Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
VERZUZ began as a welcome reprieve from the daily doldrums the entire world suffered as a result of the ongoing pandemic, offering a blip of hope during the height of those tough times. Now a mainstream concept, VERZUZ is positioning itself as a viable performance platform and introduced a subscription model that Twitter balked at before Swizz Beatz walked it back.
Twitter user @CallMeDollar was among the many who took notice of VERZUZ pivoting to a pay model, introducing the concept ahead of tonight’s (Feb. 15) battle between Anthony Hamilton and Musiq Soulchild. The team introduced a #TrillerVerzPass and a 14-day trial run of said pass for the show, adding that it will not be running on its familiar platform of Instagram Live.
Almost immediately, fans began to react against the idea of shifting the typically free celebration of music and artists into a virtual concert series for cash. As many stated, VERZUZ was started as a gift to music lovers to get them through the times as everyone was at home quarantining. When VERZUZ sold its rights to the team at Triller, some felt that the move was akin to selling out while others saw the move as savvy.
In the wake of the heavy reactions via Twitter, Swizz Beatz went online to clear up the confusion and to state that tonight’s VERZUZ will be on Instagram Live and he blamed the oversight and mixup in communication due to being out of the country.
Whether that is the truth isn’t for us to uncover. For now, check out the reactions from Twitter to the back and forth news of VERZUZ.
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Photo: Getty
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