On May 9, Neo-Soul Queens Jill Scott and Erykah Badu were the queens of hearts as they turned their highly anticipated ‘VERZUZ’ battle into an undeniable lovefest and declaration of sisterhood.
The first female combatants to virtually duke it out on the wildly popular platform, Badu Vs. Scott boasted Michelle Obama, Spike Lee, and Janet Jackson among the 700,000 viewers it amassed at one point during the live session. With those numbers the GRAMMY winners surpassed the viewership figures of the previous record-holders (Babyface vs. Teddy Riley) by well over 200,000 viewers.
As if that win wasn’t enough to celebrate, the love from those watching the digital duel spilled over to digital charts as some of the ladies’ most prized entries from their respective discographies shot up iTunes charts.
Details inside:
As of time reported, Scott and Badu boast multiple entries on the real-time R&B iTunes charts thanks to their acclaimed showdown on VERZUZ.
Whereas Erykah favorites ‘Mama’s Gun’ and ‘Baduizm’ (click here to read our ode to this project) take two spots in the lower top 10, Jill’s debut album – ‘Who is Jill Scott?’ (click here to read our ode to this project) – soared to the chart region’s upper half. Both ladies occupy positions in the lower top 20 too.
Besting the numbers of some of today’s top-sellers, the surge in sales – which was also accompanied by streaming boosts – could spell a re-entry on R&B album charts upon Billboard’s refreshing next week.
Real-Time R&B iTunes Chart
[main photo source: Getty Images]
Your thoughts?
Jilly from Philly, first neo soul was started in Philadelphia, by Jill Scott, music soulchild, jaguar Wright, Bilial….the Roots…….Erica badu was not part of that movement, until she was a feature on the roots track….jazmine Sullivan too .. so sorry y’all need to take her name out of that.. That sound came from Philadelphia…. Y’all not gonna steal that…erica Badu ..she more like an earthy like common who is not neo soul but either way.. We don’t like them battling like that… Let the fans have the battle….
being from philly and that era, I can tell you that you are absolutely wrong.
just because erykah is not from philly doesn’t mean she wasn’t apart of that movement.
shout out to “the 5 spot” where all these artist used to gather and perform and socialize.
That is awesome