After years of arguing and internet exchanges, Sean “Diddy’ ‘Combs and Jermaine Dupri have agreed to duke it out musically. Still, it won’t be through the highly anticipated “Verzuz” battle fans were expecting to see.
It all went down on Thursday, Aug. 18, when the Bad Boy Records founder went on Instagram Live and invited the So So Def founder into his session, where he presented the opportunity, saying: “JD if you want that smoke, you can get that smoke anytime.”
Jermaine Dupri, who was spotted next to his production partner Bryan-Michael Cox, told Diddy to “relax” before agreeing to participate in the musical challenge. However, instead of battling, the pair has decided to showcase the history of their respective labels by playing the tracks that redefined their label and hip-hop itself.
Diddy “I look forward to officially saying since we ain’t f–king with Verzuz no more since ’cause they f–king around with our boys, we don’t need to be going against each other,” Diddy said. “Let’s come together and do that Bad Boy, So So Def in Atlanta. It ain’t no Verzuz; it’s just hit for hit.” JD replied: “Let’s do it.”
Folks on social media have already begun weighing in on which producer they think will take home the win, although the event isn’t aimed at having a winner or a loser. One Instagram felt “It should have always been Hit 4 Hit.” That person added, “You ain’t never seen a Aerosmith Guns N’ Roses Versuz.”
Another person echoed that comment, writing, “Finally!! THAT’S what we need…no against each other…HIT 4 HIT show would be dope.”
Still, the upcoming celebration did draw up a cause for concern regarding the future of “Verzuz.” According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, “Verzuz” creators Swizz Beatz and Timbaland recently filed a $28 million lawsuit against Triller over the platform. The legendary superproducers claimed the video-sharing service failed to pay them the full amount for “Verzuz” after agreeing to buy it in January 2021.
“Sounds like Verzuz is a WRAP, ” commented one concerned fan. “Why deviate… do the fckg versus,” added another. “Hit for hit show? Isn’t that basically what Versus is?”
Diddy took to his Instagram once more to clarify his statement about “Verzuz,” saying, “I mistakingly said Verzuz instead of Triller. So to clarify it: We’re not f—king with trill until they take care of Tim and swizz for Verzuz. Nobody f—ks with Triller until they take care of Tim and Swizz for Verzuz because Tim and Swizz is Verzuz.”
