Why Swizz Beatz and Timbaland Are Refusing Profiting Off ‘Verzuz Battles’
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland revealed that they’ve turned down multi-million dollar deals for their wildly-popular Verzuz platform.
The superproducers have hit the quarantine entertainment jackpot with their Instagram Live face-offs. Swizz and Timb have brought fans together while uplifting the culture and celebrating Black music.
While chatting over Instagram Live about Beenie Man and Bounty Killer’s Saturday night lituation, the two discussed why they’ve passed on opportunities to monetize the platform and stay true to their original mission.
“Tonight represented the authentic zone of why we didn't sell 50 percent of the company for millions of dollars,” Swizz said. “The authentic zone of why we turned down millions and millions of dollars to the vultures just wanting to put a name next to the name, but no. Respect is overdue.”
“We haven’t made one cent off of Verzuz yet. That [doesn't] mean that we not [about] business,” he continued. “But, what we have is a museum. Verzuz is a museum. It’s an educational, celebrational platform. What Beanie Man and Bounty Killer did tonight was iconic. They was just gonna leave Beenie Man and Bounty Killer on the side of the road.”
Timb felt the same way.
“You can’t just leave these icons on the side of the road,” he added. “[Beenie Man versus Bounty Killer] just gave you a feeling. And to see them celebrate together, I was jumping up outta my seat like, ‘Yo, this is amazing.’ Every Verzuz we’ve done, it’s reminded people how great these icons are.”
Swizz shared that his greatest satisfaction has come from keeping Verzuz a 100 percent, Black-owned enterprise.
“That’s when you can say culture,” he remarked to his brother-in-rhyme at the 5-minute mark. “We own Verzuz a hundred percent. “There’s no middlemen involved in Verzuz. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland own Verzuz a hundred percent.”
Previously, Timbaland revealed to TMZ that major networks expressed interest in Verzuz.
“A lot of people contacted me and Swizz about a lot of things, but right now, we just want to keep it for the culture because it’s so organic,” Timb stated. “We don’t want to bring that part of the element in right away. We just want to keep it where people are entertained because we’re living in a world where 16 million people lost [their] jobs. We don’t want to get into the politics of it. We want to keep it natural and fun.”
