Can I get a yerrr?!!! New York took the W when Madison Square was turned into a boxing ring for The LOX and Dipset to go head to head playing their greatest hits Tuesday night (Aug. 3).
On Instagram, celebrities like Victor Cruz, Angie Martinez, Warren G, Jesse Williams, Yandy Smith, Anthony Hamilton, Amber Rose, Quavo, Remy Ma, DJ Clue, Russ, Tobe Nwigwe, DJ Scratch, Troy Ave, Ludacris and even the New York Knicks flooded the Instagram Live comments to join the more than 600,000 viewers. In the live audience Joel Ortize, Fat Joe, Carmelo Anthony could be seen rapping along in the crowd.
Technician the DJ showed us how he earned his name with a sick scratch routine laced to warm things up with 90s New York rap anthems like “Crush on Me,” “Like Whoa!,” “Philadelphia Freeway,” “Money, Cash, Hoes” ft. DMX, and Phone Tap by AZ.
Take a look at the best moments of the night below!
1. The show beginning almost an hour late
Fans clowned online as they waited impatiently for the main event. Jokes like, “They’re late because New Yorkers don’t sleep like the rest of the country” or “They’re probably still getting checked at security” rang off for more than 15 minutes before the show actually began.
2. Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!!!!
No true drag out fight can begin without famed sports announcer Michael Buffer. The pop culture icon gave each act their flowers as they made dramatic entrances. The LOX came out to “Intro” by DMX. But when Dispet was introduced, they refused to take the stage. The crowd began to boo and Styles P turned up demanding that they come to the stage. Finally they did with no intro music to show that they’re ready to get down to business.
3. It’s Getting Spicy
Just like a New Yorker to have a slick mouth. All night, both acts traded insults and trash talk to keep the competition high. For instance, in an effort to illustrate how “boring” Dipset’s performance of “Get Crunk” was, Jadakiss was seen lounging on stage in a lawn chair in full reclined mode. An hour and a half into the battle, he doubled down and scored the event 52-2 in favor of The LOX. On the flip side, Juelz literally laid down on the stage when The LOX refused to stop performing after their song stopped. Cam later took a shot at Sheek Louch by saying he was happy they let him rap when he did his verse on Puff Daddy’s “All About the Benjamins.” Then, he called The LOX the “best peas and gravy…side dishes.” Ouch!
4. Battle of the Clique Anthems
What song is the better clique anthem to you? The LOX pulled “Sheek” out their bag of tricks and encouraged the DJ to drop the beat, and let the crowd ring off. Not to be outdone, The Diplomats hit “Dipset” and brought the energy to match. The really winner here was the crowd because they ate it up!
5. Free Max B
Ahead of the performance of “Locked Up,” Styles P showed love to Max B and mentioned he recently spoke to him from behind bars. The LOX joined in and shouted out their other loved ones upstate, and proceeded to bring the energy to the Billboard Hot 100 topping anthem by Akon. While Styles is the feature on the track, his brother Kiss rapped every line word for word.
6. Jim Jones Gets Iced
As if Jimmy needed any more jewelry, the Harlem rapper had his jewelry present an ornate, gold, diamond encrusted cuban link chain with a multicolored diamond skull as the intro to “Ballin’” began to play. Well played, Jim Jones. Well played.
7. Whose Mans Is This?
There were dozens of unidentified people on stage during the broadcast— that’s hip hop! But, viewers were very interested in learning who was the guy in the gray sweatsuit. It was Freekey Zekey getting his boogie on all night. While he may not have said much, his presence was definitely felt. At several points, he even stole the show! During “Killa Kam,” this guy got his moment to shine as the camera solely focused on passionate bop with his hands up and eyes closed— prime material for Internet comedians and trolls alike to get off their best jokes and memes.
8. The Disrespect
In a moment of passion, Jadakiss snatched Juelz bandana. While the viewers took to social media to discuss how funny it was, Juelz didn’t seem to think so. He chastised Kiss before the guys instructed the riff raff to exit the stage. They still didn’t leave though. Are we sure New York isn’t a “Stand Your Ground” state?
9. Kam Tries To Spit a Freestyle
Welp! The “Oh Boy!” rapper set his mouth to spit a freestyle, but before he could utter a proper bar, the crowd started to booed him. Instead of taking offense, he simply shifted gears and opted to perform “I Really Mean It” instead. New York is truly ruthless!
10. Nothing More Unifying Than Social Media During Verzuz
Between the live comments on Instagram and Twitter fans will let you know how they REALLY feel. Jokes flew everywhere about things like their fashion sense…
To how many people there were on stage…
11. Kiss da GOAT
Nicknamed “Al Kaida Kiss”after last night’s epic performance, Jadakiss took the title of MVP for singlehandedly annihilating Dipset. Kiss maintained his high energy, rapped his lyrics and even his crew members’ lyrics too. He had strong trash talking highlights like calling out The LOX Grammy-award winning status and how he was supposed to be at home watching “The Honeymooners” instead of doing light work at the battle, and even snatching off Juelz’s bandana! He was with all the shits and the unanimous consensus of the Internet was that he completely dominated the Verzuz. Maybe he understood the assignment in a different way because of his battle against Fabolous last June? Either way, Jadakiss is Top 5 dead or alive. Period.