One of the biggest draws of Verzuz is seeing two all-time artists go head-to-head. In its inception during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, they would pick 20 of their greatest songs and battle it out accordingly. It was a brilliant concept that sparked a lot of impactful moments in hip-hop and R&B. However, over time, people started to miss its initial purpose. Beyond quarantine entertainment, it was meant to celebrate an artist’s iconic catalog. It’s something Mannie Fresh emphasized when he faced off against No Limit alongside Cash Money at ComplexCon in Las Vegas.
Now, he’s opening up on an iconic moment in Louisiana rap history. Recently, Mannie and Juvenile sat down on their new podcast, Still 400 – The Mannie & Juvie Show. There, he responds to the internet reactions and how they missed the real power behind the event. Moreover, Mannie Fresh wishes that they could’ve held the event down south rather than Las Vegas. “One of my things is the internet kind of did something, but the internet always does this; it turned it into a battle,” he explains. “It was never a battle. It was us celebrating our music… celebrating our catalog. Two powerhouses in New Orleans.”
Mannie Fresh Talks No Limit Verzuz Battle With Juvenile
Juvie argued that he’s all about the spirit of competition. “I won’t do it again, bro, ‘cause I was battling,” Juvenile tells Mannie. “I don’t know what you talking about. I’m always trying to win. If we was playing basketball? Very competitive. And everybody know Slikk was at my neck all week talking about, ‘Juv, it’s all love right now, but we get on that dog, I’m telling you.’ You know what I’m saying? So, I came with that attitude.”
Ultimately, Juvenile and Mannie Fresh agreed that the battle should’ve been held in New Orleans. There, the crowd would’ve better understood the cultural significance of Cash Money and No Limit facing off. “I think we need a crowd that actually, you know, celebrate the music the way we love the music,” Juvie explains. “I do feel like they had a lot of ComplexCon fans in there, people that really didn’t know. Shout to Complex for putting us on their big stage, but I just felt like in New Orleans, on both of our home turfs, it would have been better served.”
Cam’ron agrees with Mannie Fresh and Juvenile’s line of thinking. He argued on his Talk With Flee podcast that location was the only thing that was missing from the evening. “The only problem I had with the Verzuz was the location. Even though it was ComplexCon, it was a great weekend, and it was a lot of people there,” Cam says. “A lot of people didn’t realize what was actually happening. People didn’t even really know the magnitude of what was going on with that Verzuz.”
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