In case you missed it, Swizz Beatz and Just Blaze captured the attention of the hip-hop community with an monumental night on Friday. The two legendary producers held a “beat battle” in Swizz’s Manhattan studio, going back and forth showing not only their DJing techniques, but volleying, trying to one up each other by playing hit records they’d produced. It turned into nearly three hours of sheer delight for hip-hop fans who watched the tandem on Instagram Live.
Everyone from REVOLT TV chairman Diddy to DJ Khaled, Kelly Rowland, and Meek Mill were tuned to the battle, along with thousands of fans. At one point, Swizz had a little over 15,000 people viewing his IG feed.
And tomorrow night, REVOLT TV will air a specially remixed version of Swizz Beatz’s “Drink Champs” episode with portions of the acclaimed beat battle. After all, the competition originated, at least in part, on the N.O.R.E-. and DJ EFN-hosted podcast.
When Swizz was a guest on the show in January, he spoke of his first beat battle on a major stage with Kanye West. The two faced off at the 2007 Summer Jam.
“I respect Kanye for taking that battle,” Swizz said. “A lot of producers I asked, turned down that battle.”
Ironically, Swizz said Just Blaze was among the exalted boardsmen who declined to battle him.
“I asked Timbaland. I asked Pharrell. I’ll battle any one of them today. That’s light work. Let’s dance,” Swizz continued. “Kanye stepped up to the plate. I respect that I gave him the concept and he was like, ‘Alright, let’s make it fresh. That man is talented. He’s a genius. He’s a master of his craft just like Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Pharrell, Just Blaze, all the producers. They’re masters of their own crafts. The one thing I do miss about music is we all had different things to bring to the table. When you heard our sound, it was a different sound totally. Not about a bounce. We came with what we felt like we wanted to come with.”
Watch the remixed version of Swizz Beatz’s “Drink Champs” episode, with bonus portions of his Just Blaze beat battle, on Thursday, March 2 at 11pm ET on REVOLT TV.