It was an all New York, Verzuz matchup as Dipset took on The Lox at Madison Square Garden.
The evolution of the Verzuz phenomenon inevitably came full-circle with the battle between the native New York rap groups. When the matchup was announced by Timbaland and Swiss Beatz on July 14th, an Instagram post on the Verzuz page captioned “NYC stand up this one is for the books.”
No details were left unturned on Tuesday night in downtown Manhattan, where only fans who had their COVID-19 vaccination cards were allowed to be in attendance and were treated to a rap battle, by groups with rappers named Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek (The Lox), and Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and hypeman Freekey Zekey (Dipset).
In typical NYC battle rap fashion there was some contentious moments between the two groups but Kiss and Cam always seemed in control and at the end of the day it was all about giving the fans a show with respect always winning out.
That moment in the LOX vs Dipset throwdown at @TheGarden when everybody realized that @Therealkiss had a significant reach and weight advantage pic.twitter.com/JcLv2UJoN0
— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeague) August 4, 2021
Leading up to the event there was plenty of banter and hype. Both crews had continually shown up in many conversations about who could be possible Verzuz contenders. Then Jim Jones mentioned it on the Joe Budden podcast and from there it grew legs and soon after it was etched in stone.
“Dipset and The Lox, a lot of camaraderie, a lot of good energy, to bounce off one another, Jones said on the Budden podcast.” Cam, Jadakiss, and Styles P literally started the same year to get into this game off of freestyles and things like that. We represent the uptown part of New York City. We represent the culture for New York City.”
After much hoopla and talk both groups showed up and showed out, so as a fan, I felt it was downright “DOPE.” But The Lox, led by lyrical genius Jadakiss, won this going
away.
In fact, Kiss was so impressive, he could’ve beaten the entire Dipset by himself. His catch phrases and lines are legendary and for my money he’s “Top 5 Dead or Alive.”
Now don’t get me wrong, Dipset had their moments, but it just wasn’t enough to overtake the lyrical talent and content that The Lox possessed.
I guess the moment of the night was when Kiss freestyled and shredded the entire Dipset piece by piece, but he did it with such a cool and calm flow that ensured us he was in complete control of the stage at MSG.
He even said before one of the songs was played he says “Are you kidding me? We got “GRAMMYS,” these fools don’t know what those look like, they know what grams look like.”
The DJ got the NYC crowd into a tizzy before the groups arrived fashionably late by playing Tupac and Biggie diss records. Now I’m not putting any of these guys in that category outside of maybe Kiss, but it set the mood for the battle.
Overall, it was one of the better Verzuz thus far even though Jadakiss gave the Dipset “The Kiss of Death” with his elite lyrical genius and stage presence.
Basically, The Lox came in their work clothes and got busy.
In a great marketing move following last night’s show the two groups announced an upcoming tour in the fall.
