It appears third time is indeed the charm. Monday night, the highly anticipated Instagram live battle between Teddy Riley and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds finally came to fruition.
Dubbed “The Rematch”, the battle put viewers in a time machine to arguably the greatest period of R & B, the ’90’s. Riley and Babyface reminded everyone of their hits featuring artists such as:
- Bobby Brown
- Tevin Campbell
- Guy
- TLC
- Michael Jackson
- Whitney Houston
More than 500,000 tuned in and crashed Instagram. Those that were fortunate enough to watch live started broadcasting it to countless other on their page, almost bootlegging the battle in a sense.
With everything happening in the world currently, this was a great reminder of simpler, happier times and that better days are coming. In fact, Babyface closed out his livestream saying,
“We have to believe in miracles right now.”
His faith was certainly reassured after beating his own COVID-19 diagnosis.
Instagram live battles began with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Once quarantine started, the highly touted producers wanted to showcase music giants to the world, so the created the “Verzuz” battle via Instagram live where artists exchange hit for hit head to head.
Teddy Riley and Babyface has brought in the highest viewership so far. As for the next battle, Swizz Beatz says he’d like to see Dr. Dre against P. Diddy. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but follow @verzuztv on Instagram for updates.