Dancehall legends Beenie Man and Bounty Killer were none too pleased when they were left off a Billboard cover celebrating the Verzuz battles and Swizz Beatz is with them.
On Monday (August 10), Billboard published a story on the success of Verzuz with a cover that included a few of the artists who have appeared in the battles, including Snoop Dogg, Jill Scott and Babyface. With neither of the dancehall artists featured, Beenie called out the magazine and questioned when the genre would finally get the recognition it deserves.
“Big up Swizz & Timz but this is what our genre face!” Beenie wrote. “Everybody fwd and tek piece and build up dem thing and then do everything to undermine the genre DANCEHALL where they got it from. Don’t try undermine the thing. #DANCEHALL When will DANCEHALL get recognition???? Nuh matter the impact, no matter the hard work, no matter how powerful the music is, them still try it everytime them get a chance. Ah time now man. #FixUp.”
Swizz echoed similar sentiments and shared his own updated version of the cover that featured both artists.
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“To our fans, while we are honored that Verzuz made the cover of Billboard, this would not have been possible without Beenie Man & Bounty Killer who set a big tone for our audience and represented for Jamaica,” he wrote. “Thank you Billboard for the acknowledgment but, we feel this version of the cover best represents THE VERZUZ EFFECT.”
View this post on InstagramOop! #BeenieMan & #BountyKiller call out #Billboard for leaving them off of the cover dedicated to the #VerzuzEffect. ?? #Timbaland #SwizzBeatz (SWIPE) (?:@billboard)
Despite the lack of recognition on the cover, it is to be noted the cover story did include a nod to their battle.
“Verzuz expanded its sonic palette to other genres of the Black diaspora, with a Memorial Day soundclash between dancehall greats Beenie Man and Bounty Killer,” the article reads. “The soundclash, a reggae/dancehall tradition of live musical head-to-head competition that goes back to the 1950s, was an early precursor to the Verzuz format. The West Indian community, encouraged by the battle’s authentic “bashment” (basement dancehall party) energy, let Jamaican flags and patois fly in IG comments and on social media. It was a full-on party, and a cultural high point for Verzuz.”
Beenie and Bounty went head to head for Verzuz on Saturday (May 23) and brought in nearly 700,000 viewers on Instagram Live. Nas was among the attendees, and hilariously mistook Guerilla Black’s flow for the late Notorious B.I.G. when Beenie dropped his 2004 collaboration with Black, “Compton.”
After commenting, “BK … Biggie RIP!!!!” while the song was playing, he quickly realized the mistake and followerd up with, “Oh shit, that ain’t BIG.”