A Legendary Verzuz Battle

Mike “The Visionary” Cotton

March 25, 2021

This past weekend, the most legendary Verzuz battle ever took place. Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon went hit for hit in a battle that many Wu-Tang Clan fans have wanted since the Verzuz battles began. Out of all of the potential Wu-Tang Clan matchups for a Verzuz battle, this seems to be my favorite one. Having the opportunity to watch Ghostface Killah’s cadence and his ingenuity (in regard to his usage of words) versus Raekwon’s delivery and vibrant flow felt like an honor, this Verzuz battle was also a reminder as to how much music Ghostface Killah and Raekwon have together between both of their individual discographies. Prior to the battle, on my radio show “The Come Up”, I expressed that I didn’t think either of them were going to win by a landslide, but I felt that Raekwon was going to take this battle home with him one way or another. Towards the middle of the battle, I didn’t know who was going to win, in my opinion, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon were tied at five songs a piece. The last ten rounds of the battle are what really determined the winner for me, despite a couple of unfair matchups that leaned more towards Raekwon snagging some points (such as rounds eight and eleven), I felt that Raekwon won that Verzuz battle. On my own personal scoreboard, Raekwon went on quite a run towards the ending of the battle. He won rounds eleven through fourteen, and then rounds sixteen through twenty (Raekwon won with fourteen to Ghostface’s six). This was an overall great battle, and I’d love to see more Wu-Tang Clan members get involved with the Verzuz battles in the future.

Aside from the music played during the Verzuz, just seeing the chemistry between those two after working with one another for over thirty years was satisfying. Not only were they having fun, but if you tuned into it, it was obvious that this battle was something they needed. With all of the hardships of covid-19 within the past year, artists haven’t been capable of performing in packed arenas like they’re used to. Even though it wasn’t in front of a packed crowd, getting together, bringing out ODB’s son, and still being able to put on some kind of show for their fans had to be fulfilling for them; if they could’ve gone all night, they would’ve. On the flip side, other than artists actually stepping into the studio and making music, the Verzuz battles seem to be another crucial factor in bringing some sort of normality back into the rap industry. The same thing goes for the fans as well, being able to watch any kind of live music performances from some of our favorite artists through a screen, isn’t the same as watching them live in-person, but it’s still a great form of entertainment that we can all interact (or debate) with one another over.