The Erykah Badu Verzuz music battle with Jill Scott took place on May 9th at 7pm EST. This was the first battle in the series between two female artists. The Vezuz has battle has been an delightful distraction from the quarantine we are experiencing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Erykah Badu’s and Jill Scott 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. Babyface and Teddy Riley’s Verzuz sessionalso experienced streaming growth .
