The Timbaland and Swizz Beatz-created #VERZUZ platform has become a cultural phenomenon of epic proportion.
Calling on some of music’s most celebrated to square their catalogs against each other, names like Monica, DMX, Jill Scott, Brandy, Snoop Dogg, Erykah Badu, Patti Labelle, Ne-Yo, John Legend, Gladys Knight, Alicia Keys, and many more have taken to the Web sensation to show off prized hits from their respective discographies in a ‘battle’ format.
A consistent ‘ratings’ winner, the popularity of the hit-for-hit showdown has seen music lovers call for their favorite acts to engage – requests that have been met with surprisingly mixed results as the likes of Chris Brown, Usher, and other big names have all declined invitations to compete (as we reported here).
A name consistently atop viewer wishlist is Toni Braxton – a multi-Platinum selling R&B veteran who boasts over 60 million records sold worldwide, over a dozen top 10 R&B hits, and a catalog lined with some of the genre’s favorites from the last 30 years.
When quizzed on if she’d partake in a diva duel with a worthy counterpart, her response got tongues wagging.
More inside:
Braxton – hot on the promo trail in support of her eighth solo studio album ‘Spell My Name’ (click here to read) – was featured in the latest issue of ‘Interview’ magazine via a profile curated by her ‘Do It (Remix)’ co-star Missy Elliott. Elliott – who is also among music stars who have been beckoned to participate in #VERZUZ – gauged Toni’s interest in toplining a battle.
While not totally against the idea, the 7x GRAMMY winner suggested she would consider it under a few conditions.
Excerpt from ‘Interview’ magazine:
“ELLIOTT: …I’m happy with Verzuz, because it allows people to see that, especially when the artist can say, “Hey, this person wrote this for me.” Because now we’re in a time where you’re not getting the hard copies to be able to see all the credits. That actually is good, because you get a chance to hear who did what. That’s what I love about it, too. Besides seeing legends get up there. I’m quite sure they called you. Look, you’re probably like, “Oh, no, I would have to do that segment DOLO.”
BRAXTON: Yeah, I can’t. I’m like, “It would have to be me, Mariah [Carey] or Mary J. [Blige] or something.” Us girls from the ’90s. But no, I haven’t put it on the register to do it yet.”
Click here to read Braxton’s full interview for ‘Interview’ magazine.
*****
Toni’s sentiment echoes that of her GRAMMY-nominated sister, Tamar Braxton, who took to press in August to indicate she would love to see a #VERZUZ-style battle between the ‘Un-Break My Heart’ hitmaker and Mary J. or Mariah (as seen above).
Fans excited by the prospect will need their hearts unbroken as Blige has already conveyed her disinterest.
As we reported here, Mary expressly stated ‘I don’t want to do it’ when asked about her desire to duel whereas Carey may be engaging on the platform in a unique manner (as we reported here). To date, this has not been confirmed.
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She is right she dont have enough records out
I would love to see a CELEBRATION Verzuz with Anita Baker and Toni Braxton! ❤️ We all know Toni is a fan of Anita! Love Shoulda Brought You Home was written with Anita in mind, so it’ll be great to hear about that…their voices are perfect together and the flow of the music will be 🔥 💯
https://www.facebook.com/tonibraxton/videos/1973204046087314/
I would love to see Toni & Janet go for the battle of the whispers.
toni has sold 67 millions records she even out sold Patti Labelle so what do u mean she don’t have enough?
She can’t beat either & she’s my favorite out the three. I’m just being real & logical
At this point forget the VS we want that long overdue collaboration we should’ve gotten in the 90s 😤😫🎶 I always wondered what a 90s Mariah duet would had sounded like with Tevin Campbell, Maxwell, Jodeci, R Kelly, then a rap song with Tupac and Biggie. I can tell had Big lived he would’ve been on the Bad Boy remix to Honey and Tupac on some gangsta romance or social awareness. I still love the original version of Madonnas I Rather Be Your love with PAC too 💯
Trashy ashy bish what’s good💁🏿♀️💁🏿♀️💁🏿♀️💁🏿♀️ How many troll accounts do u have???
You’re just mad cause @Lmfao is on point 😂 Yep, I agree FULLY @Lmfao ✅🤳🏽Marilyn, keep being you 🤣 🤣 🤣
🍭marilyn monh-O-E🍭(Money me daddy!!) forgive me I have gone back to my cockroach ways but I will try and be back on meds very soon. I had to stop my meds as they mad weight gets out of hand and my c o c k is growing back.
Against Mariah, the delusion. Toni, I Love you, but Mariah is far Superior. Outside the US, you’re only known for “unbreak my Heart”.
😭😭😭😭😭😭
People outside America know yesterday because trey songs was on it
Ppl don’t know Trey Songz outside of the US. They’re both local
ya’ll millenials really act like music only went international in the past 5-10 years but ya’ll need to do your research before makin ridiculous comments like this. Toni Braxton is a worldwide sensation whether ya’ll want to admit it or not. ya’ll need to understand that she’s probably more well known in Europe and Asia than even Celine Dion. ya’ll can look at the 80s and 90s sales numbers for the facts
I live in Europe and no, she is not. Yes, people know her, but mostly for one Song.
Let’s be real, Toni is great, yes and I’ve listened to every album. But she is absent from the Mainstream here for nearly twenty years. And of course people know her Name, but she is by far not on the level of a Mary J Blige and let’s not even start with Mariah. Toni had one major Hit, sold Albums due to it cause thats how it has been back in the days and then she had some moderate hits, but thats long ago. Her last moderately charting song was Yesterday.
More known as Celine, as If 😂 celine is doing Arena tours while Toni is trying to Chart on the top 200. Celine is a touring phenomenom and highly known in Europe.
As said, i Love Toni, but she had two Albums that Sold great world wide. Since “the Heat” she is more a US act and not even a really successful one. She really is not up there with Mary, who is far more consistent, and definitely not with Celine or Mariah.
And good luck with looking at the 80s numbers, Toni was not existent in the 80s. So you better get your facts straight.
All of that may be true but the bottom line is she doesn’t have the quantity of hits as Mariah or Mary. I’d like to see Mariah vs. Mary but I think Toni’s catalog falls a bit too short to battle either one.
Clearly you are young dumb and stupid as f*ck because You’re Making Me High and He Wasn’t Man Enough was huge EVERYWHERE!
And how many years was that ago you stupid hôe? Toni is a non factor outside of the US
That’s two decades ago!
Toni find somebody else. Mary and Mariah are too big for you. Their hits are too varied. Love Toni’s music but I cant think of more than 3 uptempo records of hers that were in the top 25 of billboard. She was more of an album artist than a singles artist. Plus both Mary and Mariah wrote their own hits for the most part.
Mary didn’t write any hits lmao. Come on do your research!!! Now Mariah on the other hand has written a lot of her hits. Don’t sleep on Toni because those first two albums of hers had a lot of singles and hits!!!
Mary has co-written the majority of her songs and has co-written for others do your research
@ Pub-leeeeeaze that b**** can barely read so how the hell did she co-write anything. She may have barked out a lyric or two during the writing session because she can barely sing, but she didn’t write anything by herself. Now you do your research!
Toni vs Anita Baker would be a good idea! Don’t sleep on Toni because she was a megastar in her own right and did well. Let me school you, the 90s numbers are not a lie but these new wave streaming numbers and whatever else you little kids do is the fictitious numbers!!!
Had the same thought! That would be a much better fit IMO, and I think they’re both great but I would personally prefer Anita since I’m so old school, even back to her “Chapter 8” jams. Toni came out with such a similar tone as Anita and so many people compared the two of them so I think it would be great to see them go head to head.
@Len75…Anita Vs Toni….THAT IS SUCH A GREAT PIC. Initially i was thinking Anita vs Luther or Anita Vs Sade….all of which are mood music artist. But Anita Vs Toni…that is great concession…cause IMHO… Toni doesn’t have the expanded Body of work to compete with MJB and Mariah.
Literally, a MJB Vs Mariah…would have to be a 3 parts event. Even their remixes were hits…That is the match.
Toni vs Anita Baker would be *appropriate*, but they aren’t really the same era. Toni’s first album was literally rejected by Anita, who told LA/Face that the girl who sang the demos (Toni) sounded pretty good and would be a good choice.
Ultimately, Anita peaked in the late 80s, while Toni peaked in the 90s.
She doesn’t have the singles to compete with Mary or Mariah.
Toni vs Faith may work.
Can we get Kelly Rowland vs LeToya Luckett tho?
Faith Evans and her ass licking 🤮 Saying BIG used to spread those cheeks for her to get her tongue right up in there 👅 I lost all respect for her chile!
LeToya Luckett only has 2 or 3 songs. She can’t participate in a Verzuz dummy.
I was just talking about this last weekend. Love Toni but Mary and Mariah have way more hits than her. Never thought about Toni against Faith that would be more logical!
IMO Faith doesn’t have the hits to compete with Toni, just like Toni doesn’t have quite enough hits to compete with Mariah or Mary. I can’t think of a perfect fit for Toni within her era, but agree with the suggestion about Anita b/c of the similarity in their sound…best suggestion I’ve heard so far, imo.
This woman has no talent, next.
There is nobody good enough for “Verzing” Mariah. And that’s just it!
Cut! Next!
Toni is delusional. Mariahs only worthy opponent would be Whitney….MAYBE Celine but that’s a reach bc she doesn’t have songs to go up against Fantasy, Honey, Heartbreaker etc.
I agree that Toni doesn’t have the expanded catalog to compete with MJB or Mariah. Unfortunately after the backruptchy, Toni’s career never recovered.
Mariah Vs MJB could work very good. They both have hits for days…and even their remixes along would be a hot session. That matchup would be epic
mariah can not sing like whitney .. ..whitney dont have time for stupid show
I think her sound is too different from Mariah’s early pop years, but Toni has a good number of slow and mid to uptempo songs. Don’t forget “Breathe Again”, “You’re Makin’ Me High”, “Another Sad Love Song”, “Hit the Freeway”, “He Wasn’t Man Enough for Me”, “You Mean the World to Me”, “Just Be a Man About It”… Toni has the hits to battle.
Toni and Mary would be the battle of heartbreak. Honestly Mariah can only battle artists who have already passed or herself. Her catalog has way too many genres to keep her in one lane.
Mariah can only do versuz with the late & great Whitney, sorry but its facts. Toni is soooo in her own lane that you literally need to pit her up against another strong female that carved their own lane; which is why Mary J versuz Toni Braxton would make more sense. but even then, their music is so different from each other that you cant honestly make both compete. maybe its time to look at the girl groups. id like a TLC v Xscape v SWV v Destiny’s Children v Danity Kane
It’s difficult to match Toni in a vs. she needed one more classic album to compete with her contemporaries IMO
#Facts. After Toni declined (early 2000s)…MJB and Mariah continued to thrive all through the 2000s. If all went well at LaFace,…Toni would have possibly continued her trajectory..but it didnt’ happen that way.
For you the retards with selective memory Toni was famous when it was no internet, (narn) meaning her talent reached long and hard by itself. There was no animosity against barbs vs beehives to gain notoriety like monotone B and no lyrics minaj . REaching….
Wait a f****** minute, NO TONI slander will be tolerated. From 1993-2000, Toni Michelle Braxton was churning out hit after hit! And she’s STILL dropping hits in her respective genre (Urban AC) and receiving Grammy Awards almost 30 years later. She can absolutely hang with Mary J, as Toni was one of the biggest R&B artists of the 90’s. MJB might have had a longer more consistent career but we aren’t gonna pretend like Toni is some one hit wonder flop because she ISNT! A Toni vs MJB Verzuz would be very appropriate in my opinion!!!
I love Toni, she’s one of my favorite voice ever. But she’s not in Mary’s league and certainly not Mariah’s…
Mariah could do it with Celine Dion.
Toni is known in Europe for Unbreak my heart, You’re making me high was also quite played then He wasn’t man enough.
The rest is pretty much unknown by the general public.
And this is no shade because I love her. It’s not because she’s from the same era with the same longetivity that their careers are further comparable.
But I guess the closest option if we have to pick someone from the 90’s still active today would be MJB.
Toni was much bigger than Mary in the 90s. She slowed down after 2001 and so did Mary until her comeback in 05 with The Breakthrough. That was Mary’s peak. Toni could absolutely match up with Mary musically. Toni’s messy personal life and reality show won’t rewrite history.
Toni was never bigger than Mary lol Mary hardly got her due from the industry until the 2000’s but was killing Toni with music and Im a Toni fan. Mary’s music CHANGED MUSIC. Toni was just another r&b chick who could sing.
You’re crazy. Toni’s first two albums sold over 8 million copies EACH. That’s 16 million albums sold with just her debut and sophomore efforts. It took Mary SIX albums to sell that much total. Unbreak My Heart is bigger than any MJB song.
Mary and Toni together can’t even take on Mariah’s 90s alone. Let’s get real. Why can’t we do Kendrick Versuz J.Cole for example. Xscape Versuz SWV… Pink Versuz Xtina
Mariah’s career was over by 2006, Mary’s was still destroying s*** then. Mariah is great but she would lose.
I say her and Sadé
oh no disrespect to toni but b**** you cant f*** with mj blige
I love Toni but she’s not on Mariah or Mary’s level. I have all of Toni’s albums I LOVE HER but just being honest.
Toni is crazy if she think she’s anywhere near Mary LOL stop it!
Toni could EASILY do a Verzuz with Mary between 1992-2002. Y’all must be brain dead if y’all think Toni doesn’t have HITS. As if she isn’t one of the most successful female R&B artists of all time. 3 #1 hits, over 68 million records sold. Really!!!
More like toni verses tamar. And mary j. Vs mariah
Misss Toni its a no from me. You are not in their league huntey ok.
Humble yourself Joni, noboby knows you in my country but everybody knows Mary and Mariah 😉
Who cares about your country. She sold almost 70 million records PURE SALES as an R&B artist in America. Not everyone has that to their credit. And last time I checked Verzuz was an American platform. So bye!
I understand where Toni is coming from. For her, these are her contemporaries. Yes, Mariah has had more hits in the pop and R&B genres, which makes it not seem like a proper matchup. However, Toni has some great hits and has continued to provide solid efforts for almost 30 years. If you don’t believe me, I encourage you to give it a listen!
Which brings me to Mary J. Why wouldn’t she be a good match? She’s been around the same amount of time.and I’m not sure what she’s done outside of some 90s hits and that big song ‘be without you’ in 2005.
Verzuz is supposed to be fun and celebrate music. I don’t know why is gas to be such a competition!
There is nobody good enough for “Verzing” Mariah. And that’s just it!
Cut! Next!