Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
SOURCE: vulture.com & xxlmag.com
On Wednesday (June 19), two of hip-hop’s most revered producers, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz announced a new partnership regarding their massively successful joint venture, Verzuz.
After reacquiring the high-profile hits battle franchise from Triller earlier in 2024, Swizz and Timbaland inked a deal with X, the social media platform currently owned and operated by Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
While the two producers will maintain full ownership and creative control, Verzuz battles will only broadcast via X as per the newly signed distribution rights.
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland made the announcement public during the Cannes Lions conference in France, which was followed by an official statement from the dynamic duo. Swizz expressed gratitude to Elon Musk while Timbaland spoke on future plans for Verzuz now that the multimedia platform will reach a potential audience of over 550 million X users.
“Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world,” Swizz Beatz said in a statement. “I would like to thank Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Brett Weitz, Mitchell Smith and the entire X team for believing in the Verzuz vision. We can’t wait to get to work.”
Verzuz was created in 2020 and had its peak moment during lockdown. In 2021, it was sold to Triller. But after a lawsuit over missed payments, the pair reacquired Verzuz and extended their ownership stake in Triller. Now Elon is involved.