Brandy and Monica were the latest musicians to battle each other on Verzuz and it certainly was one for the (awkward) ages. The beloved R&B artists not only squashed a decades-long beef (or did they?), but the session itself shattered records, breaking 1 million concurrent views and peaking at 1.2 million.
“New record tonight: 1.2M+” tweeted Verzuz, which has organized battles between its co-founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott along with Teddy Riley and Babyface, among many others.
Perhaps that means a new tour or single is on the horizon for the “The Boy Is Mine” duo? It may be wishful thinking, if Monica’s disposition Monday night was any indication. Still, the battle itself was peak 90s Black girl nostalgia for those of us who took to social media over the past week to declare our loyalty behind Team Brandy or Team Monica.
A somber time for Black America at large, the two opened with a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman before vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris made an appearance to thank both singers for using this platform to support Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote registration initiative and profess herself as a fan of both women.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Verzuz battle if a little shade wasn’t thrown in jest — and the internet has the memes to prove it. Monica even addressed why she finally decided to come together with Brandy to make the Verzuz battle a reality.
“I wanted to speak to you face to face,” Monica said to Brandy, noting that other people in the industry might have caused and sustained their beef. “The more we’re talked about, the more it came to be difficult unnecessarily. And I really, really am a straight shooter and I really do admire what you’ve done musically and what you’ve had to endure personally.”
Brandy returned the compliment, saying, “I have the utmost love and respect for you as well, for somebody to start at 12 years old…The longevity of your career, nobody [knows] what you’ve been through.”
The Moesha star later joked that the two were group, and continuously hinted at the two going on tour, but Monica seemed to shut down the idea. We’ll just have to wait and see what these two legends have in store.