Since the beginning of the pandemic, musicians have rallied together to find a way to keep their fans engaged with what’s happening. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, specifically, have given the culture exactly what they’ve needed with their Verzuz series. Lining up two heavyweights on Instagram Live, fans were given the opportunity to see legendary acts play some of their biggest records and tell untold stories behind how they came to be. 

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Last night was a big one for the early 2000s with Ludacris and Nelly going head-to-head. It was easily one of the most anticipated battles that have been lined up. However, Swizz and Timbo are already plotting on going bigger for their next event. Swizz Beatz and Busta Rhymes spoke about who the next Verzuz battle would be and two heavyweight names were brought up — Usher and Chris Brown.

“I see a lot of Usher vs. Chris Brown. I see a lot of Usher vs. [Justin] Timberlake but for the culture…,” Swizz said.

“Listen, man. Listen. Usher and Chris Brown gotta be it, man. That’s it. You askin’ my opinion, I’m giving it to you, big bro,” Busta said. “I don’t want to see no Usher vs. Justin Timberlake. I want to see Usher vs. Chris Brown.”

After Swizz suggested Usher vs. Trey Songz, Busta said that Usher and Chris Brown’s catalog can easily go toe-to-toe since they’ve had numerous massive records. 

What do you guys think? Usher vs. Justin Timberlake? Usher vs. Chris Brown? Sound off in the comments. 

The Verzuz trend is far from being over. What launched during COVID-19 quarantine has turned into a lucrative business for Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, and it’s expected to roll on even after these “Stay Home” ordinances are lifted. We’ve watched a number of our favorite hitmaking artists and producers face-off in Instagram Live Battles, but there are still a few favorites that we’re hoping will hop on the Verzuz train. While chatting with Nick Cannon recently, Ne-Yo—who went up against mega-producer Johnta Austin—shared that he’d like to see Usher and Justin Timberlake hop on a Live. Nick and Ne-Yo then debated who would come out on top.

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“I think Usher gon’ body him, just hit-for-hit wise,” Nick Cannon said. “If he can bring N’SYNC in then that’s a different…but if it’s just hit-for-hit…cause I mean, Usher just got more albums.” Ne-Yo wasn’t so quick to jump the gun and call Usher the victor. “I don’t know, though,” he said. “I feel like it would be an entertaining battle.” Nick enthusiastically agreed. 

With so many unexpected artists and producers agreeing to these battles, we just may see Usher and Justin Timberlake one day. Until then, we’ll be tuned in this weekend on May 9 to watch Erykah Badu and Jill Scott celebrate neo-soul for the culture. Get your incense and headwraps ready. Check out Ne-Yo speaking with Nick Cannon below.

It looks like there's no hard feelings between Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears anymore since the couple split almost 20 years ago. Although there have been many notorious celebrity breakups, few were quite as huge as Brit and JT's back in 2002. At the time, they were two of the biggest popstars in the industry, and their split even served as the catalyst for one the first breakout hits of Justin's post-NSYNC* solo career, "Cry Me A River." While things may have been messy back then, the former couple made it clear that it's all good between them these days, after Justin responded to Britney praising him on social media.

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On Wednesday, Britney posted a video of herself goofing around to her former boo's song, "Filthy," indicating that it was her version of a TikTok dance "or whatever the cool thing you're supposed to do these days." She made sure to acknowledge the artist that was playing, though, writing, "I know we had one of the world's biggest breakups 20 years ago …… but hey the man is a genius !!!! Great song JT."

"Pssss if you KNOW WHAT'S GOOD," she continued. Justin proceeded to respond to the lovely shoutout, commenting a laughing emoji followed by a bunch of the raised hands emojis indicating celebration or praise.

Britney later posted a more extensive "Part 2" of her actually dancing to "Filthy" this time, writing in the caption that she did "14 turns wheeeeee." 

View this post on Instagram

14 turns wheeeeee ??????????????!!!!!!!

A post shared by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on Apr 15, 2020 at 3:58pm PDT

Nothing like two famous amicable exes interacting online, especially when those exes once rocked head-to-toe matching denim outfits to the American Music Awards in 2001.

Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg’s hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch, “Dick In A Box,” almost never made it to air after the FCC intervened. The singer sat down with Hot Ones host Sean Evans on Thursday for the finale of the Youtube series’ eleventh season. The two of them dug into some spicy wings and discussed JT’s long career, which has included five hosting gigs on SNL. JT has been a fan favourite SNL host due to his natural charm and charisma, as well as his impeccable comedic timing and good chemistry with some of the sketch show’s cast members, particularly Andy Samberg. Justin and Andy, along with the comedian’s Lonely Island group, appeared in several musical sketches together on SNL, but one that definitely stands out is the absurdly ridiculous, “Dick In A Box.” During his visit to the Hot Ones table (likely filmed prior to the coronavirus pandemic), Justin shared a never-before-told story about the making of “Dick In A Box,” and one particular obstacle they faced.

JT reveals that it was SNL creator Lorne Micheals’ idea for Justin and Andy to do a pre-recorded sketch together, and he notes that they “hit it off immediately.” They decided to play two friends stuck in another era, donning silk suits, Herringbone chains, and carefully coiffed facial hair. An SNL writer came up with the idea to pull the popcorn prank seen in the sketch, which Justin thought was “super creepy.” However, they came to realize that the move was “super appropriate for two guys who are are super misled about what’s appropriate.” From that point on, the concept was born.

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However, after filming the video “all day” on Friday until 3:00am on Saturday morning, they were confronted by the FCC about their use of obscene language. “They said, “You can’t say ‘dick’ on the air,'” Justin explained. “And we were like, ‘Oh, right.'” Thankfully, they worked it out with the FCC, and they were able to air the sketch after bleeping out all 16 uses of the word “dick” in the song. “The irony of that,” Justin said, “is that bleeped-out version I think is the funnier version.” Catch his full Hot Ones interview below:

We all know that Justin Timberlake has dozens of hits under his belt, but fans were treated to a bit of music knowledge about his fan-favorite, "Cry Me a River." Recently, Scott Storch went up against Mannie Fresh in an epic Instagram Live battle. Storch ended up taking the crown, and in the list of tracks that he played for fans during the friendly head-to-head competition was "Cry Me a River." Storch produced the song and J.T. has been hailed as a powerhouse for delivering the vocals solo, but there were certain parts sung by Soul singer Marsha Ambrosius.

Fans of R&B will remember Marsha from her soulful duo Floetry, but the veteran entertainer has had a long-standing career both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The internet was ablaze this week after it was revealed that the high-pitched "cry me, cry me" ad-libs weren't performed by Justin, at all. Marsha was responsible for the vocals and fans had a meltdown at the revelation. 

This isn't something that anyone has kept a secret, and Marsha even spoke about her addition to the track years ago. The song earned a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance back in 2003, making the award Marsha's first. Check out a few stunned reactions about Marsha and Justin below.

Justin Timberlake took to his social media platforms to reveal that he's donating to his regional hometown food bank and is also raising awareness about the importance of charity in the midst of the pandemic coronavirus outbreak. The 39-year-old singer/songwriter chose not to announce an official dollar amount on how much support he offered the Mid-South Food Bank, the resource located closest to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, but he is urging those fortunate enough to donate to their local food bank during these trying times in order to help in the prevention of spreading the life-threatening novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

On Sunday (March 15), the "Midnight Summer Jam" performer took to his Twitter account to inspire the masses to provide aid to their local neighborhoods the Feed America’s website and to remain calm. Timberlake wrote:

"Link below if you're looking for ways to donate or volunteer in your own community. Stay healthy, stay calm, and help everyone stay fed.  Spread the word. @feedingamerica," with a Bitly link attached to a photo that reads:

"This is a crazy time, but remember we're all in it together. Start small and support your local communities by getting food out to those in need. I'm donating to @midsouthfoodbank... an organization in my hometown that is helping people assemble and deliver non-perishable food in the Mid-South, so families can be prepared to stay home. Every. Little. Thing. Helps."

While Justin Timberlake has been known for his philanthropic ways, he's recently attempted to make his way back into the realm of the culture. Following the release of his mildly-successful LP, Man of the Woods (2018), the part-owner of the Memphis Grizzlies has enlisted some standout names in the hip-hop and R&B genres including Meek Mill for a single entitled "Believe," SZA for a track called "The Other Side," and Anderson.Paak and Mary J. Blige for a soulful and uplifting anthem "It's All Love."

Check out Justin Timberlake's Tweet urging us, the culture, to donate below and if you have the ability to contribute to your local food banks/pantries you can do so by hitting the link provided, here. 

Justin Timberlake may have lowkey broke into the Alcatraz prison along with fellow *NSYNC member, Joey Fatone, way back in the early aughts while they were in the middle of shooting the music video for their hit, “This I Promise You,” in San Francisco. JT recently made a stop at The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote Trolls World Tour, alongside his collaborators on the animated film’s soundtrack, SZA and Anderson .Paak. During their visit, Ellen had them play a game of “Spill The Tea,” where guests have to share a secret with the show’s producers and Ellen has to then try to correctly match the secret to the contestant. The game revealed a lot, like how Anderson has a tattoo on his stomach that says “trust your gut,” but Justin’s story about unintentionally breaking into one of the most historic prisons in the world really takes the cake.

“I accidentally broke into Alcatraz one time,” he begins. “We were shooting a video in the Redwoods outside of San Francisco, and we ended up shooting this one scene on this pier directly across from Alcatraz. At that time, I was watching The Untouchables over and over again, and I was obsessed with the fact that Al Capone was—that they put him in Alcatraz. I said, ‘Who wants to go see Alcatraz with me?’ and Joey [Fatone], who’s usually game for anything, he was like, ‘I’ll go with you.'”

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The two of them ended up hitching a boat ride to the island with the fire department in exchange for some photos with the group, but there was a catch: they didn’t have tickets, and they couldn’t buy any at the actual prison. They successfully snuck in by pretending that the people behind them in line had their tickets, and just joined a tour group once they got inside.

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“We had just gotten to Al Capone’s cell,” Justin continued, “and we get a tap on the shoulder and they’re like, ‘Come with me,’ and I was like, ‘Joe, we’re gonna go down in history as the dumbest people ever. We got caught breaking into a prison.'” However, things didn’t turn out quite as bad as they could have. “They let us go away with a warning,” he explained, “and obviously, we had to pay for the tickets.” Phew! Check out the music video for “This I Promise You” that led to this spontaneous “crime.”

Last week was huge for SZA. First, she released her collaboration with Justin Timberlake, “The Other Side”, which will appear on the Trolls World Tour soundtrack and will likely takeover airwaves in no time. On that same day, Rolling Stone shared the TDE songstress’ cover story, in which she opened up about both the challenging and rewarding moments of her past year. To cap off all these exciting developments, SZA revealed that she is one of the faces of Calvin Klein’s new campaign. 

Given that the news ads focus on CK’s undergarment collections, they are quite steamy. The brand enlisted a cast of buzzing celebs to display the pieces and offer some motivational tidbits. “Everything I love I overdo… deal with it,” SZA asserts in the ad alongside Kendall Jenner, Justin Bieber, Maluma and more. To further feed our desire for SZA content, the “Love Galore” singer then posted more shots from the campaign, which show her seductively leaning out of a vintage vehicle in bra and underwear. She wrote that she’s “blessed” to be apart of the campaign and we’re all blessed to witness it. 

In her Rolling Stone story, SZA said that she has worked with Pharrell, Timbaland and Sia on new music. 

We’ve been curating our R&B-centric Spotify playlist, “R&B Season,” for a few months now, but if you haven’t checked it out, now is the time. This week featured a handful of great additions including songs from PARTYNEXTDOOR, SZA, Justin Timberlake, Jhene Aiko and more. 

“The Other Side” by SZA and Justin Timberlake is the first single for the animated film Trolls: World Tour. The addictive disco vibe is contagiously catchy. Both SZA and Timberlake blend together for the hook: “Back on your feet again, lift your head, hold it high/You wanna run it back, but you can’t turn the time.”

Jhene Aiko tapped Future and Miguel for his new single Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.). Combing Aiko and Miguel’s heavenly voices on the same track is a guaranteed hit. “I hope she don’t think that I think that she some kinda hoe/I don’t care, that just lets me know that she knows what she wants, yeah,” the two sing on the hook. Future lends his voice for the second verse and some ad-libs throughout.

Check out the rest of “R&B Season” and more of our other playlists below.

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Follow FIRE EMOJI on Spotify.

Follow R&B SEASON on Spotify.

Follow our freshly-updated Wake & Bake playlist here.

Follow our G.O.O.D. Music playlist (for a GOOD ASS FRIDAY) here. 

After being treated earlier to the highly-anticipated SZA and Justin Timerlake collaboration “The Other Side” and its surprise music video to accompany the release, we’ve now got a preview of the very loaded tracklist for the entire Trolls World Tour soundtrack.

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The compilation will feature a total of 20 tracks, including vocals from stars of the upcoming film like JT, Anderson .Paak, Mary J. Blige, Icona Pop, Kelly Clarkson, James Corden, Ester Dean, Kenan Thompson and music icon George Clinton. SZA is one of the musicians who appears on the soundtrack but not the film itself, in addition to HAIM and composer Ludwig Göransson. 

The Trolls World Tour soundtrack arrives in stores and on streaming services on March 13, with the film itself hitting theaters the following month on April 17.

Trolls World Tour Tracklist:

1. “The Other Side” – SZA & Justin Timberlake
2. “Trolls Wanna Have Good Times” – Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Ester Dean, Icona Pop, Kenan Thompson & the Pop Trolls
3. “Don’t Slack” – Anderson .Paak & Justin Timberlake
4. “It’s All Love” – Anderson .Paak, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige & George Clinton
5. “Just Sing” – Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Anderson .Paak & Kenan Thompson
6. “One More Time” – Anthony Ramos
7. “Atomic Dog World Tour Remix” – George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Anderson .Paak & Mary J. Blige
8. “Rainbows, Unicorns, Everything Nice” – Walt Dohrn & Joseph Shirley
9. “Rock N Roll Rules” – HAIM & Ludwig Göransson
10. “Leaving Lonesome Flats” – Dierks Bentley
11. “Born to Die” – Kelly Clarkson
12. “Trolls 2 Many Hits Mashup” – Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Icona Pop & the Pop Trolls
13. “Barracuda” – Rachel Bloom
14. “Yodel Beat” – Ludwig Göransson
15. “Crazy Train” – Rachel Bloom
16. “I Fall to Pieces” – Sam Rockwell
17. “Perfect for Me” – Justin Timberlake
18. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” – Rachel Bloom
19. “It’s All Love (History of Funk)” – George Clinton
20. “Just Sing (Trolls World Tour)” – Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Kelly Clarkson, George Clinton, Mary J. Blige, Anderson .Paak, Rachel Bloom, Kenan Thompson, Anthony Ramos, Red Velvet, Icona Pop & Sam Rockwell