It’s no secret. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have been working hard to pair up some of hip-hop and R&B’s biggest stars for their Verzuz celebratory battles. To date, the duo has successfully hosted 24 of these events on Instagram Live and their streaming partner, Apple Music. Now, what you rarely hear about are the matches that could have been. In a live conversation following D’Angelo’s damn-near-solo set—that many R&B lovers didn’t know they needed—Swizz Beatz and Timbaland revealed how the soulful crooner was originally scheduled to take part in Verzuz alongside fellow “neo-soul” singer Maxwell.
“I’m not gonna lie. That sh*t took very long. Let’s give people the story,” starts Swizz. “What was supposed to happen was D’Angelo versus Maxwell on Valentine’s Day. That didn’t work out, but the fact that D’Angelo was still ready to go and still motivated, we had to celebrate him— matter who was on stage with him. We had to celebrate that king because, as you can see, those songs that he played tonight, man, that’s real music.”
He continues: “This is a celebrational stage and we couldn’t play around with him. We had to let him get his garden because he showed up and showed out. That man pulled up to Verzuz three hours early. D’Angelo was the earliest person in Verzuz history tonight so don’t get him showing up [at] the time he did mixed up with the pre-show which was by DJ Scratch.”
Message received, but could you imagine how many more ladies would’ve gotten their lives on that night of love? Can you imagine the attempted falsetto singing done by viewers on that special and rare night? It would’ve been nice to see D’Angelo and Maxwell on the same bill, that’s for sure.
Watch Swizz and Timbo talk about the match that could have been while clearing the air about D’Angelo’s start-time at around the 4-minute and 20-second mark of the video below.
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Doechii may be getting a lot of flack from haters these days, but it surely feels less significant amid a lot more love, development, and pressure from everyone else. One aspect of her skyrocketing career that many listeners are curious about is how she will "fit in" with other femcees, which is a bit of a dismissive notion boxing all female rappers into the same box. Nevertheless, at least the Tampa native has another superstar in her corner. During a recent livestream with fans, Megan Thee Stallion revealed that a collaboration with her is one of the things she wants to manifest the most for her next project.
"I see Doechii, b***h, I love Doechii," Megan Thee Stallion remarked of the ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL creative. "I do want to do a song with Doechii. That is on my album wishlist. But I really have no song right now. "I feel like Doechii is the kind of person that you’d have to be in the studio to make a song with. I would like to hear a beat that she would like to rap over. Also, challenging myself to rap over beats I would not normally rap over, without losing myself."
Given that they have skill sets and interests in common – plus their track record of other female collabs – these two might spark magic in the studio together. This joins other developments that bode well for Meg's next album. Plies, for example, recently, dropped his copyright lawsuit against Megan Thee Stallion over her "Wanna Be" collab with GloRilla and Cardi B that sampled Soulja Boy. Hopefully that experience prevents more sample clearance misunderstandings in the future.
Meanwhile, Doechii will definitely drop a new album later in 2025, which will be her studio debut. Her previous mixtape won Best Rap Album at the Grammys this year, so who knows what a big debut will yield? It's also a good opportunity for Megan Thee Stallion to hop on, although this hypothetical collab would likely feel welcome on either femcee's records. In any case, we're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that any link-up lives up to its potential.
