April 11, 2020: DJ Premier vs. The RZA will go down as one of the most historic beat battles / virtual events ever! DJ Premier and The RZA went track for track for 2.5 hours, live on Instagram in front of a total of 849,056 people! The RZA put his best foot forward with multiple tracks from his iconic group Wu-Tang Clan, as well as solo efforts by Ol' Dirty Bastard (R.I.P.), Raekwon, GZA, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Kanye West, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and more. DJ Premier - who y'all KNOW I consider to be the G.O.A.T. - hit back with cuts by Gang Starr, Nas, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Jeru The Damaja, D'Angelo, Group Home, Mos Def, Royce Da 5'9, M.O.P., Big L, KRS-One, and Das EFX. RZA and Premo shared stories/history on various tracks; bits about their cultural relevance and the personal impact these records had on both of them. That was undoubtedly a common thread that connected every fan that was tuning in around the world. There were close to 100K people tuned in just within the first 90 seconds of the battle! Artists like LL Cool J, Swizz Beatz, Nas, DJ Rhettmatic, Apathy, Method Man, Redman, DJ Eclipse, DJ Riz, Jay Electronica, Questlove, Shaq, DJ Numark, Killer Mike, Black Thought, Alchemist, Evidence, and so many others it's hard to list them all. With all the pain and loss going on around the world, this was a brief reprieve, where the bulk of the Hip-Hop community got together (social distancing) and collectively exhaled all our stress, and just enjoyed some great music. In the end, Hip-Hop won! Props to StrictlyCassette for these dope flyers, they are the icing on the cake. Here's the Playlist, dig in!
