The Moment That Almost Wasn't

“You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather.”-Andre 3K

The anticipation was in place; Babyface vs. Teddy Riley, Saturday 9pm EST, on Instagram Live. There have been many battles in the VERZUZ series, but this one was the battle of all battles, the clash of the titans, the pinnacle of music moments…….and then it wasn’t. The enemy of this event was a mixture of man vs. machine and just plain doing too much (on Riley’s part). I had been excited to write this blog since they announced, postponed, and then announced again. I had my glass of prosecco, my pen and paper ready to keep score on my own, and I was glued to my IG at approximately 6p (I’m on the west coast). When I finally realized this battle was not happening, I was so heartbroken, like I had been deprived of history. I was also upset because I was lost on what I would write about for this week’s blog. I try to only write about things that inspire me, that I connect with, that pull some kind emotion out of me. The only emotions I had was disappointment, and not to be dramatic, great sadness. When the battle didn’t happen, I was so discouraged, although I did get quite a laugh from the internet doing what the internet does in epic fails like this. When I woke up Sunday morning, I was still upset, so I was like ok this feeling is not going away; let me write about it and get it out. Before I could begin writing, I saw the Instagram announcement that it was rescheduled for Monday, and I cautiously got excited. I thought this must be the moment; history could not repeat itself, not for something like this. I would be remiss if I didn’t take the time to acknowledge two giants, Swizz Beatz and Timberland, for making sure we got this moment and not letting anything take it from us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Finally, on Monday, roughly 500k gathered on IG live via phone and laptop. As a collective, the culture shut Instagram DOWN!! Instantly, I realized it was all worth the wait, not that I had any doubt it would be if it actually happened. Babyface has about 40 years in the game and Teddy Riley about 30 years. The hits literally spanned my entire lifetime and beyond. With every song played, I could attach it to a memory from childhood, a moment from college, and an experience as an adult. Because of technical issues outside of either artist’s control, the battle didn’t quite get to all 20 songs of the battle; however, I don’t feel like I was cheated at all. I don’t think there is enough time to go through all the songs these two have combined and are still making; it would never be enough time. This was a battle, and I did have my pen and paper out keeping an unofficial score, based on my opinion of course. So, I have on paper who I believe the “winner” was; however, the only winner of the night was the music, was the moment! I WON!!