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On Saturday night (April 13), Hip-Hop production titans DJ Premier and the RZA faced off for an epic ā€œVerzuzā€ beat battle cooked up by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Although there was some technical issues, the showdown was worth the hype, and Twitter is still debating who actually won.

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DJ Premier was on time (9PM) while the RZA eventually hopped on about 10 minutes later. The Abbott had some audio difficulty at the start of the head to head match up but things started sounding crisper as it went on. The mastermind behind the Wu-Tang Clan set things off by playing GZA’s ā€œLiquid Swordsā€ from his album of the same name. Premier responded in kind with Jay-Z’s ā€œA Million and One Questionsā€ and it was on and popping.

Both production legends started off kind of slow, playing more personal favorites (at one point RZA played Wu-Tang Clan’s ā€œMariaā€ while Premier threw in D’Angelo’s ā€œDevil’s Pieā€) than knockout tracks. But the type of content everyone tuned in for went down towards the latter portion of the battle, probably most obvious when RZA served up Raekwon’s ā€œIce Creamā€ to only have Preemo retort with the Notorious B.I.G.’s ā€œUnbelievable.ā€ How do you even choose?

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The old friends with long memories shared various stories before playing their tracks that also made the moment a history lesson while dropping timeless classics like Wu-Tang Clan’s ā€œProtect Ya Neckā€ or Gang Starr’s ā€œDWYCKā€ or Method Man’s ā€œBring The Painā€ or Jeru’s ā€œCome Clean.ā€

Even with a bonus round (Premier didn’t play Gang Starr’s ā€œMass Appealā€ in his initial 20 songs!) both production virtuosos left some of their greatest beats unplayed.

But as for who won, Twitter continues to debate. Actually, while the back and forth arguing is part of what Hip-Hop is about, what’s even louder is the praise for the incredible moment we were all able to witness. It was close, but this writer gives the edge to RZA. Peep some of the reactions below. Hip-Hop won last night.

DJ Premier Vs. RZA Worth The Hype But Who Won?, Rap Twitter Cherishes The MomentĀ  was originally published on ionehiphopwired.staging.go.ione.nyc

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