Last night, St. Louis had a stake in the latest Verzuz battle. The latest installment of a friendly competition concept curated by super producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland to keep music lovers engaged from home in the wake of COVID-19 featured Nelly going head-to-head against ATL’s Ludacris.
Thunderstorms in the area that impeded Nelly internet service nearly resulted in a reschedule, but both artists seemed committed to see the experience through.
Ludacris was patient and Nelly was determined – and for three hours they took hip-hop fans through their respective catalogs. Fans were engaged with the battle for three hours – and at the height of viewership came close to cresting at a half-million.
Both artists broke into the mainstream hip-hop scene at the turn of the millennium. And both came out swinging in the name of their hometowns.
Nelly’s “Country Grammar” went on to sell 10 million copies and earned the extremely rare distinction of being a diamond selling album. Ludacris’ major studio debut “Back For The First Time” was the first of three platinum-plus selling albums in a row. Each has an arsenal of hits that still have staying power – proven true by the battle.
It was clear from the beginning that it would be a friendly competition.
As Ludacris was waiting for the technical difficulties on Nelly’s end to subside, he played St. Louis native Chingy’s “Holidae Inn,” a song Chingy recorded when he was a part of Ludacris’ Disturbing Tha Peace record label.
As the battle kicked off, Ludacris heaped praise on Nelly’s contribution to hip -hop. “You put your whole city on in a major way,” Ludacris said.
Nelly returned the compliments – expressing Ludacris’ ability to hold his own in a city loaded with talent and maintain relevance in the ever-changing genre of hip-hop.
“Your staying power is legendary,” Nelly told Ludacris.
Each track was prefaced with compliments for the other artist and their own grind in the hip-hop game.
Ludacris got things started with “Welcome To Atlanta.” Nelly responded with “Na-Nana-Na.” Ludacris followed up with “[Expletive] Poppin’.” Nelly met him with “Tip Drill.” They gave shoutouts to Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, the artists both rappers had collaborated with over the years – Ciara, Kelly Rowland, Sean “Diddy” Combs, DJ Khaled, Shawna, Notorious B.I.G., Rick Ross and more.
Some of the biggest names in music and entertainment chimed in over the course of the battle.
The connection was spotty, but the battle continued.
“Your wi-fi needs some milk,” Ludacris joked.
As with the first attempt of the Verzuz battle between 90s R&B greats Babyface and Teddy Riley, the connection woes made for social media comedy gold on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Nelly and Ludacris’ battle set a new precedent in that it saw the creation of a Verzuz scorecard in which fans and listeners ranked the battle set list track by track. Most scorecards saw Ludacris as the victor in the battle. Ludacris’ early days as a DJ were apparent by the pristinely curated battle track list.
The highlight of the night was when Ludacris let the hip-hop world in on the secret that his hit “Money Maker” was originally supposed to feature Nelly instead of Pharrell by playing the original track with Nelly on the hook.
“Yo, you gonna have to send me that,” Nelly said with the excitement that Ludacris pulled the track out of his hat for the battle. The camaraderie was so strong that the pair agreed to take their show on the road with a tour.
