ESSENCE Festival X Verzuz: Bobby Brown & Keith Sweat Is Going Down

It’s official! The battle for the title of R&B king is back on the line, with two of the genre’s most iconic names going head-to-head for the crown in a Verzuz battle presented by ESSENCE Festival.

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty

On Thursday, July 1, Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat will step onto the ESSENCE Festival X Verzuz stage to go hit-for-hit in what’s sure to be an epic showdown filled with a host of the R&B classics. Fans can tune into the event tomorrow night at 8 PM (EST) via ESSENCE.com, the Triller app, and the Verzuz TV Instagram page.

“SURPRISE CELEBRATION!! See y’all THURSDAY!!” the Verzuz Instagram account announced. “@KeithSweat vs @KingBobbyBrown. We’re honored to partner with ESSENCE to bring you this special #VERZUZ.”

This week’s face-off comes on the heels of last weekend’s battle between Bow Wow and Soulja Boy, which was one of the most entertaining Verzuz battles we’ve seen yet. Of course, the pace of this R&B face-off will be a little different, but the anticipation is still just as high.

Following the big announcement, fans of the stars instantly flocked to social media to share their excitement for the battle. One user on Twitter wrote:

“The way I’m about to be roger-rabbiting, cabbage patching, and doing the running man all throughout this Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat #VERZUZ!!! 💃🏾The New Jack Swing era was just perfection in every way 🙌🏾😭😭”

While another person chimed in :

“Folks saying Keith Sweat will get mopped by Bobby Brown need to understand that Sweat’s career goes from 1987 to 2000. Like dude has a HEAVY bag. Like I said, Bobby def. needs that New Edition heat to give him an edge…This #Verzuz is going to be very interesting….”

Bobby Brown released his fifth studio album The Masterpiece back in 2012 while Sweat more recently dropped his Playing For Keeps project in 2018. We wonder if the two will be debuting any new music during the battle.

We’ll just have to wait and see!

As of now, there aren’t many details available about the specifics of the event, like whether Bobby Brown or Keith Sweat might bring up former members of their musical groups New Edition and LSG. But, with such a legendary battle going down between two iconic figures taking place at ESSENCE Fest, it’s sure to be a night to remember with some big surprises in store.

See y’all there!