Producer Swizz Beatz revealed during a livestream with DJ Kid Capri that a Verzuz battle between OutKast and A Tribe Called Quest is in the works. After realizing what he said, he belatedly stated that the battle was still pending. “I wasn’t even supposed to say that. I might have fucked that all up.”
Verzuz is an Instagram Live series put together by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland where pairs of famous rappers, singers or producers trade turns performing their hits. It was just announced a couple weeks ago that they’d be starting season two of the series with a face-off between T.I. and Jeezy on November 19.
Swizz Beats had been talking about how the series will continue after the pandemic’s fizzled out. It had initially launched because of the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions preventing proper concerts, but it became a huge hit with matchups like DMX vs. Snoop Dogg, Fabolous vs. Jadakiss, 2 Chainz vs. Rick Ross, Alicia Keys vs. John Legend and Ludacris vs. Nelly particularly taking off.
He continued to talk about the prospective OutKast and A Tribe Called Quest matchup, “We love them and we got patience. So, whenever they ready, we ready, ’cause Verzuz is not just something for the pandemic. It’s something for the culture, permanently. That’s what I want people to understand. We got so many lined up, we ain’t even start yet.”
OutKast and A Tribe Called Quest are two of the most famous ’90s hip hop groups, trailblazing in Atlanta and New York, respectively. A Tribe Called Quest last released a critically acclaimed comeback album in 2016 called We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, which released shortly after the passing of one of their members, Phife Dawg. OutKast haven’t released new music since 2006’s Idlewild soundtrack, but recently announced 20th anniversary reissue of Stankonia featuring some previously unreleased remixes.
Photo credit: Sharon Alagna
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