Eve and Trina’s VERZUZ Battle: Here’s What Happened - Pitchfork

Eve and Trina’s VERZUZ Battle: Here’s What Happened

The hip-hop icons went head-to-head for over 20 rounds, playing hits from the past two decades

June 16, 2021

Eve and Trina were the latest MCs to duel on VERZUZ. They went head-to-head earlier this evening, playing hits from their respective catalogs for over 20 rounds. Trina defended her home turf from Miami, while Eve appeared live from London. Find the full Tidal playlist below.

DJ Nasty opened the night, paying tribute to late rap legend Tupac Shakur, who would have turned 50 today. Trina started things off with the title track from her 2014 album Who’s Bad, and Eve
followed up with her 2007 Swizz Beatz-produced single “Tambourine.” Later in the night, when Trina performed her remix of Trick Daddy’s “Nann,” she brought out the rapper. Trina also revealed that the VERZUZ location held a special significance for her. “We are actually in the same building I recorded this video in,” she said.

Eve and Trina paid tribute to Tupac and Missy Elliott during tonight’s battle. Both women rapped along to tracks by Elliott: Trina did her Elliott/Ludacris collab “One Minute Man,” while Eve played her and Elliott’s “4 My People” and the “Hot Boyz” remix featuring Lil’ Mo, Nas, and Q-Tip. Elliott later tweeted in response: “I want to say this I am HUMBLY GRATEFUL because I’ve been on a lot of artist verzuz & I want to thank those AMAZING artist who believed in me as a Writer/Producer or just a artist I love yall 4 the love yall shown me.”

It was a friendly face-off that included mutual praise from the rappers. “I wouldn’t want to do this with anybody else than my sister Eve,” Trina said at one point, later dedicating the evening to “all the females in hip-hop.” The night ended with a fresh release from Trina called “Receipts.”

Back in April (specifically, on April 20), friends and collaborators Redman and Method Man “battled” during a “How High 4/20 Special” on the platform. Last month, VERZUZ founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland reunited for a rematch.

Read about VERZUZ in Pitchfork’s “How Music Persisted During the Pandemic” and revisit “Will the Mainstream Support More than One Rap Queen at a Time? A Charts Investigation” on the Pitch.