Back in September 2022, what were initially trials and tribulations turned into triumphs. As previously reported by AfroTech, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz reached a settlement agreement with Triller over the Verzuz acquisition. The turn of events came after the music legends sued the company for $28 million for a breach of contract.

If a theme song was needed for what’s happening with the popular music platform, Verzuz, then cue Dr. Dre’s “Next Episode.” In a recent development from Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, all is not copasetic with the folks at Triller. The musical duo has sued the social media app for breach of contract to the tune of $28 million.

Verzuz has held it down for the culture since its debut in 2020. Created by legendary record producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland , Verzuz has continued to soar in popularity, and at one point, it even amassed over 136.5 million views for the music showdown battle between Brandy and Monica. Now Verzuz is leveling up on the financial side. Verzuz via Triller has plans to become a publicly-traded company on the stock market. Deadline reports, the deal will be made possible due to a reverse merger with SeaChange. Once the deal is finalized, “TrillerVerz” will become the new face and will be valued at an impressive $5 billion. TrillerVerz will trade under the ticker symbol ILLR on the Nasdaq. The merge will accomplish a shared goal to become “a leading AI-powered social media platform for content, creators & commerce,” and to “create a leading voice on the Web3.0 movement and embrace the power of decentralized systems to enable greater participation in the multi-hundred billion dollar...

Triller continues to pledge its support for Black creators. In a press release, the company announced its Assembly for Black Creators, an initiative that will bring together more than 250 Black content creators and major brands — including Popeyes and Hallmark — with an overall goal of helping the parties form relationships to create branded content. “We started this effort with a deep appreciation of the huge impact Black Creators have had on culture and content around the world. With this series, we are catalyzing the need for brands, agencies, and media properties to invest in Black creators and media owners,” said Mahi de Silva , CEO of TrillerNet, parent company to Triller, Verzuz, Amplify.ai, and other media brands in an official statement. “Events like the Assembly for Black Creators are essential for pushing important industry-wide change, as it is scalable and repeatable, deploys spend directly to individuals and brands, and helps create a thriving ecosystem of media,...

It’s the battle of the 1990s rappers on VERZUZ, as Fat Joe faces off against Ja Rule. While there’s some question as to who will emerge victorious, tonight, what’s clear is that despite his various controversies, the man born Joseph Cartagena has overcome plenty of legal battles to get a $4 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth. As he told Forbes Magazine, he did so by keeping his eye on the prize, and by addressing the issues as they came up without allowing them to get out of control. “I’m known to be hands-on 100%,” Fat Joe said to the outlet. “I don’t know any other way to be, than a leader by example. When I came up in Hip Hop, there was no such thing as a Puerto Rican rapper doing Hip Hop for many mainstream people, so I was the ship, the captain, and the crew. The new artists that I have, need to see me in action and feel my energy and drive to know what it takes to be successful. A hit record is only a part of that puzzle.” Let’s take a look at how Fat Joe...

Verzuz’s impact continues to remain supreme! According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR) , during a celebration of the culture’s most innovative creators, Swizz Beatz, co-founder of the virtual battle series that continues to be a smash hit, received the Icon Award. “I always knew that when creatives celebrated each other it would work, when two creatives get together instead of being in competition and pitted against each other — although it is called Verzuz , it’s still a celebration,” said the “Party Up” producer during his acceptance speech. Following the ceremony, the legendary producer gave insight on why he and his Verzuz partner, Timbaland, made the decision to sell the platform to TrillerNet, the parent company of the global AI-powered short-video app Triller. He explained that the two will become TrillerNet shareholders as a part of the deal and will split part of their stake in the company among the 43 artists who have performed on Verzuz thus far. Swizz Beatz also...

The Verzuz brand is strong and it’s growing even larger with its latest collaboration with online fitness platform Peloton. According to an exclusive from Variety, Verzuz’s musical streaming series and Peloton’s digital at-home workouts have formed the perfect partnership to bring together music and fitness through music-themed classes inspired by Verzuz-style playlists. Rolling Stone reports that “Peloton Verzuz” is an extension of Peloton’s Artist Series — a collection of themed workouts set to a specific artist’s catalog or new album. An early drafted press release shared with the outlet noted that the new partnership marks a celebration of “the iconic music of two legendary artists, in one friendly competition, across multiple disciplines.” Now, Peloton users will be able to enjoy their favorite artists’ music as it goes head-to-head in a song match-up that creates the ultimate musical fitness experience. According to an announcement from Peloton, the partnership is described as...

Verzuz was created back in April of last year as a way to unite people from all over while sheltered in-place at home. The platform’s battles first began with appointed artists streaming from the comfort of their homes. Then its partnership with Apple Music gave it an in-person upgrade to make the battles more accessible for viewers. Following delays and postponed events, the platform is now taking new COVID-19 precautions to switch back to its original format.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Verzuz (@verzuztv) The live streaming platform posted a message on their socials this morning stating that it will be returning to its original format of having artists stream from separate locations. “This has been an emotional week,” the platform stated. “In addition, as COVID-19 numbers continue to increase, safety is a top priority for us. As much as we enjoy having everyone together in the same room, to protect the artists and everyone who works with us in putting the...