“That is actually a celebration of two giants of the tradition…” DJ Cassidy enthused later within the night and he couldn’t be extra heading in the right direction. Bobby Brown’s profession soared within the mid-‘80s as a part of the omnipresent R&B boy band New Version — and whereas he ventured out on his personal in 1987 with a built-in fanbase, Keith Sweat was discovering his place on the Billboard 100 for the primary time with hits like “Make It Final Perpetually” and “I Need Her” from his debut album.
Because the lights brightened within the venue, the 2 sat throughout from one another, backs straightened in opposition to ornate thrones, able to show why they’ve lengthy been topped kings. Here is how Billboard scored their showdown.
Spherical 1: Keith Sweat’s “One thing Simply Ain’t Proper” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Merciless”
Sweat maintains his cool, crooning the lyrics to “One thing Simply Ain’t Proper,” whereas seated. The gang in-house is dropping it however Keith is much from breaking a sweat. Bobby Brown jumps into “Don’t Be Merciless” and followers within the Instagram feed are going nuts. Loads of hearts flying within the feedback as DJ Envy parrots Whitney Houston’s proclamation from years previous, saying merely, “King of R&B.”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 2: Keith Sweat’s “Make You Sweat” vs. New Version’s “Mr. Phone Man”
Keith chooses “Make You Sweat” subsequent and when he’s nearly completed, he nudges Bobby, “That’s only a lil’ bit. Don’t damage me too unhealthy now…” Bobby shrugs it off with a smile, dropping “Mr. Phone Man” to the viewers’s delight. Some commenters quip concerning the variations in Bobby’s present voice from the unique monitor, discounting the truth that he was 15-years-old when New Version launched it. “You would possibly as effectively have introduced Ronnie, Ricky and Mike up right here,” Sweat teases.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 3: Keith Sweat’s “How Deep Is Your Love?” vs. New Version’s “Jealous Woman”
Keith doesn’t end the primary line of “How Deep Is Your Love?” earlier than the venue reverbs with screams. At some stage in the clip, the IG feed lights up with hearts. Bobby leaps out of his throne to carry out “Jealous Woman” and Keith feigns dismay two-stepping alongside him.
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 4: Keith Sweat’s “I’ll Give All My Like to You” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Girlfriend”
When Keith drops “I’ll Give All My Like to You,” Bobby can’t resist however sing together with the hook. Respect from each on the very best stage. Then Bobby retains the groove going with “Girlfriend” and the feed is feeling it. Gabrielle Union feedback, “Alright now…” One lady within the venue screams, “Do this sh*t B!”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 5: Keith Sweat’s “How Do You Like It? (Half 2)” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Woman Subsequent Door”
Keith picks up the tempo with “How Do You Like It? (Half 2)” that includes a verse from Left Eye. “Y’all may not bear in mind this however I simply wished to do one thing funky right here.” Bobby retains it going with “Woman Subsequent Door,” after which Keith goes into the various explanation why having a woman subsequent door would by no means work in his favor.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 6: Keith Sweat’s “Proper and a Fallacious Approach” vs. New Version’s “Hit Me Off”
Keith goes into “Proper and a Fallacious Approach” with Bobby pitching in on the vocals. If it wasn’t clear earlier than, the 2 are clearly followers of one another. ” they are saying I like to beg…” To which Keri Hilson replies “Normalize begging…” within the Instagram feed. Bobby lastly peels off his leather-based coat to carry out New Version’s “Hit Me Off.”
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 7: Keith Sweat’s “Telling Me No Once more” vs. New Version’s “You Don’t Must Fear”
Sweat exhibits off his soundtrack placement with “Telling Me No Once more” from New Jack Metropolis and Bobby follows up with some hip-hop aptitude dropping New Version’s “You Don’t Must Fear.” Type of a mismatched pairing of songs, however the crowd appears to like each.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 8: Keith Sweat feat. Snoop Dogg’s “Come and Get With Me” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Thug Loving”
Right here’s the place Keith will get playfully cocky: after operating via a number of strains of “Come and Get With Me” with Snoop, he pokes at Bobby, “Do one thing to make me sweat man! My identify’s Sweat and I ain’t sweating but.” So, Bobby hits again with “Thug Loving” and a few spins, middle stage. “Oh you bought up trigger Ja Rule was in your joint,” Keith jokes. That’s when Swizz Beatz slides into the IG feed, “I advised y’all Keith is a film.”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 9: Keith Sweat feat. Kut Klose’s “Get Up on It” vs. Bobby Brown’s “One Extra Night time”
Sweat dives deep into the sluggish grind aspect of New Jack Swing with Kut Klose and “Get Up on It,” blessing us with a number of strains a cappella effectively after the music ended. Bobby responds, “Oh, we speaking New Jack Metropolis. New Jack Swing. Teddy Riley.” And appropriately, he follows his assertion up with 1992’s “One Extra Night time.” It simply is not fairly robust sufficient to say the spherical.
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 10: Keith Sweat’s “I Need Her” vs. Bobby Brown’s ”Get Away”
For the second half of the Verzuz battle, each males emerge from backstage in contemporary wardrobes, plugging one another’s wares. Keith presents candles and Bobby presents barbecue sauce. Moments later, it is again to enterprise as Keith proudly bobs round to a clip of Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear”: “Step on stage, ladies scream like I’m Keith…” Slick. Then he springs into “I Need Her,” his first smash file of the New Jack Swing period. “Get together time.” Timbaland feedback within the feed. The power is electrical by the point Bobby pounces on “Get Away,” gliding into some easy choreography on this one. “Do this dance once more,” Keith prods with a smile.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 11: Man’s “Let’s Chill” vs. Bobby Brown feat. Aquil Davidson’s “That’s the Approach Love Is”
“I don’t simply sing, I write too,” Keith teases. “You performed New Version. Because you cheated. I’d as effectively go to my pen sport.” On cue, Man’s “Let’s Chill” booms from the audio system and Keith appears to feed off of the gang’s enthusiasm. Bobby hits again with the bouncy minimize “The Approach Love Is” but it surely is not sufficient to tug a win out of this spherical.
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 12: Silk’s “Freak Me” vs. Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley feat. Bobby Brown’s “Lovely”
Keith Sweat’s pen sport is stronger than most. Kicking off the spherical with Silk’s “Freak Me,” is sufficient to earn an infinite flurry of hearts. Kandi Burruss, fellow songwriter, drops her approval within the feed: “I knew Keith was gonna pull out the Silk hits. Needed to!” Then Bobby follows that up with “Lovely” that includes Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley. It’s a stunning music however undoubtedly ill-placed on this spherical.
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 13: Keith Sweat’s “Hold It Coming” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Good Sufficient”
Keith dials the power up with “Hold It Coming” however Bobby’s “Good Sufficient” has viewers within the IG feed reminiscing on highschool breakups and the primary time they discovered that Bobby had coded “grown folks” actions within the lyrics.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 14: LSG’s “My Physique” vs. Bobby Brown with Whitney Houston’s “One thing in Widespread”
It was solely proper that Keith pop up with a pair group entries after Bobby’s New Version performs. His flip as one-third of LSG produced one in every of ’90s R&B’s most memorable tracks “Your Physique” and the viewers is elated. However when Bobby comes again with “One thing in Widespread,” his collab with then-wife Whitney Houston, he seals the win for spherical 15. Johnta Austin leaves a notice on the IG feed: “RIP Nippy.”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 15: Keith Sweat feat. Kut Klose’s “Twisted” vs. Bobby Brown’s “Humping Round”
Keith retains the sluggish jams coming, gliding into “Twisted” in spherical 15. One other traditional monitor together with his group Kut Klose on the background vocals. Bobby responds with the bubbling “Humping Round” — and in a present of help and appreciation, Teddy Riley seems within the IG feed: “Thank y’all!!! Peace and love household!!!”
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 16: Johnny Kemp’s “Simply Bought Paid” vs. Bobby Brown’s ”Rock Wit’cha”
Keith is in his writing bag at this level, enjoying Johnny Kemp’s “Simply Bought Paid,” and it’s a type of Verzuz songs the place almost everybody within the feed is shocked that the monitor is related to the artist within the battle. Genius.com feedback that Keith really wrote this whereas he labored on the New York Inventory Alternate. Kinda wild. Bobby smooths issues over with “Rock Wit’cha,” and nobody’s remark is louder than Verzuz alum Raekwon’s within the feed: “Come on Bob. Break his rattling neck. There you go!”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 17: Keith Sweat’s “Make It Final Perpetually” v. Bobby Brown’s “Roni”
There’s no technique to inform which period is the “proper” time to play your greatest hits in a Verzuz, however someway Keith ordered this one completely. Three rounds from the tip of the battle, and “Make It Final” hits completely. Even Bobby joins in on the hook earlier than bringing the mic stand out for his 1988 hit “Roni.” Warren G pops into the chat: “Wow.”
WINNER: Keith Sweat
Spherical 18: LSG feat. LL Cool J, Lil Kim and Busta Rhymes’ “Curious” vs. Bobby Brown’s “On Our Personal”
Right here’s the place the blokes get a bit crazy. To be honest: The Ciroc had been flowing for no less than two hours at this level. However the viewers at dwelling particularly have their eye on Keith. “Who’s driving Keith dwelling?” one commenter asks. D-Good quips, “That Ciroc is kicking.” “I do know what you gon’ do subsequent,” Bobby taunts. “You don’t know,” Keith shoots again. “I do know ‘trigger I learn your checklist.” “Oh my God. You gon’ get it now.” Keith follows this assertion with LSG’s “Curious” that includes LL Cool J, Lil Kim and Busta Rhymes. “Okay,” Bobby challenges, “Let’s go to soundtracks.” The pop of the manufacturing on Ghostbusters 2’s “On Our Personal” has Keith’s tween nephew shifting within the middle of the dance flooring. Later, he goes on a type of rant about how he would have most well-liked that placement over the one he procured on New Jack Metropolis. “That don’t rely,” he bantered, leaning just a bit, “I’da quite had that examine. I’da been one in every of your dancers again then.”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 19: Keith Sweat’s “Don’t Cease Your Love“ vs. Bobby Brown’s “Each Little Step”
Keith pushes via Spherical 19 with “Don’t Cease Your Love“ but it surely doesn’t stand agency in opposition to Bobby’s “Each Little Step.” Looks like Sweat may’ve used one thing else right here for certain.
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Spherical 20: Keith Sweat feat. Athena Cage’s “No person” vs. Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative”
Keith held on till the tip however by Spherical 20, he threw the query of what his ultimate music ought to be, to the viewers though we’re pretty sure he already had his music cued up. One lady in-house screamed out “No person!” He responded, “Aiight c’mon.” And certain sufficient the whine of these acquainted synthesizers piped up on the prime of the monitor. Bobby fittingly wrapped up his twentieth spherical together with his greatest Billboard Sizzling 100 solo hit, the roaring No. 1 “My Prerogative.”
WINNER: Bobby Brown
Wider Catalogue: Bobby Brown
Bobby takes this one simply. Beginning his musical profession as a young person in 1983 and shifting into younger maturity, already a serious star by the late ‘80s, gave him the room and platitude to strive something and the whole lot with out sacrificing his private type. Large price range film soundtracks, New Jack Swing bops with bars within the center, Quiet Storm sluggish jams, even a reggae-tinged music!
Largest Snub: Bobby Brown (level to Keith Sweat)
Looks like if Bobby was going to make use of New Version tracks, he may’ve discovered a spot for “Sweet Woman” or possibly even “Cool It Now.” Both of these may’ve labored right here in one of many earlier rounds.
Greatest Banter: Keith Sweat
Whereas each males appeared snug of their respective roles, Keith Sweat was way more talkative and full of life between songs. He teased, taunted and poked at Bobby. He sang over his songs then acquiesced to their enchantment earlier than bounding onward into the subsequent spherical.
Largest KO: Bobby Brown
Unsure Keith was anticipating Bobby to come back barreling out of the gate with New Version’s “Mr. Phone Man” within the second spherical. “Make You Sweat” didn’t stand a lot of an opportunity subsequent to the poppy ‘80s smash courtesy of these boys from Boston.
Individuals’s Champ: Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat appeared to attract extra help on-line because the evening went on — particularly as he refilled his Ciroc. Individuals love being entertained, and Sweat’s antics all through the night had many commenting on his uncommon type all evening. His songs are fairly dope, too.
FINAL SCORE: 15-10, Bobby Brown
