“People want to talk without doing homework”: Swizz Beats on criticism of Verzuz beat battle deal with Elon Musk’s XAfter a two-year hiatus, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz beat battle will be returning. But there’s a catch – it will have a new home on social media platform X thanks to a partnership deal with Elon Musk.
In a recent Instagram post, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and Elon Musk can be seen clinking cocktail glasses on a yacht. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” the caption reads. “Tt’s official, Verzuz is back and 100% black-owned again…We will also be building new entertainment businesses on the X platform.”
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Verzuz gained popularity during the 2020 pandemic, hosting battles with artists such as Boi-1da vs Hit-Boy and T-Pain vs Lil Jon. Hip-hop fans delighted in the regular showdowns on Instagram Live. However, a legal matter with Triller in 2022 brought the beat battles to a halt. The deal with X will allow the show to pick up where it left off.
Despite the jovial post, there has been an instant backlash. “You made a deal with a racist” one comment reads. Fans are particularly up in arms about the date too; the announcement was made on 19th June, otherwise known as Juneteenth, when slavery was emancipated in the United States. “Imagine selling yourself to the most well known racist… then announcing it on Juneteeth,” another mournfully notes.

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A vast majority of feedback is particularly damning. “Trying to force Black people back to Twitter [X] with music while you’ve made the site a playground for straight up white supremacists is an insult to our intelligence,” one user writes, aiming their comment at Elon Musk. “Basically saying ‘it doesn’t matter how we treat them as long as we give them a hot beat to dance to.’ NO.”
Swizz Beatz has been selective with his responses. One of his longer comments reads as such: “You will see my intentions as always. We must change what we don’t like, not complain about it. We go hard since the 90s. People will soon see the plan. I understand that people have questions, and they will also understand I’m not a silly person.”
Certain responses from Swizz Beatz seem to swerve around the point.
One user comments “should’ve done this on another platform,” listing “Instagram, Facebook or even Fanbase — a Black owned app.” But the show has always been on Instagram; “Verzuz been on this platform from day one,” he writes. “People want to talk without doing the homework.”
However,  some online users claim they’ve already done their homework on Musk, citing his appearance on The Don Lemon show where he argued that the country should “move on” from racism. “We are all descended from slaves,” he insists, while also doubling down on X’s Open Door Policy on allowing hateful content.
Lemon also had his own partnership deal in place with Musk. Following the interview, the contract for his X talk show was immediately cancelled.

Despite the backlash, Swizz Beatz remains undeterred. He insists Verzuz will remain “100% Black owned” under himself and Timbaland. “The last thing we did was sell out,” he explains.
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