The first two female Verzuz warriors are on their way. On Friday (May 1), Swizz Beatz announced on Instagram that the next installment of his and Timbaland’s ever-popular virtual series will host none other than the queens of neo soul — Erykah Badu and Jill Scott — on May 9 at 7 pm EST.
“It’s time for the Queens to represent,” Swizz wrote. “[Erykah Badu] vs [Jill Scott] the paper work is in [Timbaland.] Shout out [Femme It Forward] let’s Go may 9th the day before Mother’s Day Zone.”
Both singers boast extensive and award-winning discography. Badu will have records such as Baduizm, Mama’s Gun, Worldwide Underground, New Amerykah Part One and New Amerykah Part Two at her disposal, as well as her 2015 mixtape, But You Caint Use My Phone.
Scott, on the other hand, has won multiple Grammy and Soul Tain Awards for her five LPs, including Who Is Jill Scott?, Words and Sounds Vol. 1, Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, The Light of the Sun and 2015’s Woman.
The livestream won’t be the first time Badu has blessed her fans from the small screen during quarantine. The “On & On” singer has continued her bedroom-set Quarantine Concert Series on Instagram, which she charged fans $1 to watch. During one of her livestreams, Badu discussed the financial burden that the pandemic has placed on touring artists.
“How [the music industry] works is, the artists get about 8 to 20 percent [of record sales], but it’s not paid until the record label recoups the money they loaned to you in the form of an advance, so it’s really not designed for us to become wealthy,” she said, “That’s why we rely on our live shows.”
“We’re not rich people. We just play rich people on TV,” she continued. “This is how we make our living and some of us only have one form of income and that’s shows. I wanted to create another revenue of income and you’re helping me do that in a big way.”
Tune in to the pre-Mother’s Day event on May 9 at 7 pm EST. See the official flyer below.