The Lox ran through Swizz Beatz’ nostalgic keyboard sound and Jadakiss’ cadre of mid-00s radio staples, and they were also slick enough to mix other artists’ classic songs into their own hits, like when they infused the iconic “All Night Long” bassline into “Knock Yourself Out.” The crowd was excited. There were Dipset’s left-field, high-pitched samples, as well as churning beats like “Santana’s Town,” with rapid hi-hats that felt like razors ready to pierce through the speakers.
But last night showed the true beauty of New York rap: all the acts onstage sounded different within that New York rap classification. Talk about “New York sounding like New York” usually comes up to police artists into a rigid rubric of neck-snapping drums and 95 BPM.
For all the Timbs and oversized Pelle Pelle homogenization people employ when it comes to New York hip-hop culture, Dipset and The Lox are two starkly different acts. And when you talk about New York rappers with national appeal, Dipset is near the top of the list. When you talk about gritty rap, The Lox is at the top of the list. The tracks had me in a web of thought, delving through the rich history of East Coast rap, which is what the night was about, after all. I pondered if some of the artists he played would make an appearance, then realized that artists like Jay-Z (yeah right), Diddy (maybe), and Beanie Sigel (I could see it) could have shown up to perform for either side. Despite some mishaps that were well-chronicled on social media (“Hit Em Up” in New York?), he did a solid job of keeping the crowd mostly hype, as he ran through a mix of mostly New York and Philly rap staples. New York wasn’t trying to hear that, and large portions of the crowd let Technique know by booing until he switched to another track. But, with respect to Uzi, we were in a different lane last night. In the digital-only format of Verzuz, Technician t he DJ would have never felt backlash for playing Lil Uzi Vert’s crooning in a mix of gritty New York rap. There was plenty of that on Tuesday night, but there was also a standing room only crowd of take-no-shit New Yorkers, and it was clear early that we were steering the show. start time) the vibrant crowd was standing room only.įan engagement with the stream-only Verzuz battles was defined by live-tweeting and IG comments. By the time the crews got in the ring (expectedly an hour and change after the announced 9:00 p.m. The last few Verzuz matches have had crowds who spectated the onstage acts, but this was a ramp up.
Michael Hunter, the victorious boxer, walked around belt-in tow, looking to see the festivities.
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The crowd was full of rappers like Fat Joe, Fabolous, French Montana, A$AP Ferg, Maino, and Takeoff, as well as celebrities like Carmelo Anthony, and Jalen Rose (with his co host David Jacoby). Rap media personality ItzBizkit showed up in the same kind of oversized attire he’s worn in viral IG skits-except this time the 2000s chic wasn’t parody. There were some pink shirts and hats, some Lox hoodies, and plenty of chains. People mostly appeared to be in their mid-20s and up. The attendee demographic looked about as you’d expect for two veteran New York acts. The building was full of hip-hop heads, from the fans to the usher who excitedly asked me if I saw Fabolous walking by at one point and gave me a quick treatise on Verzuz attendee Adrian “A Butta” Walton, a New York basketball legend who used to play for Fat Joe’s Entertainers Basketball Classic team at Rucker Park. There may not have been a better testing grounds for the experiment than New York, hip-hop’s birthplace. With money involved come heightened expectations from patrons. And now, with Triller, Apple, Ciroc, Peloton and other name brand corporations involved, and the country starting to open up more (I think?), it’s on the verge of becoming big business.
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Swizz Beats and Timbaland have come a long way from their impromptu Instagram Live battles in the early days of the pandemic, with Swizz in his car and Timbaland’s daughter having to step in and teach him how to work Instagram. While Dipset at times seemed too stuck on what Verzuz has been in the past, feeling as unorganized as last year’s shaky wi-fi moments, The Lox put on a show worthy of Madison Square Garden. The Lox, gritty Yonkers vets (and apparent underdogs for many), brought it to Dipset with a level of showmanship that showed what all live Verzuz events should be going forward. Little did I know that the knockout had set the tone for the rest of the night. Hunter then bowed to the crowd, which, if they were anything like me, was half enthusiastic about his display, and half excited that the preliminaries were over and it was time for Dipset and The Lox to go at it.
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