DJ Premier and RZA faced off in a producer battle that was one for the ages. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launched the Verzuz battle series in March during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The goal of the series is to celebrate the architects of good music.
DJ Premier of Gang Starr and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan faced off in one of the most epic producer battles since this series was launched. Both of these men are juggernauts in hip-hop and have worked with many greats including Jay Z, Nas, Mary J. Blige, ODB and Biggie Smalls.
Premier recalled the time RZA stepped to him in Los Angeles and told him that he had a song titled “C.R.E.A.M.” that would whip him:
DJ Premier remembers RZA telling him about C.R.E.A.M. before it dropped 💎 #RZAvsDJPremier pic.twitter.com/M2AMYyYT6N
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) April 12, 2020
The original battle was set to go 20 rounds but it went much longer.
The overall winner for the evening was hip-hop.
I scored the battle 13-7 with DJ Premier as the winner.
Check out my breakdown after the jump.
Round 1 – RZA (Winner)
“Liquid Swords” produced by RZA
“Medley Intro” produced by DJ Premier
Round 2 – RZA (Winner)
“Bring The Pain” produced by RZA
“Breaking the Rules” produced by DJ Premier
Round 3 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Maria” produced by RZA
“Mathematics” produced by DJ Premier
Round 4 – Dj Premier (Winner)
“Wu Gambinos” produced by RZA
“The Enemy” produced by DJ Premier
Round 5 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Run” produced by RZA
“Mc’s act like they don’t know” produced by DJ Premier
Round 6 – RZA (Winner)
“Shame on a nigga” produced by RZA
“Real Hip Hop” produced by DJ Premier
Round 7 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Protect Ya Neck” produced by RZA
“Living Proof” produced by DJ Premier
Round 8 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Cold World” produced by RZA
“Devils Pie” produced by DJ Premier
Round 9 – RZA (Winner)
“Method Man” produced by RZA
“Just to Get a Rep” produced by DJ Premier
Round 10 – RZA (Winner)
“Motherless Child” produced by RZA
“D’evils” produced by DJ Premier
Round 11 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Verbal Intercourse” produced by RZA
“Nas is Like” produced by DJ Premier
Round 12 – RZA (Winner)
“Buck 50” produced by RZA
“The ? Remains” produced by DJ Premier
Round 13 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Ice Cream” produced by RZA
“Unbelievable” produced by DJ Premier
Round 14 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Brooklyn Zoo” produced by RZA
“Come Clean” produced by DJ Premier
Round 15 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Shimmy Shimmy Ya” produced by RZA
“Kick in The Door” produced by DJ Premier
Round 16 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Long Kiss Goodnight” produced by RZA
“Above the clouds” produced by DJ Premier
Round 17 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Assassination Day” produced by RZA
“NY State of Mind” produced by DJ Premier
Round 18 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“Glaciers of Ice” produced by RZA
“DWYCK” produced by DJ Premier
Round 19 – RZA (Winner)
“Incarcerated Scarfaces” produced by RZA
“Boom” produced by DJ Premier
Round 20 – DJ Premier (Winner)
“You’re all that I Need” produced by RZA
“10 Crack Commandments” produced by DJ Premier
