Lots of people are bored in the house. Self-isolating has them going online looking for distractions, and one place they are turning to is Instagram, where hip-hop and R&B stars are organizing live battles. People are viewing the battles in record numbers.
Here’s how it works: Two music artists trade off tracks that they have credits on — in 90-second samples. Then viewers in the virtual room choose the winner of each round, Variety reported.
Producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland participated in one of the first beat battles, and included throwback classics from Swizz’s catalog with Beyonce, Jay-Z, and DMX. Timbaland’s work with Missy Elliot, Madonna, and Rihanna was featured.
With this, you’ve got artists you grew up listening to, and you get to see them in their living room with slippers on playing their biggest hits. Everybody’s realizing that we’re all the same. If the world is sick, we’re all sick, and we’ve got to heal.
Singer and songwriter Ne-Yo
Then Hit-Boy and Boi-1da teased online, “The Beat Battle You Don’t Want To Miss.” Boi-1da is Drake’s producer for OVO Sound, having worked on some of the rapper’s biggest songs including “God’s Plan”, “0 To 100” and “Work” featuring Rihanna.
“During the Instagram live session, Boi-1da played not one, but two unreleased Drake singles. The first Drake snippet (which he unleashed out the gate) featured rap superstar Roddy Ricch and had fans in a frenzy. Drake is heard spitting: ‘I rock diamonds when I’m under pressure / It don’t ever let up / Look, I’m in the cut / The Boi in the cut!’ (A reference to Boi-1da.),” Variety reported.
Hit-Boy battled back with hip-hop hits like Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “N–s In Paris,” A$AP Rocky’s “Goldie,” and Lil Wayne and Eminem’s “Drop The World.” He too debuted unreleased joints, one with New York rap icon Nas and the other featuring Nipsey Hussle and Big Sean.
These Instagram live battles, which can be between artists, songwriters and producers, are luring in viewers in record numbers. A recent battle between Lil Jon vs. T-Pain had 280,000 people watching during three hours, Vice reported.
And Lil Jon didn’t come to play. He pulled out his hits along with a few surprises.
“His catalog includes songs people didn’t even know he produced, like the 1994 remix of Capleton’s ‘Tour,’ and told the story of how a squeaky chair ended up as the backbone to Trillville’s ‘Some Cut,’” Vice reported.
It’s all free and the artists don’t seem to be in a hurry to cash in on these Instagram battles.
“Right now, there’s no politics involved and we’re having a great time,” Swizz told VIBE. “The minute you see a logo running across that screen, it’s just gonna feel crazy. And I think we should be promoting what we promoting: the artists.”
What’s more, the artists seem to be enjoying themselves, and people are soaking it all in on Instagram.
“I think it’s a cool stroll down memory lane. It’s showing a new generation where a lot of what we’re doing now came from,” singer and songwriter Ne-Yo told The Los Angeles Times. He recently battled with acclaimed R&B songwriter Austin. The battle ended in a draw.
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“Right now the thing in hip-hop is to sample songs from the ’90s, so let me introduce you to Johntá, who was writing them,” Ne-Yo said. “I don’t even know if we kept score, but we had 83,000 people in there. It turned into a moment for everyone to appreciate good music, to shine a light where it was deserved.”
Ne-Yo added, “With this, you’ve got artists you grew up listening to, and you get to see them in their living room with slippers on playing their biggest hits. Everybody’s realizing that we’re all the same. If the world is sick, we’re all sick, and we’ve got to heal.”
Swizz Beatz recently nominated Kanye West vs. Pharrell to square off, so look for more battles to come.
