Two of hip-hop’s most iconic groups take the stage for the latest Verzuz, as Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony look to add another epic installment to the Swizz Beatz and Timbaland co-founded series.
Thursday’s battle—which is taking place in front of a live audience in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium—is the first rap Verzuz matchup since Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One in October. Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills put on for R&B/soul with their own celebratory Verzuz event in November.
The matchup arrives nearly a year and a half after DJ Paul and Krayzie Bone first teased that they were going to represent their respective crews in a battle. Talks ultimately fell through until both collectives confirmed tonight’s back in October.
In November 2020, DJ Paul spoke with HotNewHipHop about the fallout of their Verzuz battle, revealing that someone in the Verzuz camp got in Krayzie Bone’s ear shortly before it was set to take place, preventing it from happening.
“I was talking to [Verzuz] and they kept telling me they was gonna do it, man,” Paul said at the time. “Then, they just ended up changin’ they mind. It’s like, I don’t know why they came in just to stop our thing and then didn’t wanna do it. But whatever, I still got love for Swizz [Beatz] and Timbaland. Love you guys to death.”
DJ Paul continued, “It was finna happen. Like 30 minutes. Literally 30-35 minutes, literally 35 minutes before we went live, Swizz’s people called Krayzie Bone and they was like, ‘We gon’ do it on Verzuz, so don’t do it.’ And I was like, ‘Look dude, we still need to do it, man.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know— when is the Verzuz gon’ happen? Like, we still need to do it.’”
Thankfully, fans of both groups finally got what they were waiting for.
You can stream the battle between Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on the official Verzuz Instagram account, the Triller app, and on TV via the FITE app. You can also stream it up top via YouTube.
