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Valentine’s Day just passed, and love is in the air! So, what better way to celebrate than two of R&B’s greatest to go head to head in a VERZUZ? The anticipation to see Anthony Hamilton and Musiq Soulchild perform their greatest hits was at an all-time high and even greater when fans demanded the VERZUZ be held for free on Instagram, as opposed to Triller — a decision where Swizz Beatz claims he was originally out of the country for.

 

 

 

The event started off with DJ Scratch announcing a DJ set between DJ Popo and DJ KTone, competing to become the house DJ and a salary of $1 million. It began with a 5-minute party rocking set, followed by a two-minute technical skill set, and the winner will be announced this week. The DJ competition was followed by a dope set by DJ Züm, who played all the slow-jam classics.

Comedian Jack Thriller opened up the main event, and Anthony Hamilton came out first, kicking it off with “Mama Knew Love.” After that, the two effortlessly switched back and forth throughout the night, performing one baby-making song after another. Special guests included The Hamiltones, Nappy Roots who came out for “Po’ Folks,” Robert Glasper who played piano on “Ah Yeah,” Donell Jones performed his hit “U Know What’s Up,” Lucky Daye for “Over.” In addition, Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson, and Kevin Ross all came out for the “Lessons (Remix).”

Super producer Jermaine Dupri served as DJ for Anthony Hamilton.

The viewership was sitting around 190K halfway through the VERZUZ and seemed to stay around that number for most of the night. However, viewership did drop off toward the end of the soulful event, with slightly less than 130K people tuning in.

Anthony Hamilton performed the “Back To Sleep” Legends Remix, “I’m Cool,” and “Why.”

Musiq Soulchild sang “Halfcrazy,” “I Do,” “143,” “Love,” “Just Friends,” and did “B. UDDY” during a bonus round.

And while we can always chalk up a VERZUZ as a win for the culture, Anthony Hamilton had a slight edge over Music Soulchild. Musiq caught his stride later into the battle, but Hamilton came out smooth from the start.