Mary J Blige Shoots Down "Verzuz" Rumors: "I Could Put The 'What's The 411' Album On & Just Walk Away"

BYCole BlakePublished on October 01, 20234.5K Views

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: Mary J. Blige performs onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Mary J. Blige has no interest in appearing on "Verzuz."

Mary J. Blige says she's not interested in participating in an episode of Verzuz. In a clip circulating on social media, the legendary rapper explained she doesn't care about the show. She made the comments while making sure the audience knew she meant no disrespect to Swizz Beatz and Timbaland.

"Let me just say this. I love Swizz. That's my friend, that's my brother. That's my people. I just don't care about no Verzuz. I don't wanna be up there. And it's no disrespect. I just don't care. Like, I don't need to say I had the hottest-- I know I had some of the hottest records. I know I got a cr*zy catalog."

Mary J. Blige Performs At Super Bowl

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA: In this image released on February 13th, Mary J. Blige rehearses for the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

As for who she would want to face if she did do the show, she added: "I mean there's so many people that have great music out there. I mean, there's so many women that have just catalogs, you know. So, I don't like the putting everybody up against each other. I don't like it, I mean, I could just put my shit on and just walk away. I could put the What's The 411 album on and just walk away." Check out Blige's full comments on Verzuz below.

Mary J. Blige Speaks On "Verzuz" Rumors

It's not the first time Blige has turned down the idea of appearing on Verzuz. She echoed similar sentiments on The Breakfast Club back in 2021. “I don’t know what a Verzuz would do for me,” she said at the time. “I’m not sure what a Verzuz could do for Mary J. Blige right now, but um, right now, it’s not something that’s on the top of my list.” Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are currently gearing up for a return to the iconic show.

[Via]

About The Author

Cole Blake

Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.