Fans enjoyed the first female rap Verzuz between Eve and Trina Wednesday (June 16) evening. The diamond princess and the pitbull in a skirt displayed sisterhood as they went hit for hit. Live from Miami and London at the same time, hundreds of thousands of viewers tuned in to watch the two MCs.
DJ Nasty warmed up the audience and took us straight to the 305 by opening the show with Rick Ross tracks. Tupac was honored in the beginning of the event on what would’ve been his 50th birthday with a special pre-recorded video tribute, which was followed by an ode to the late Ruff Ryders icon DMX. Celebrities like JT from the City Girls, Da Brat, Queen Latifah, Jermaine Dupri, Ashanti, Brooke Valentine and Eve’s new TV co-star Brandy even tuned in to show love to the queens of hip hop.
Check out the highlights of the night below and tell us what your favorite moment was!
1. The Looks
Trina brought the sexy and sophisticated style to the stage wearing a low cut silk blouse tucked in orange patent leather leggings, and her “long heel” silver strappy red bottoms. Eve on the other hand kept it cute and classic in an all black ensemble featuring a color pop from her blue knee-high boots.
2. Hometown Love
While Eve represents the East Coast, Trina held it down for the dirty south as the two repped their regional sound that put them on the map. The first lady of Ruff Ryders took fans to Philly for the first song we ever heard her on, “You Got Me” by the Roots featuring Erykah Badu. The storytelling in her verse was cinematic as it painted the picture of a young woman falling in love.
Similarly, Trina was sure to perform all of her early hits like 2011’s “Long Heels” as well as several Trick Daddy tracks including “Take It To The House” and “Shut Up.” “This one goes out to my brother Trick Daddy who couldn’t be here tonight,” Trina said. “Shout out to Tricky Daddy Dollars, you know the vibes. Where it all started.”
When The Baddest threw it back to her debut feature on “Nann,” she revealed a full circle moment to the live audience. “This is the same building that I shot my first music video in,” she reflected. “When y’all saw me turn that corner in that diamond bra, you bitches knew what was up.” She also shocked us all when Trick Daddy actually did come out and performed the smash record with her.
3. “Love Is Blind”
Eve was truly ahead of her time when she dropped “Love Is Blind.” The critically acclaimed track paints a painful picture of a friend wishing she could save her girl from an abusive and ultimately fatal romantic relationship. Before she performed it tonight, Eve said, “I didn’t realize what I was saying when I wrote this. It’s crazy to think people are still going through this today.” In the comments, Ruff Ryders producer Swizz Beatz acknowledged the song’s impact.
4. The 6 degrees of Separation
Kelly Rowland got a lot of love during this Verzuz because she has songs with both rappers. Trina’s “Here We Go” features vocals from the Destiny’s Child singer, whereas Eve was a feature on Kelly’s “Like This” from 2007. Likewise, Trina and Eve were also featured on Ludacris’ “My Chick Bad (Remix),” which allowed for a cool duet moment during the show’s finale.
6. The BOPS!
As for tonight’s air forces and throwback jerseys moment, Eve and Trina took fans to the early 2000s when life was simple and bops were plentiful. The ladies cranked out bangers you may or may not have forgotten including “Caramel (Remix)” by City High, Chingy’s “Right Thurr (Remix),” “Be Alright” by Ludacris, “One Minute Man” by Missy Elliott, “Not Today” by Mary J Blige, and the list continued on!
7. Trina’s Brand New Track
What’s a Verzuz battle without a brand new track from at least one of the acts? Trina played a new single, “Receipts,” at the close of the event. The song sounded like authentic Trina. Check out Tidal’s playlist for the full song and all the other hits played during the live showdown.