Monica and Brandy
Prince Williams/Wireimage; Derek BlanksIf there’s one thing that has gotten hip-hop and R&B fans through the pandemic, it’s been Verzuz.
What started as a friendly face-off on Instagram Live between Swizz Beatz and Timbaland has steadily grown into a cultural phenomenon over the last two years, as Verzuz has brought together rivals and contemporaries of all kinds to put their discographies on the line and battle it out for bragging rights — from T-Pain vs. Lil Jon and Ryan Tedder vs. Benny Blanco to Nelly vs. Ludacris and Ashanti vs. Keyshia Cole.
So with Season 3 kicking off Tuesday (Feb. 15) with a battle between Anthony Hamilton and Musiq Soulchild, Billboard wants to know: Which Verzuz battle do you consider to be the all-time greatest?
Are you a fan of the early, Instagram-exclusive battles like The Dream vs. Sean Garrett or Teddy Riley vs. Babyface? Or do you prefer a Season 2 bout like Fat Joe vs. Ja Rule or Redman vs. Method Man?
Maybe you agree with Billboard‘s May 2020 ranking and place the clash between Erykah Badu and Jill Scott at the top of the list. Or you made sure to tune in with the 1.4 million other fans to see Brandy take on Monica and put the central question of “The Boy Is Mine” to rest once and for all.
Voice your opinion in Billboard‘s latest Verzuz poll below, and be sure to tune in to the battle between Hamilton and Soulchild on Tuesday night, which will indeed be available to stream for free on Instagram Live after Swizz Beatz walked back plans to host the show exclusively on Triller.
NEWS
Brad Paisley has called Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding “one of the least pretentious weddings he’s ever seen”.
The country star attended the ceremony alongside his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. They joined around 1,000 guests at New York City’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month as the global pop icon married the American football star.
Although the celebration attracted enormous attention and involved tight security and a stunning makeover of the famous arena, Paisley said the occasion never came across as excessive.
“Ironically, (it) was one of the least pretentious weddings that I've ever seen or ever will see,” Paisley told The Associated Press during an interview. “It meant a lot to be (invited). It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Paisley, who chose Swift as an opening performer for his tour when she was a teenager in 2007, said he was delighted to be included in what many considered the biggest celebrity wedding of the year.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you're getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” he revealed.
The musician also explained that guests were not told the wedding’s exact location until the date drew nearer.
“It was really fun to watch the cat and mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it's going to be, we're not gonna say what building... and here's the date. If you're in, we'll tell you more,’” he continued. “I went to my wife, I said, ‘Want to go?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely, we gotta be there!’ So, we did it, it was RSVP yes.”
Other famous attendees included Brad Pitt, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Hugh Grant, Haim and Tom Hanks.
