The papers have signed and a Hip Hop heads dream come true, a battle between DJ Premier and the RZA, is officially going down thank to the mastermind collaboration between Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. The two have ushered in a new wave of attention to the battling aspect of Hip Hop through their ongoing Verzuz series.
This Saturday at 9 PM EST, the two legends of Hip Hop will be dueling it out on Instagram Live. Both of these icons are considered to be founders of Hip Hop production and pioneers of the classic New York sample based sound. DJ Premier has a long list of heavy hitters in his catalog with the likes of Fans of Jay-Z, Royce Da 5’9″, and Nas just to name a few. Premier has had his imprint on Hip Hop for awhile now and its easy to see why he is held in such high regard. Then we have the man behind the conception of the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA, and the man who drove the creative ship for many of their hits. This will be a battle like no other, an abridged history lesson hip-hop’s instrumental evolution.
This battle has no clear favorite. Both of these juggernauts have legitimate claim as to why they should be on the Mount Rushmore of Hip Hop production and we are in for a real treat when these two go head to head. Thank you to everyone who decided to put this on and anyone associated with its production. We need this in Hip Hop now more than ever. Don't miss the battle this Saturday, April 11th at 9PM EST (6PM PST).
by: Steven Sandage