What you need to know
- Rap battle series Verzuz is coming to Apple Music and Beats 1.
- It all kicks off this Wednesday, July 22.
- Snoop Dogg and DMX will face-off in the first installment.
Rap battle series Verzuz is coming to Apple Music and Beats 1 from July 22, and Snoop Dogg and DMX are the first headliners to battle.
As reported by Variety:
The already impressive audience for the Verzuz battle series — which pits one OG artist or producer against another, playing their hits — is about to get even bigger: Verzuz is coming to Apple Music and Beats 1. The first session will take place Wednesday (July 22) at 5 p.m. PT for a face-off between veteran MCs Snoop Dog and DMX.
The series is hosted by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland and started out life on Instagram Live. The show will still be cast to Instagram, as well as Apple Music on its Beats 1 radio station. Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen and watch back on-demand. As Variety notes, "the series first launched in March and has become an online phenomenon during the coronavirus pandemic", pulling views of over 400,000 on IG Live.
As mentioned, the first episode on Apple Music will take place this week, Wednesday, July 22 at 5 pm PT.
The show started back in March following an impromptu battle between the now-hosts, Swizz and Timbaland:
"I loaded up my beat machine and called him out too," Swizz told Variety earlier this year. "We went live, playing our best. The audience went wild in real-time, talking to us, responding to the tracks. Two hours after Tim called me out, Verzuz pretty much started."
Artists appearing on the show have reportedly seen their streaming figures grow by 300% as a result. Big names thrown around for potential future appearances include Jay-Z, Eminem, Usher, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, and Justin Bieber.
