Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown are both key artists of the new jack swing genre, but only one of them will be crowned the winner of Verzuz on Thursday (July 1).
The two performers are set to bring fans back to the ’80s and ’90s on the live music battle show that was created by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz to help fill the hold left by live performances during the pandemic. Artists who have previously gotten into the ring include Ashanti and Keyshia Cole, Jeezy and Gucci Mane, Nelly and Ludacris, and most recently, Soulja Boy and Bow Wow.
Both artists are major influences on new jack swing, an R&B and hip-hop fusion genre that emerged in the mid ’80s, thanks in part to contributions like Sweat’s “I Want Her” and “On Our Own,” the Ghostbusters II theme song penned by Brown. Sweat has origins in New York City’s nightclub scene and made it big with his album Make It Last Forever. Brown, meanwhile, started out as a member of New Edition before going solo, later landing five top 10 singles in the Hot 100 for his album, Don’t Be Cruel.
The matchup came as a surprise to many Verzuz fans. The battles are typically promoted for a few weeks beforehand on social media, whereas Sweat and Brown’s showdown was only announced days ago.
“Surprise, Surprise!!!” Sweat tweeted Tuesday (June 29). “You don’t want to miss this! It’s going crazy”
Watch it all go down by tuning in to Verzuz tonight, July 1, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Verzuz’s Instagram Live, or stream the battle with Triller or the FITE app. This battle can also be streamed via Essence’s Instagram and website.
