R&B fans had laid out their best couch ‘fits for the latest Instagram Live musician match-up, Teddy Riley vs. Babyface. The event was supposed to take place on Sunday, April 5, one day after the highly-viewed T-Pain/Lil Jon battle, however, it was announced that morning that the battle was postponed.
Later that day, Riley took part in an Instagram Live interview with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God to discuss what happened. The super producer and originator of the New Jack Swing sound that became popular amongst artists like Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat and Heavy D, explained that Babyface was feeling under the weather. However, there will indeed be a battle within the coming weeks. (“Nobody’s backing out,” he said.)
What else is preventing the battle from going on without a hitch? Riley says that IG Live’s one-hour limit hinders a smooth event; after one hour, the stream kicks everyone out, and the host has to start everything over.
“We really want this done right, and we don’t want the stops from Instagram,” he told Charlamagne before suggesting they switch the battle to the app Omnisplayer instead of using Instagram.
“[Omnisplayer] was made for what we want to do,” he says. “I don’t think I want to go head up with [Babyface] and have us going back and forth. We need mediators. So, I thought this is something that would be great for [Omnisplayer] to take to another level.”
Instagram Live battles have been taking over our weekdays and weeknights. The first highly-anticipated battle was between Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, while R&B songwriters Johnta Austin and Ne-Yo, hip-hop producers Mannie Fresh and Scott Storch, and hip-hop artists and producers T-Pain and Lil Jon have battled in the weeks since, amongst many others.
We’re hoping Babyface can make a full recovery soon, as these Jordache jeans won’t wear themselves.