Music producer Swizz Beatz has finally confirmed the rumors about 112 going against Jagged Edge in the next installment of "Verzuz" in an Instagram post, Thursday, May 21.
Beatz, the co-founder of the online battle on Instagram, shared the poster for the upcoming event. "Just added to the Memorial Day Weekend madness," the caption read before announcing Jagged Edge and 112 to go head to head on Monday, May 25, at 8 PM EST.
"Something for the ladies," the caption added, telling his Verzuz partner Timbaland "it's a busy long weekend."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Swizz Beatz (@therealswizzz) on May 21, 2020 at 2:49pm PDT
The Shade Room first broke the news of the battle between the Atlanta-based R&B groups. It follows an earlier Instagram Live session by Beatz and Timbo naming 112 and Jagged Edge for a potential lineup.
Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, asked So Def Recordings founder Jermaine Dupri to make JE versus 112 happen. Dupri also produced songs for Jagged Edge, who are signed under his music imprint. Timbo added to the call and said, "Come on now, don't play no games."
Dupri has also posted the Verzuz battle poster on his Instagram page, captioned "Confirmed !!" and received gratitude from Beatz and support from Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Jagged Edge is a four-piece group, including identical twin brothers Brandon and Brian Casey, together with Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo. They were signed through Dupri's So So Def Recordings since 1995 and have released the hit singles "Where The Party At" and "Let's Get Married," produced by Dupri himself.
The Grammy-nominated, Soul Train Award-winning group, has released ten albums, including their 1997 debut "A Jagged Era," the 2000 platinum-certified "JE Heartbreak," and the 2019 "A Jagged Love Story."
On the other hand, 112 (read "one-twelve"), is also a quartet comprised of Daron Jones, Quinnes "Q" Parker, Marvin "Slim" Scandrick, and Michael "Mike" Keith. The four were former Bad Boy Records artists who signed to the Def Soul label in 2002.
Their success in the late 90s and early 2000s were marked with hits such as "Only You" and "Anywhere." The group also released the Grammy-nominated single "Peaches & Cream." In 1997, 112 won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or a Group for their rendition of "I'll Be Missing You," alongside Diddy and Faith Evans.
"Verzuz" is the online beat battle on Instagram created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, who also served as the debut match-up. It has featured matches between Teddy Riley and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, RZA and DJ Premier, and T-Pain and Lil Jon.
Billboard notes the effect of these battles on the artists' listenership. The "Verzuz" effect was first observed when Babyface and Teddy Riley saw a renewed interest in their music, with a nearly doubled stream volume. Riley even enjoyed a surge in his online fanbase, with his Instagram followers increasing to 855,000 from 328,000 after the event.
Meanwhile, the "Battle of the Queens" posted a collective volume of 6.7 million streams for both Erykah Badu and Jill Scott's music, compared to the 2.1 million plays before their Verzuz battle. Their Instagram battle also set the highest viewership at 700,000 people against Babyface and Riley's 525,000 audiences.
