VERZUZ is not just an event, it's an energy that is unmistakable. Following Fat Joe and Ja Rule's sonic slugfest at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, legendary hitmaker Jermaine Dupri took to his personal Instagram account to challenge Sean "Diddy" Combs to a VERZUZ competition that could change lives more than entertain.
Since its humble beginnings in spring 2020, Verzuz stretched from the personable intimacy of Instagram Live-only battles and the shackles of inconsistent Wi-Fi connections into in-person celebrations, before finally arriving at what always felt was the end goal of sorts: live concerts. The music industry had already touted the so-called "VERZUZ effect" to describe artists' boosted streams after participating in the event. Along with the change came a reminder of how the electricity of a crowd could re-energize a career, a fact the pandemic erased from our minds with every Zoom chat and pre-taped live stream concert. It also made it clear the potential of taking a platform rooted in the intermixing of artists through songs and manifesting that into a concert. Jadakiss felt the re-energizing effects, with the popularity of him performing his deep cut "Who Shot Ya" freestyle being aided by the crowd's awestruck responses so much Def Jam released the live audio as a single to streaming services 11 years after the song appeared on Jadakiss's The Champ Is Here 3 mixtape. That doesn't happen if his "he's a dick, you pussy, y'all neighbors" declaration was met with the silence of a studio audience.
