Last night, New Yorkers filed into the Theater at Madison Square Garden wearing their sharpest fitted caps, replete with freshly ironed-on patches, to watch the heavyweight VERZUZ clash between two of the area’s most animated, ridiculous, and iconic crews: Yonkers’ The Lox and Harlem’s Dipset. Many recent VERZUZ battles have lacked the spontaneity that originally defined the series, when it provided a fun break from the endless stress and boredom of the early days of the pandemic. But a stage this grand turned out to be fitting for a handful of the largest personalities in a city full of them. The live crowd was riled up like they were about to watch Tyson vs. Holyfield! Jadakiss was breaking out old DJ Clue freestyles! Cam’ron was relaxing on a beach chair! Jim Jones was wearing all leather! Here are some highlights and lowlights from what turned out to be a spiritual experience:
Behold Melo with a cigar in his mouth, looking like an oil tycoon who just busted a union:
Fat Joe dropped his mask to reveal a freshly lined up beard:
And this dude who was taking a break from his job as a Grand Theft Auto character:
I understand that there is practically a government mandate that requires New York rap crowds to be hyped up with a mix of JAY-Z and Biggie classics, but how long must these sets last? The only good part about the lack of live shows in the past year is that I didn’t have to sit through the obligatory “All the Way Up” sing-along—somehow, Fat Joe’s politicking has helped the song squeeze its way into the New York rap classic canon, and I for one do not think it deserves to be there!
Now, this is just doing too much. He even struggled through the pronunciation of “Sheek Louch,” which is not that hard to pronounce! Will the Sheek Louch disrespect never end?!
- “I’ll never let a nigga in leather pants beat me” – Jadakiss, to Jim Jones
- “Cam, you live in Miami” – Jadakiss, after Cam’ron tried to question the Lox’s NYC bona fides
- “These niggas don’t know what Grammys look like, they know what grams look like” – Jadakiss
- “Freeky Zekey is like the fat nigga from Dru Hill. He’s getting free money, what he got a mic for?” – Jadakiss
- “Did they do a new song? I don’t know that shit.” – Jadakiss, after Jim Jones broke out the 2003 mixtape cut “Purple City Byrdgang”
- “I’m supposed to be in bed watching The Honeymooners” – Jadakiss
This set the hostile—but loving—energy from the jump. Jadakiss was so worked up he threw a stack of money on the ground (which he later picked up and returned to his pocket).
Jimmy, you are a famous rapper, you don’t need to shop at Jimmy Jazz anymore.
Their chemistry is unmatched, and watching them weave between each other’s verses was as magical as a kid’s first trip to Coney Island.
His vanity is inspirational.
They marched around the stage like Damon Wayans in Major Payne during the Lox’s performance of their lockstep hit “Mighty D-Block,” and Cam followed the song with the question, “Are we in the fuckin’ army?”
More than 20 years in, Dipset are still completely out of sync. They hardly knew the words to their own songs, and you could occasionally feel the years of tension between them onstage. Though, to their credit, the group’s inner turmoil and drama has always been part of the experience.
Some possibilities:
- “Can you get me a discount at Juices for Life?”
- “You should come out to Jersey, I just built my brand new indoor gym.”
- “Did you invite Fat Joe?”
- “Do you have a change of shorts in the back? I didn’t realize leather sweatpants would make me sweat this much.”
Most VERZUZ battles have been about hit songs, and the Lox have plenty of those, but Jadakiss opted to make this night a celebration of #rapping. While hitting every syllable and riding over instrumentals with no help from backing tracks, he led the Lox through a couple of classic mixtape freestyles. It was kind of unexpected and mind blowing, and Dipset probably should have followed suit.
Cam was the steady hand who attempted to merge the crew’s theatrics with a solid stage presence. Jim, at least, brought out props and squeezed in a couple of self-mythologizing monologues. Freekey Zekey, was uh, doing Freekey Zekey things. But the real disappointment was Juelz, who has always been critcized for not taking rap seriously enough, and that played out last night, too. On stage, he rapped like he could care less, and most of the time seemed more worried about who had the bottles. The only things he put effort into were his throwback outfits and doing insane bits like pretending to nap during a Styles P a capella. Never change Juelz!
For a minute, Sheek Louch stole the show with his verse on Puff’s “It’s All About the Benjamins.” Put some respect on this man’s name—sometimes considered a hanger-on, he once again proved himself to be a crucial member of the trio. (Also, somebody send me his lifting routine.)
He needed to be escorted off the stage after pulling out a pelvic thrust so aggressively obscene that even a ’90s R&B singer would be shocked.
Jadakiss then chimed in to say, lovingly, “Don’t give it back after the show!”
Let’s make it clear, the Lox did not just win this VERZUZ, it was a thrashing. But the night was not about that. It was about New York, a homage to the city’s rap history and all of the great music and personalities that have come from it. The Lox and Dipset may represent an era that has passed, but every time the two crews grace the stage, their turn-of-the-century heyday comes rushing back. At the end of the night, after all of the vitriol, they stood on stage together as the Lox rang off the immortal “We Gonna Make It,” and Dipset put some sort of energy into “I Really Mean It.” It was likely the best moment of the entire VERZUZ series so far.
