OK, I know I promised y’all a list, but did y’all really think Jay-Z was ACTUALLY going to give us a list of people who could murk him in a hypothetical Verzuz battle?
Pshh. Y’all must not know Hov.
If you did, then you would know that during Tuesday night’s Twitter Space conversation with Genius’ Rob Markman and Alicia Keys to promote the latter’s new album (aptly titled Keys), Hov entered the chat to big up his “Empire State of Mind” collaborator and share his thoughts on a variety of different topics. Chief among them: the hypothetical Verzuz battle everyone keeps speculating about.
Per Complex, when asked by Markman if he would ever do the popular pandemic battle and who he’d like to go up against, Jay responded:
“No one can stand on that stage with me. No disrespect, everyone is amazing. They’ve done what they’ve done. No one can stand on that stage with me, I’m just telling you the real. It’s not a chance in hell that anyone can stand on that stage with me for, I don’t know how long it is. Two hours? One hour? Look, you got to stand in front of the ‘Grammy Family Freestyle’ live? No one has ever even seen me perform that, you got to stand in front of that? That ain’t never going to happen. Let’s move on from Verzuz.”
“Yeah, Hov. Talk yo shit! How they gon’ upgrade you? What’s higher than number one?” So sorry, Rick Ross and Future. Guess y’all will have to find another person to compare yourselves to.
In addition to Verzuz talk, Hov also took the time to dote on his wife Beyoncé and expounded on those oft-discussed comparisons between the Black Is King artist and Michael Jackson.
“Michael Jackson was so good cuz he was around his brothers singing and dancing since he was 7 years old. So of course Beyoncé’s gonna be of that level,” Jay said. “And to me, this is my personal opinion: Michael Jackson never—he had Motown 25 where he did the Moonwalk and that was amazing. That was an amazing moment. But find me a concert that’s Coachella—that is culturally relevant and technically thrilling.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa there. I’m all for giving Bey her flowers, as I am a proud affiliate of the BeyHive. But let’s be honest here: Michael in his prime could pull triple the Coachella crowd, where folks would barely be able to see him and would still pass out and cry at the sight of him. I’m not saying folks haven’t passed out and cried at the mere sight of Bey (because I’ve seen that footage too), but as much as I wanna agree with Hov, I’m having a hard time doing so.
What do y’all think though? Do the Beyoncé vs. Michael Jackson comparisons hold weight or is it an uneven battle? Let us know in the comments!