to build is priceless,” the singer captioned a screenshot of an article reporting the news. She added, “Much love to my bro’s @therealswizzz @timbaland❤️.”
A wise man from the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, New York — i.e., Jay-Z — once said, “We measure success by how many people successful next to you,” and apparently, fans in the comments section felt the same way. Popular nutritionist Coach Gessie Thompson commented, “YES! YES! YES! THAT is how it’s done!!!!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾THAT is how we build #BlackWealth.” She added, “Well done.
@therealswizzz @timbaland and the visionaries that intentionally framed this as a WIN. WIN. WIN!!!” Another person wrote, “Thats Awesome all while supporting the culture REPRESENT❤️👏🏽.” “I’m just speechless at tha thought tha power tha Concept to create and help,” a third expressed. “If All our Black Men of Importance Make these type moves yes now we moving forward.”
But, of course, not everyone was excited about the new deal. Some have even accused Swizz and Timbaland of “selling out.” Several people echoed those sentiments in Ashanti’s comments section, including one frustrated fan who wrote, “This is fine but why can we never keep anything. Everything that starts off as black owned is always sold off to someone else.”
Another wrote, “I get it it’s dope but what happen to blacc ownership why build when we are just going to sell. Much respect though I just don’t know though is it really a win? But my opinion aye 👏👏👏.”
In any major business deal, it’s hard to make everyone 100 percent happy. However, it seems like Swizz and Timbaland have a handle on what they’re doing, with what started as a way to provide entertainment for fans who were sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
