After weeks-long delay, the Babyface vs. Teddy Riley battle is finally here.
The famed producers are going head-to-head tonight in the latest installment of Verzuz, the Instagram Live battle series launched by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Babyface and Teddy Riley are known as pioneers of New Jack Swing and have contributed to some of the most iconic R&B, soul, and hip-hop tracks within the last several decades.
Riley's discography includes records such as Blackstreet's "No Diggity," Michael Jackson's "Ghosts," Wreckx-N-Effect's "Rump Shaker," Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?," and Kelly Price's "Mirror, Mirror."
Babyface has production and writing credits for hits like "The Color of Love" by Boyz II Men, "Another Sad Love Song" by Toni Braxton, "Baby-Baby-Baby" by TLC, "Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé, and "Don't Be Cruel," by Bobby Brown. The latter artist shared a video on social media Saturday encouraging his followers to check out the battle stream.
"It's gonna be an epic battle. I mean, I've worked with both producers, both writers ... I don't have a choice on who's gonna win this one, but this battle is epic," Brown said. "This battle, it defines music of my generation, generations from the past, and generations to come."
Jamie Foxx was just as pumped:
You can stream the Verzuz battle now on Riley's Instagram account.
The viewership of the battle reached 400K, and it started with three songs apiece before sound difficulties. Teddy Riley started with Doug E. Fresh's "The Show." Babyface answered with The Deele "Two Occasions." From there, they went as followed:
Teddy Riley: Guy - "Groove Me"
Babyface: Bobby Brown - "Don't Be Cruel"
Teddy Riley: Hi-Five - "I Like the Way"
Babyface: Bobby Brown - "Every Little Step"
The event was originally scheduled to go down in early April, but was postponed shortly before Babyface revealed he and his family had contracted coronavirus. The 62-year-old confirmed they have since tested negative and are now on the road to recovery.
