Billboard Explains: Rap Battles & the ‘Verzuz Effect’

In the middle of a global pandemic in 2020, two legacy artists, producers or songwriters began facing off head-to-head, in riveting song battles known as Verzuz. The format pulled from the longstanding tradition of rap battles and created a new-school phenomenon.
But how did an art form ignited by rap beef evolve into a social media hit?
The latest episode of Billboard Explains focuses on the evolution of rap battles over the course of decades, and how the art of the diss track gave way to the c