1. "i'll believe it when i see it" In response to Reply # 0
but it'd be fun as long as the spirit was right. The whole battle aspect is weird anyway. It's best when folks realize that from the start, keep the theme to have fun but ultimately just swap music and stories and praise for each other. (And if you're Patti, have a bit extra in your cup...)
If it happens and if that's the spirit it's approached in, it'll be one for the ages... but i'm not holding my breath.
3. "I hate being this person but..." In response to Reply # 0
...I would have rather seen Tribe/De La. Tout it as a Native Tongues reunion. Have the Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep show up. Latifah and Monie Love. Busta.
But I guess a Native Tongue reunion doesn't hit certain demographics like Tribe/Kast.
I'm also assuming the fact that De La's catalog isn't available to stream kept that from happening.
5. "No, you summed up what my take is" In response to Reply # 3
This would be like Nas and Rakim doing a Versuz - the one who created the style and the other who innovated it. In this case and the potential battle, the battle isn't exactly peer-to-peer.
OutKast mentioned Tribe as a major influence and both groups are pairs but any similarities end there.
I don't know a natural pairing with OutKast. They're kind of peerless. Maybe Rae and Ghost but I don't think their catalog matches up with. Run DMC, maybe? But their primes never overlapped. By the time OutKast became a thing, Run DMC was a legacy act.
De la and Tribe is the pairing I would most like to see and I imagine most of those who are fans of both groups. Both groups are legitimately peers.
You may be onto something with De La's complicated streaming licensing agreements. I would hope that's the reason more than a promoter legitimately thinking OutKast and Tribe's catalogs mesh well enough for a battle.
6. "Well said here. Was thinking the same thing." In response to Reply # 5
>I don't know a natural pairing with OutKast. They're kind of >peerless.
I agree with you and everyone else who said a more apt pairing for Tribe would be De La, for a bunch of obvious reasons.
And I had the same thought as you did above when I began to try and think of who, then, to pair w/OutKast. They *are* peerless. Which is kind of amazing to consider.
10. "The Roots would get MURDERED against any of these groups because" In response to Reply # 9
The Roots would be murdered because all of these other groups have much larger and casual fan bases.
Verzuz is a popularity contest, not a quality contest.
I'd love to see a remove the "top 3 in popularity" contest: Take the 3 most successful or most loved albums from each group and do the Verzuz and exclude songs for those albums.
For Tribe I think we'd leave out the first 3, Outkast would be after ATLeins.
15. "Maybe the thing to do with Kast is..." In response to Reply # 8
In all due respect to The Roots, they don't have the same career arc or aims as OutKast. OutKast is world-famous and acclaimed on a level The Roots never sought or tried to claim. I hope this isn't meant to disparage the group because what the band has managed to carve out over the past thirty years is arguably harder than what OutKast managed to pull off.
Lil' Wayne or Jay-Z would have the hits needed to compete but neither MC's are groups (obviously) or have the diversity of musical and lyrical styles as OutKast.
Maybe the thing to do with Kast is to just bring in artists they've collaborated with or artists who have interesting stories about OutKast to come in and play songs.
Or have Big and Andre play their favorite songs that contain their favorite verses or bring up great memories.
I think that's what's been impressive about Versuz - just hearing the unheard stories and histories behind the groups.
33. "Well, if they chased it, it wasn't very hard" In response to Reply # 16
But the point was that The Roots' level of career accolades and fame isn't nearly on OutKast's level. That isn't to knock down The Roots a peg. I'm sure 15 and BT are fulfilled by the career they have. Few groups that sound to make their name solely by skill and art have sustained a career in music, much less hip-hop. For as skillful and awesome OutKast's music was, their street vs sensitive story made them more accessible than The Roots. Not that The Roots were trying to outright 'sell' their personas in that way.
18. "good thing theres no downvote button but... BEP?" In response to Reply # 5
only rap act i can think of that blew up to the scale of outkast at their height. definitely differences between them but that might be their most equal match up all things considered.
38. "thats not a bad option" In response to Reply # 37
OPP came on at lunch and had me thinking the same. i dont know if they have enough hits to go up against kast though. i could buy that they were relatively as big as kast at some point though. everyone knew hiphop hooray and opp.
40. "in height of peak?" In response to Reply # 39
like i said, not in the amount of quality and quantity of big hits for naughty. im dubious about them stacking up to kast in overall quality. the argument is known songs for the casual audience. OPP is one of my earliest hiphop memories. that was a moment when certain hiphop songs were very much dominating radio.
BEP i stand by and thats over tribe and de la in this format. i would prefer kast a million times over BEP in basically every way BUT hit by hit you have to admit BEP would stack up well against them to a general audience. they both had hiphop based pop songs that blew up to the point you got tired of them. big difference being that kast hits were actually dope before they got played out lol
if we open it up to just quality of their overall discog then its a different conversation where it goes de la > tribe > kast as has been previously proven =)
4. "Considering Big Boi got an album coming I'm not surprised." In response to Reply # 0
It would be great if Tip wanted to release something too. Tho Versuz should not be a part of people's album rollouts it is....so every one we get from now on is gonna have an album release with it.
That makes it less fun to me....but whatever.
I wonder if any of the songs that Tribe & Kast recorded together (it got mentioned when the last Tribe record dropped) would get played in this scenario?
21. "Question for those who have been keeping up with Versuz..." In response to Reply # 0
Has the quality of the playback improved? When I was watching back when these first started it suffered from quality of the music being played. We were basically getting a choppy feed of whatever room/studio the artist was in and hearing the music coming from their speakers. It was quite shit. What's it like now??
23. "it's way better now but that makes me like it less lmao" In response to Reply # 21
It's a production at this point. Usually both artists in the same room/studio. Might get some strippers, might get a Ray J or Dionne Warrick appearance
I haven't watched the last few live. It's a bit much.
But Gucci vs Jeezy is a big part of my undergrad experience plus Gucci legit hates Jeezy so....who knows what this will turn into
25. "give me 3/5 songs from each to listen to please" In response to Reply # 23
i know the names but cant say ive ever listened to either of theirs albums. im sure they both have singles/features ive heard before but i honestly couldnt pick out either if i heard them featured on a song.
29. "eh. IDK if I can lol" In response to Reply # 25
of course So Icy. Put them both on the map really. Well Jeezy was in that group Dem Boyz on Bad Boy South then blew up
This will be tough b/c they both have a crazy feature list on top of their own tracks. Jeezy was THEEEE remix guy for a minute.
off the top of my head Bottom of the Map, Get Ya Mind Right, Seen It All, I'm So Hood Remix, Dey Know Remix - Jeezy. I also like Trap Star, J.E.E.Z.Y, Top Back Remix
I Think I Love Her, Lemonade, Pillz, Freaky Gurl, Wasted.....idk this one is harder. I like I'm A Dog, I'm A Star, and First Day Out The Feds too *shrug*
Apparently the Gucci song The Truth is where he admits to killing Jeezy's homeboy "Go dig your partner up, nigga, bet he can't say shit"
only listened to the first two songs you listed for each.
jeezy has a very similar sound to ti without the accent. beats are basically the same, voice is different but similar flow. overall i doubt i could get into him. ill probably check out a couple of songs that oak27 listed.
gucci kind of reminds me of memphis sound with kind of like a juvenile flow. definitely more interesting for me. i might actually check out an album of his. maybe ill check out the rest of the songs you listed of his first.
32. "I admit this battle has a bit of sentimental value" In response to Reply # 30
Like...I can't explain the feeling of being in Atlanta when they were at their hottest. Same with TI's stupid ass, Luda, etc
Same reason my fave Versuz was TPain and Lil Jon. Not only did they have amazing personalities and a lot of fun, their music was my college soundtrack.
35. "I feel like they had to up the production for sponsorship dollars." In response to Reply # 21
Cause the best one to me was Badu and Jill Scott. I loved their setup, and the lack of production made it feel like we were watching them facetime with each other vs. a performance.
But I get it. It was getting too popular and they had to make something off of it. That meant bringing a sense of consistency with the presentation, audio, etc.
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
