Superproducers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz came up with the idea of Verzuz in 2017, but it wasn’t until the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic that the idea started taking shape. Soon, producers like RZA and DJ Premier were battling each other on social media and the world was talking. Once things started opening up, Verzuz could happen in real life like when The Lox took out The Diplomats at Madison Square Garden. Now, Verzuz is expanding to India with #VerzuzDesi happening on December 22. The battle pits two up-and-coming rappers, Panter and Gravity, against each other. As with all Verzuz, there’s just love at the end and no winners are declared, but who wants to lose a battle, right?

Verzuz was bought by the social media application Triller in March of 2021. Since then, there have been a few lawsuits over non-payments by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, but things seem to have been settled and global expansion is the goal for 2022 and 2023. “2022 has been a banner year for Verzuz and expanding the property to India where Triller has seen immense growth is exciting for the company. Making industry inroads to highlight emerging talent and creators is a key pillar for the Triller brand and the VerzuzDesi platform will spotlight India’s rising talent to a global audience,” says Mahi de Silva, CEO of Triller.

Check out the battle at Verzuz International.