Keyshia Cole, Ashanti to compete during next Verzuz battle
'It’s a legendary Ladies Night on Saturday December 12th'
Keyshia Cole will face off with Ashanti in the next Verzuz battle, the duo announced on Instagram this week.
The event is set to go down on Dec. 12., with the R&B divas comparing their song catalogues in a live stream that fans can watch on Instagram or on Apple Music starting at 5 p.m./ 8 p.m. EST.
READ MORE: Swizz Beatz: Gucci Mane-Jeezy ‘Verzuz’ pulled more views than most music shows
“Yeah, it’s official! The paperwork is IN,” the official Verzuz Instagram post reads, “It’s a legendary Ladies Night on Saturday December 12th.”
In May, Revolt.TV reported that Cole challenged Ashanti to a Verzuz on IG, writing under a fan-made list comparing the singers’ songs, “My fans sent me this [Timbaland], [Swizz Beatz], [Ashanti]. Is this accurate?”
Industry vets Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are the masterminds behind Verzuz. The online event will be the fourth female Verzuz following Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Monica and Brandy, and Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle.
READ MORE: Snoop Dogg, DMX compete during Verzuz, Apple Music battle
The Verzuz battles are becoming more popular, with each new virtual show breaking previous records in viewership.
The battle between Brandy and Monica, infamously known as industry rivals, received about 1.3 million concurrent viewers, more than 4.2 million IG users in total, and had more than 100 million likes on the IG. When it comes to the recent battle between Gucci Mane and Jeezy, also known for their beef, the show broke an “all-time livestream viewership record,” according to Swizz Beatz, with 9.1 million people turning in to watch the match, according to BET.
“[Gucci and Jeezy’s Verzuz’s] viewership number from last night actually makes Verzuz bigger in ratings than the MTV VMA’s, NBC’s The Voice, the Billboard Awards, the CMA’s, the Latin Grammy’s, Dancing With The Stars or The Masked Singer respectively on any given night for those primetime shows this year,” Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, wrote on his IG.
“OUR culture has made us the top show in the world for music outside of The Grammy’s. Thank you infinitely!” the Bronx producer continued.
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