After being shut down twice (first by COVID-19 and later by a bizarre insurrection that dominated the news cycle) the Ashanti and Keyshia Cole Verzuz finally took place on Jan. 21. The queens of the early aughts linked up in separate locations to bring bops that brought us back to Jansport backpacks and Jersey dresses.
Black Twitter boiled with impatience at 8:00pm waiting for the duo to show up for the culture and when they finally arrived they gave us plenty to savor from behind the schemes stories to vocal riffs.
Keyshia Cole & Ashanti | Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Image
They brought us back to the heartbreaks we had when custom ringtones were the loudest declaration of love we could send, and bills were something other people worried about as they bopped in their thrones to each other’s hit and shared stories about their time at the top of the Billboard charts.
Look back on some of our favorite moments from Ashanti Verzuz Keyshia Cole below.
01
The Tardy Tweets
Technical difficulties set the event an hour behind and after waiting over a month Black Twitter was not having it. They let the characters fly on Beyonce’s internet giving us the best pre-show of all.
Photo: Getty
02
Ashanti’s Homegirl Vibes
When Cole was delayed, Ashanti was the friend we all needed and jumped into her hosting bag. “I’m the hostest with the mostest,” she declared with unmatched energy. Giving a solo show on her silver throne, she held it down for KC. ““I’m holding sis down that’s how we do it’s about love,” she said beaming at the camera. Now if only we could get the shady chick from the office on all our Zoom calls to do the same.
03
Being Reminded That Ashanti Joined The Game At 13
Ashanti’s debut project may have launched in 2002 but sis reminded us her pen and tone have been around since the late 90s by playing her chorus on Big Pun’s “That’s How We Roll” at the top of the evening.
Photo Credit: @Ashanti/IG
04
Keyshia Cole’s Runs
Cole slayed by providing run after run during the event. She even stood up at one point to provide breath for one of her ballads.
Photo: Getty
05
The O.T. Genasis Pop Up
The rapper popped up during “Love” to serve the frat party version that has the tiktockers losing their minds.
06
The Mutual Compliments
Watching each of the women gush over each others “assets” seriously made us miss complimenting random girls in club bathrooms. When Keyshia labeled Ashanti, “thicker than a snicker,” we nearly lost it.
Photo Credit: @Ashanti/IG
07
Ashanti’s PSA
After getting sidelined with a case of the ‘Rona the singer seized the opportunity to remind the over 1 million viewers to “be safe,” and “wear a mask.”
Photo Credit: @Ashanti/IG
08
Finding Out Keyshia Was Almost Signed To Death Row
Cole nearly broke the internet when she revealed that she was almost signed to Death Row Records as a teenager.
Instagram/@keyshiacole
09
Learning Ashanti Almost Signed To Bad Boy
Picturing the Princess of Hip-Hop and R&B anywhere but Murder Inc. feels like pop-culture blasphemy but the star disclosed that she came extremely close to being Bad Boy for life.
