Timbaland & Swizz Beatz Make Exciting Announcement About Future Of Verzuz

Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have locked in a new deal to bring back their popular platform Verzuz.

On Wednesday, June 19, the award-winning duo announced they've partnered with Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, to exclusively livestream the rare hit-for-hit battles for free. The deal ensures both superproducers would maintain 100% ownership and creative control while X holds the distribution rights. Swizz and Timbo recently reacquired the rights from its previous partner Triller. According to Billboard, Verzuz was livestreamed across Triller, FiteTV, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with an average of 5.1 million viewers. On X, they aim to reach 550 million users.

“We are beyond thrilled to have found the best partner for Verzuz," Swizz Beatz said in a statement. "Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world. I would like to thank Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Brett Weitz, Mitchell Smith and the entire X team for believing in the Verzuz vision. We can’t wait to get to work.”

“We are thrilled to partner with X, the most innovative platform globally,” Timbaland added. “Our goal has always been to bring Verzuz to the world, which we can now do bigger than ever.”

Swizz Beatz and Timbaland shared the news during an event in Cannes. They posted a collaborative post on Instagram featuring a photo of them with Musk. The duo faced each other in the inaugural battle in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. The event featured other high-profile matches including Boi-1da vs. Hit-Boy, Ne-Yo vs. Johnta Austin, RZA vs. DJ Premier, Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott, Nelly vs. Ludacris, Teddy Riley vs. Babyface, Brandy vs. Monica, and the most epic battle to date The Diplomats vs. The LOX.

The last time Verzuz hosted a battle was in 2022 when Omarion and Mario faced off in the main event. Ray J, Bobby V, Sammie and Pleasure P tagged teamed for the opening battle. Reggaetón stars Luny Tunes and DJ Nelson battled each other in the final match before the platform went on hiatus.

As of this report, the next Verzuz battle has not been confirmed.