Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat are vying for the R&B crown.
Tonight, the industry veterans will step into the Verzuz ring, where they will go head-to-head in a battle of R&B and New Jack Swing classics. Verzuz founders Timbaland and Swizz Beatz announced the match-up earlier this week, confirming it will be broadcasted in partnership with Essence magazine. The battle coincides with week 2 of the publication’s Festival of Culture.
It’s no secret that Brown and Sweat have been built impressive discographies over the last several decades. Each of the artists began their careers in the 1970s and ’80s and have delivered beloved hits as both solo artists and group members.
Brown started out as one-fifth of the R&B/pop outfit New Edition, which gave the world “Candy Girl,” “Cool It Now,” and “Mr. Telephone Man.” Brown left the group in the mid-1980s and went on to achieve success as a solo artist. His debut studio album, King of Stage, dropped in 1986 and included the No. 1 single “Girlfriend”; however, it was his sophomore effort, 1987’s Don’t Be Cruel, that became his most critically and commercially successful record of his career. The platinum-certified project featured classics like “My Prerogative,” “Every Little Step,” “Roni,” and the title track, co-written by L.A. Reid. Brown would go on to drop three more studio albums (not counting compilation or remix projects), and would deliver a number of standalone singles; the latest of which was 2018’s “Like Bobby.”
Sweat began his music career in the 1970s as a member of the Harlem-based band Jamilah. He went solo in 1984 but didn’t release his debut album, Make It Last Forever, until three years later. That project went multi-platinum and included the No. 1 single “I Want Her.” Over the next three decades, Sweat churned out a dozen more studio albums and a slew of hits. Some of his most beloved records include 1990’s “Make You Sweat,” 1991’s “Keep It Comin,” 1996’s “Twisted” and “Nobody,” and 2000’s “I’ll Trade (A Million Bucks).”
You can stream Brown and Sweat’s Verzuz battle now on VerzuzInstagram page, the Triller and FiteTV apps, as well as Essence’s Instagram and Essence.com.
