I think 20 songs is fine and for some battles, it hasn't even been enough (eg. going into OT, fans still complaining about faves not being played, etc).

If some artists have trouble coming up with a competitive top 20... maybe they don't need to be battling in the first place. That's where I'm at with it. The format strongly favors G.O.A.T.s/leaders in their respective spaces and almost functions like a retrospective on each artist's work. I'm not mad at there being a space for that.

Personally, the Nelly v. Luda matchup didn't excite me much (tho I know they both had their heyday) and it's one of very few I didn't at least check in on during or afterwards *shrug* If a viewer tuned in and was unimpressed that's kind of on the viewer imho (no one's forcing anyone to watch). I don't see why a less competitive matchup should alter the experience for when heavyweights *do* participate. If that's gonna be an issue then I'd rather verzuz competitors simply be restricted to heavyweights, tbh.

Like... maybe the world doesn't need lil bow wow to face off against lil mama. Or, maybe it does but not in the verzuz format. And that's cool. But cutting the format in half right before puff goes up against dre or whatever the verzuz finale ends up being would be really annoying imho.

Last thing I disagree with you on is the talking, stories, etc. Personally? I like all that and it makes the vibe feel more cordial, respectful... even educational in some instances. The vibe in between songs made the Erykah and Jill matchup feel the most *nourishing* to me, by far. Or in the Boi-1da v. Hit-Boy battle, they played a lot more instrumentals which viewers not as into production might have found boring *shrug* So just goes to show that lots of ppl enjoy these shows in different ways, and perhaps rules dictating every little detail would end up worsening the experience for more than it would help.

At some point, I just think it's helpful to remind ourselves that these performances are being put on for free to help people cope and find small pockets of fun/joy while covid wreaks havoc on folks' health, wellbeing, families, and communities. That's really the most important takeaway here.