Nuevo Culture

Erykah Badu And Jill Scott's Music Streams Grow 300% After 'Verzuz' Battle

The Verzuz Effect is very real.

The genres of hip-hop and R&B are truly winning in the midst of today’s new norm that is self-quarantining. After going head-to-head for a loving Verzuz battle, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott‘s music grew in streaming numbers by over 300 percent.

According to Billboard and Nielsen Music/MRC Data, Badu and Scott’s digital music catalog “saw a combined rise from 2 million to 6 million” in streaming after Saturday’s highly-anticipated Instagram Live session. On the Thursday and Friday prior to the event, the ladies tallied a total of 2.1 million streams. On Saturday and the following day, Badu and Scott’s respective catalogs raked in 6.7 million streams in the United States.

Of the songs in Badu’s discography, Badu’s most-streamed song was her debut single “On & On” (1996) which grew by 129%. On Scott’s end, “A Long Walk” (2001) received the most spins and rose by 232%.

On top of their songs gaining traction on streaming platforms, Badu and Scott’s magical 3-hour “battle” (which was more of a music appreciation session) garnered over 1 billion impressions. With Babyface and Teddy Riley’s Verzuz session having yielded streaming growth and Swizz Beatz’s and Timbaland’s well-curated battles joining the ranks of must-see programming on social media, it’s safe to say that “The Verzuz Effect” is very real.

Who’s next up on the Verzuz battlefront? Ludacris and Nelly go toe-to-toe on Saturday, May 16 at 7 pm ET on their respective Instagram accounts.

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