Well, it might have taken a while, but last night Verzuz, the Swizz Beatz and Timbaland created Instagram live battle series where producers, singers, rappers, and songwriters go head-to-head over 20 rounds playing their heaviest hitters, finally brought women into the mix in a big way. Jill Scott vs. Erykah Badu was, to say the absolute least, highly anticipated, and it gave us more than I think everyone had initially hoped it would (and people were hoping for a lot).
While the start of the stream was encumbered, just slightly, by some technical difficulties on Badu’s end (although not nearly as bad as the issues that plagued Babyface and Teddy Riley, which, narrated by Toni Braxton, was one of my favorite nights on Twitter in a while), once things got rolling it was clear all 700,000 people who tuned in to watch were settling in for a slowed-down evening of appreciation and celebration, maybe more so than a quick-hits battle.
Whereas other Verzuz streams have run for a little over an hour (with a few exceptions), Scott and Badu were in no rush, clocking in at three glorious hours of music, playing most of their song selections in full (something Braxton wasn’t too happy about not that long ago), which I don’t think anyone minded this go-around. If they did, they kept it to themselves and left it out of the comments section, which seemed to be nothing but love.
So much love in fact, that Michelle Obama even dropped in to enjoy the stream, and tagged her husband Barack in the comments when Scott played “Crown Royal.” Will I ever know a love like theirs? Honestly, probably not, but I can dream!
Billboard called the battle for Badu, but also noted that perhaps more than that, it was a win for everyone watching, which I couldn’t agree with more. If you missed it, you can check out the full stream here while you wait for the next Verzuz, which will be Nelly vs. Ludacris next week. Personally, now that they’ve gotten women in on the battle, I’m just waiting to see when Missy is going to drop in. [Billboard]
Either Neil Gaiman is really upset that Amanda Palmer told her Patreon subscribers about their breakup before she told him or someone hacked his Goodreads account and is really going wild with it. Either way, it’s definitely forcing Gaiman’s hand a bit, considering just a week ago he said he wouldn’t be talking about the (ex?) couples relationship issues publically and has now had to comment on the breakup yet again.
Yesterday, Gaiman (or, according to him, a hacker) posted an update to his Goodreads account, a social platform I have felt attacked by many times with reminders of how much more my friends are reading than I am, saying that he is currently reading Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
“Someone with a dark sense of humour just hacked this account,” Gaiman wrote on Goodreads, “(I suppose that’s what I get for leaving it here and not doing anything for a long time.).” I don’t know if insinuating that someone has a personality disorder is having a “dark sense of humour” so much as it is just fucking rude, but I do understand being out of touch with your Goodreads account, as mine has remained untouched for pretty much ever. [Mashable]
- Flavortown came through with the cash [Page Six]
- Is Kristen Wiig pregnant? [Page Six]
- So Chris Cuomo is on TikTok [Just Jared]
- Hugh Jackman is going back to school [Page Six]