Source: Prince Williams / Getty
The highly anticipated ladies’ night edition of
Swizz Beatz and
Timbaland‘s #Verzuz Battle between
112 and Jagged Edge kicked off as promised, but after bad audio spoiled the party it seemed more like deja vu than a dream come true.
On Monday (May 25),
112 and
Jagged Edge faced off on Instagram Live with many fans hoping the showdown would finally put to rest the great debate of who had the better catalog between the two 90s crooning groups, but instead the battle itself drew criticism after static and bad audio ruined the overall mood for the event.
Fresh off the heels of the legendary and crystal clear clash style showdown between
Beenie Man and Bounty Killer from Jamaica, fans were puzzled at the quality of the audio and video for the first group version of the innovative battle.
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Since the beginning of the Verzuz series, musicians have been experiencing technical difficulties galore. Perhaps things hit a peak during the face-off between
Babyface and Teddy Riley, which needed to be restarted completely. Jagged Edge and 112’s battle wasn’t nearly as bad as that but they definitely could have found a better sound system.
The audio was so bad during the event that the results prompted Swizz and Timbaland to implement new rules for the battle series going forward. During their usual battle recaps, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland discussed the audio issues before announcing that participants who don’t use their appointed setup will not be able to participate.
“Listen, there was nothing we could do about the audio,” Swizz said during the recap. “We send everyone the tools they need for the live, if they don’t choose to use it–that’s on them. But from now on I think we are going to have to put the rule in place that if you want to participate in Verzuz you have to use the tools we send you because it’s all about the flowers but it’s also about the experience.
Despite the sound issues, the battle did forge on and while partially inaudible, both groups’ extensive catalogs of harmonies, storytelling, and love did remind fans of what genuine good music sounds like–which is the overall point of why Swizz Beatz and Timbaland state they decided to create the series altogether.
https://twitter.com/_DJMouseTrap/status/1265079110965112838?s=20
Check out the jokes Black Twitter had below.
