-Ah. That's what I'm talking about.
Thank you so much for being here.
-Hey, how you doing? -You know me.
Come on. -It's the big guy.
-It's the big guy. -The big guy.
-The big guy. Hey, you know what?
We were just talking to our writers backstage.
Have you guys ever seen a ghost before?
Have you ever been haunted?
-Mm, no.
-Tim says no. Swizz?
-I've definitely seen ghosts,
but I know them every time I've seen them.
You know when you see a ghost you're like,
"That didn't happen"?
-You do that... -But you know what you've seen.
-...or do you acknowledge them and make friends with them?
Like, that's what I do.
-I mean, in one of my first houses, I started to become,
you know, friends with my ghost
and I'm like, "Just leave me alone right now."
-Yeah. You go, "I'm cool, right? It's me.
I was just checking it out.
You do whatever you're going to do.
You're a ghost and that's cool, like --"
-Yeah. You're the big guy.
They can't be around the big guy.
-You can't be around -- the big guy's here.
The big guy is in my room. I'm in my man cave.
Doing big guy stuff.
I think I've heard just so many stories from you,
from Justin Timberlake, Tim... -Yeah.
-...and just how you guys just like get along, you know,
and I'm a little jealous, but it's okay.
[ Laughter ] I still got my --
I still got -- I got ghost friends.
[ Laughter ] -There he --
And he's there --
-Jimmy's still bringing sexy back.
Don't worry about it.
-Yeah, Jimmy. You still got sexy back.
-Thank you. I appreciate that.
But what was the big -- do you remember
one of your first big things where you were like,
"Oh, I did this. This is good." Was it Missy? Was it --
-It was my first record
that was a hit...
actually was an Aaliyah record,
"If Your Girl Only Knew."
That was my first hit.
-Wow. -Then "Pony" was already out,
and then "Pony" came right after that.
-Ginuwine. That became --
-That was already out and it was already bubbling,
but then after "If Your Girl Only Knew,"
and then that's when we all kind of connected as a crew.
And then "Pony" started to rise, and everybody was like,
what is this... [ Imitates beat ]
But it was taking over the world. Nobody knew.
And the video was out and everything.
And then it just blew up after that.
-Swizz, what was -- your first one was --
Was it "Rough Ryders' Anthem?" Was that DMX?
-That dropped Yes.
And that was a serious one.
You know, growing up in the Bronx
and sitting in the streets of Harlem
while that record dropped,
and...125th Street,
and to see every single car drive past playing that song.
But I'm sitting on the fire hydrant
and nobody know that I produced that song.
And just to see the natural energy
of your surroundings
from something that you produced in your room.
DMX didn't want to do the song.
He lost a bet with my uncle playing cards
and he had to do the vocals to "Stop, drop."
And at first I thought he lost the bet,
but "Stop, drop" became so big, I realized that he won the bet.
So... -Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
So you guys get together.
How did you decide to do "Verzuz" during quarantine?
How did that all happen?
-You know, Tim is a big instigator.
You know, he's an instigator. He likes to start fights
and, you know -- -That's true.
-A real bully around these places, you know.
-Oh, my goodness. Wow.
-That's how I kind of -- he's right.
It started that way. -Really?
-You know, the first,
I say the first time everybody locked down,
we tripping out like, what are we going to do?
We were just talking and talking about life, and I just got into,
like, antagonizing mode.
And I just started, like, putting up video posts.
And then he's like, "I see what you're doing."
-No, no, no. You were saying, "What you going to do, Swizz?
What are we doing, Swizz?" -Really?
-"What are you thinking, Swizz?" -And you go, let's do it.
Let's go for it. Let's see who has --
Let's go for it. Prove it to everybody.
Let's go on Instagram Live. -Yes.
-At first it was more of a, really was a kind of
a competition, but then I think it kind of grew
into kind of more of a mutual admiration.
And, like, fans kind of, and stans going at each other
like, "Oh, you can't even touch Babyface --"
That was it -- Babyface, by the way.
That was the one. [ Laughter ]
-Babyface and Teddy Riley?
-That broke the Internet. That broke everything.
I go like, "Babyface, what's going on?
Like, I got to check this out."
This is such a good idea,
because it's friendly competition.
But I go like -- I forgot how many --
-Educational celebration.
-Yeah, I forgot how many good jams he had.
-Whew. Me too. -Yes. Whew.
And now there's something called the "Verzuz Effect."
-Mm-hmm.
-Can you explain what that is?
-It's a multitude of things. It's record sales, streaming,
you know, because we're in the world of streaming,
and now you have catalogs,
we're moving the streams of catalogs going up.
People are getting work requests.
Everything is happening.
And every day like we might -- me and Swizz will get
something that happened from "Verzuz," and we're like,
"Ooh, the 'Verzuz Effect.'"
-It is.
-Like the album being --
I think Brandy's album was at 40
and it went to number 1. -Yep.
-That was a great one too. Brandy. Oh, my God.
-Brandy and Monica. -And Monica.
It was unbelievable.
I love Gladys Knight and Patty La Belle.
-Ooh! -Ooh!
-Did you see the commercials for that?
-No, no, no, no, no, no.
I can't even -- and I can't pick --
-I wanted to bite my phone. [ Light laughter ]
-I know season two of "Verzuz" is coming soon,
and I know you can't tell us who's going to be on it,
but come on. It's the big man.
-It's the big guy. -It's the big guy.
-The big guy.
-You can't tell big guy what's going on?
-Go ahead, give him a little something.
-I got a phone call from a friend named Busta Rhymes,
who says that he's ready
for any type of "Verzuz" action
out there that's coming his way.
-What? -So Busta Rhymes...
-Oh, no, no.
-"Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See."
-Oh, my gosh. -Janet Jackson, Busta Rhymes.
-Dude if Bust-- So Busta --
Who's gonna -- who will accept?
Who will accept and go up against --
-That's the question that we have for you.
Will you accept? -Yeah.
I'm ready to go head to head against --
-The big guy. [ Laughter ]
-I don't even want to --
I don't want to put my hands where his eyes can see.
I'll just let him -- No. He would destroy --
[ Laughter ]
Can you imagine?
You should do that "Verzuz." A comedy "Verzuz."
Two dudes that can't rap go at it.
I'll be on that one if you want to do --
I would watch that any second, Busta Rhymes.
I love him too.
Who's it going to be? That's going to be exciting.
-But season two is going to be big levels.
Big, big levels.
A lot of people that weren't ready are ready now.
Because, you know, when we ask people to do "Verzuz,"
the first thing they say is no. -Yep.
-Yes. -A hundred percent.
The first thing they say is, "No. That's not my thing.
I like to watch that.
I don't really want to be a part of it."
But then, you know -- because it takes time.
They have to go set up with a DJ.
They have to revisit their catalog themselves.
They have to get the confidence where they need to be.
And they have to really start to understand
how it can be beneficial and successful for them.
And for me I'm like, listen,
no matter what you do it's a plus.
The only thing you can have a problem if you don't use
our tech team, which we have built in.
And that's the problem that Teddy Riley had.
Everybody wants to use their own tech team
and be mad scientists. It doesn't work.
So, if you listen to the guidelines
and the "Verzuz" tech team is used --
-It works. -Scientists.
[ Laughter ]
-Listen to the scientists!
I've been saying this the whole time!
[ Laughter ]
-I've been saying it the whole time,
listen to the scientists, please.
Congrats on that and hank you so much.
It's a gift that keeps on giving.
Swizz Beatz, Timbaland.
Season two of "Verzuz" is coming soon
to Instagram TV and Apple Music.