Swizz Beatz says that his comments during his and Timbaland’s Verzuz rematch on Sunday were not jabs at Justin Timberlake but rather part of his stage persona having fun.
During his performance, when Timbaland started playing “Holy Grail” by Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake songs, Swizz Beatz quickly said, “Until you can get Justin Timberlake on Verzuz, I don’t really wanna hear those vocals.”
While he was speaking to possibly having JT on Verzuz, his comments have riled on Timberlake fans because it seems to insinuate that Justin Timberlake has benefitted from black culture. It’s a big problem where the black community remains vigilant against cultural appropriation by outsiders.
According to Swizz, Timberlake’s career has been influenced by black culture, particularly hip-hop, R&B, and soul genres and as well as his collaboration with Black artists and producers, including Timbaland.
After Timbaland played “Cry Me a River” and “Sexy Back,” Swizz said, “He gotta admit that he love the Black culture and he gotta be on this stage.” He then asked Timberlake to perform on the show. “You took from the Black culture; you give to the Black culture! Come to Verzuz and be a part of the Black culture!”
During an Instagram live video with Timbaland, he acknowledged that he went “too hard” on Timberlake, as asserted by Timbaland. He said
“I went hard on JT…look man I had to go hard, you heard how them songs that was playing sounding on the stage? It was like JT was in the building, you know it is hip hop, I was having fun,” he said.
“I don’t have any problem with with JT, I don’t have no problem with anyone. Shout out to JT we can’t wait get you on stage because you deserve it too,” he said.
