Verzuz is getting fans ready for spring and summer by revealing dates and some of the artists for upcoming battles. According to Complex, the next batch of battles kicks off April 17 on Easter Sunday with a gospel supercard featuring Mary Mary vs. BeBe and CeCe Winans. We don’t get a lot of gospel battles, so this should be the perfect way to end the night after all the ham, mac and cheese, greens and sweet potato pie. Verzuz isn’t always the most family friendly entertainment, so it’s nice when these types of battles come up.
Next up, on May 8 is the Mother’s Day special, which is still being kept under wraps. It’s safe to assume this will probably include superstar women celebrating moms. Last year’s edition had SWV vs. Xscape, with previous female-oriented battles featuring Jill Scott vs. Erykah Badu, Brandy vs. Monica, Eve vs. Trina, Ashanti vs. Keyshia Cole, and my mom’s favorite, Gladys Knight vs. Patti LaBelle, which also had an appearance from Dionne Warwick.
For its upcoming live “Fight Night Music” Boxing Special, Triller announced rap supergroups Cypress Hill and Onyx will face off against each other. The battle takes place Saturday, May 14 at The Forum in Los Angeles as part of the Triller Fight Club Presents: TrillerVerz 5 event, currently promoting its “Lineage of Greatness” boxing card: Sergey Kovalev vs. Tervel Pulev, Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev vs. Andrey Fedosov and Evan “Young Holy” Holyfield vs. Maurice Williams. The matches feature the children of well known boxers.
The remaining Verzuz schedule heads into summer with a top secret Memorial Day battle, a V-Series “Live Show” on June 6, a Juneteenth Special on June 19, the promotion’s first label matchup in July and an “808 Day” battle on August 8.
The label vs label date is interesting because the internet has been clamoring for a Bad Boy vs So So Def battle for years. However, with Bow Wow criticizing his own music and Diddy being called out by previous artists Ma$e and Da Band’s Freddy P, it doesn’t seem likely that either of these prolific producers could assemble the ranks for this show. Although there are plenty of ‘90s and early 2000s acts that definitely need the check.
As for guesses about who might be in some of these top secret battles, it depends on the theme of the show. I could see them going with old school R&B for a Memorial Day party vibe, but maybe something more singer/songwriter activist genre for Juneteenth. And the June 6 live show might be someone who has new music coming out.
Verzuz streams live on the promotion’s Instagram channel and on the Triller app.