Brandy and Eve stepped up to the mic on the latest episode of ABC’s Queens, and both stars took no prisoners as their characters on the show went bar-for-bar against each other in a thrilling rap battle.
They kicked things off freestyling over Black Rob’s “Woah,” then moved into Julez Santana and Cam’Ron’s “Oh Boy,” before tearing each other to shreds over Mobb Deep and Lil Kim’s “Quiet Storm.” “When my pen hit the pad, it’s only top of the charts,” Brandy raps over the latter beat, “and now just like your marriage you want us to fall apart. It’s jealousy and I can’t even say it any clearer, you spendin’ too much time in the mirror.”
Eve then halts the beat altogether and raps acapella back at Brandy. “My marriage has nothing to do with the stardom and fame, I honor the pain, and use it to be the goddess and slaughter the game,” Eve raps. “A artist who gold, ain’t tarnished, I’m polished and heavy, my knowledge is deadly, lyrically a problem, I’ll demolish you petty. The lesson you taught me was winning imma win for the crew, to teach you a lesson that everything ain’t all about you.”
The tense exchange was a moment that pleasantly surprised fans of both artists, and continued to solidify Queens’ reputation as a stand-out newcomer to the small screen. Executively produced by Swizz Beats, the show stars Brandy, Eve, Nadine Velazquez, and Naturi Naughton.
Despite only a few episodes having already aire,d there’s been other amazing musical moments, such as when Brandy covered Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” in the show’s second episode. Brandy surprised viewers again on Tuesday night as she lyrically duked it out with Eve, a moment she told The New York Times she’s had worked on honing specifically for this character.
“I haven’t had much experience,” she said of rapping. “But I’ve been rapping for a little bit and I’ve always wanted to push my instrument to whatever level it could go to. I’ve been inspired all my life by hip-hop. For Xplicit, it’s been Nas, Jadakiss, Cam’ron, Lauryn Hill, Nicki Minaj. I love the challenge of having to find a certain tone to become Xplicit. Because the way she’s written, she’s the glue that holds everything together, so I had to find this certain kind of swag that I don’t naturally have. I had to really work on that.”
If Tuesday night’s rap battle was any indication, then more unpredictable music moments in Queens are sure to come.
