This weekend was another win for Club Quarantine.
Instagram Live has moved past the phenomenal moment DJ D-Nice gave us and has now become a breeding ground for new entertainment experiences.
Last weekend, musicians decided to go head-to-head against each other in a sound vs. sound matchup featuring the world’s top R&B hitmen.
The dream gave us countdown & schoolin life but Sean gave us Check on it & Lose My Breath… pic.twitter.com/9pKnWIP2Ca
— Shelton Boyd-Griffith (@flyrebel) March 29, 2020
First some of the industry’s most renowned hip hop beatmakers set it off, from Timbaland versus Swizz Beatz to Hit-Boy versus Boi-1da. However it turned up when the R&B producers faced off.
Damn The Dream played Rihanna’s Birthday Cake then Sean Garrett hit him with Chris Brown’s Run it 😬 pic.twitter.com/1v0KpQ65gV
— Joshua Chenault (@joshuachenault1) March 29, 2020
The-Dream and Sean Garrett took it there and made it personal along the way. They faced off on Saturday night and once locked in it was awesomely cordial. The two Atlanta based hitmakers went song for song brandishing every hit that they’ve penned.
Celebs that snuck into the virtual session was everyone from Rick Ross and Fat Joe to T.I. and Wale.
I’ve been getting hit up about the ground rules. More details to follow but what we have so far…
1. Show up sober
2. 25 songs a piece
3. Songs must already be released
4. Any genre counts
5. 1m 30secs max play for each song#neyovjohnta— Johnta Austin (@johntalsr) March 29, 2020
This set up Ne-Yo and Johnta Austin who were next up.
“Y’all requested. My brother & I will oblige,” Johnta wrote on Twitter. “Great night ahead!” Ahead of their duel, Austin took to Twitter to share some of the ground rules he and Ne-Yo had laid down for their night’s match on Sunday.
A battle of the best R&B pens in the game✍🏽: @NeYoCompound VS. @johntalsr 👑
Brought to us by @THEREALSWIZZZ and @Timbaland 🤝
Listen on TIDAL now ▶️: https://t.co/UENmsl6KWN pic.twitter.com/6aghxjewtX
— TIDAL (@TIDAL) March 30, 2020
Kwame Took Us Back And Forgot The Polka Dots
Forget Biggie’s infamous verse that seemingly places Kwame in polka dots forever. The early nineties MC took his IG Live followers back in time and brought the era with him.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-TC1I0gT-I/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
On Saturday from 11 AM to 5 PM, Kwame Holland treated the world to live performances on Instagram from some of the top artists from the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. The producer also celebrated his birthday social distancing style and it was epic.
The “One Song Classic Hip-Hop Breakfast Jam” had over 10K followers joining within the first five minutes. He uniquely meshed theme songs from weekend cartoons from the 80s and the 90s and fused them with music from the time period.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-VVbGwgUGp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The artist line-up was a who’s who of old school fandom. Featuring Chubb Rock, Dana Dane, Dres of Black Sheep, DJ Kool, Kangol Kid from UTFO, Kid from Kid ‘n Play, King Tee, Sweet Tee, Mad Skillz, Master Ace, Monie Love, Nonchalant, Roxanne Shanté, Special Ed, and many more.
Of course, the viewership was just as lit with Big Daddy Kane, Black Thought, D-Nice, Kay Gee from Naughty by Nature, Kid Capri, Mannie Fresh, Melba Moore, Charlie Mack, Ralph McDaniels, and many more in “attendance”.
As the world pulls together to get through the COVID-19, the music is contining to save the day and the weekend one IG Live at a time.
