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Babyface And Teddy Riley Break Instagram With Epic Music Battle

The culture won last night!

Teddy Riley and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds broke a major record on Instagram.

Last night, the music legends returned to the social platform for a rematch of their much-hyped Instagram Live battle.

  • Babyface and Riley were originally slated to face off against one another on Saturday (April 18) but decided to reschedule after encountering some technical difficulties. 

    Their Verzuz battle stretched for two hours, and music lovers everywhere were getting every inch of their lives. 

    Everyone from Nelly, Fabolous, Snoop Dogg, and Fat Joe to Tyrese, Toni Braxton, Keri Hilson, Bruno Mars, Jermaine Dupri, and Brandy were among those that tuned into the livestream. 

    Following the battle, Swizz Beatz proclaimed on Twitter that more than four million people watched the live stream match. 

  • Pop Crave and iHeartRadio estimated viewership was around the 400K to 500K range.

    Nonetheless, Riley and Babyface’s livestream set a new viewership record after Tory Lanez cracked 310,000 views with his Quarantine Radio Show at the beginning of April, according to High Snobiety.

    The epic night was marked by the two iconic producers voicing their mutual praise and respect for each other’s lineup as they served up one R&B classic after another. 

    At one point, Swizz had to divert viewers to watch from their laptops instead of their phones after Instagram “crashed” during the match because too many people were trying to tune in. 

     

  • Riley and Babyface blew viewer's minds by sharing anecdotes about some of their biggest records. Babyface had everyone shook when he shared one major revelation about the late King of Pop.

    “Speaking of MJ, it reminds me of a story, a true story, fun fact. One time Michael called me and said ‘Babyface, do you know who Halle Berry is?’” Babyface then revealed that he once asked him to hook him up on a date with the movie star. 

    Later in the battle, Babyface had another surprise for viewers. He blessed the livestream with a live rendition of his Grammy-nominated 1993 hit, “When Can I See You.”

    Although a clear winner didn’t emerge from the battle, fans are celebrating the fact that the music is bringing people closer together during challenging times. 

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