“Teenage Love Affair” and “Heaven” are both good songs for what they are and encourage some head-nodding when played. ROUND 7: Alicia Keys’ “Teenage Love Affair” vs. Common’s “They Say” still holds up now, but Keys wins out for sentiment. Keys’ 2009 “Empire State of Mind (Part II)” was an appropriate tribute to resiliency and potential for current times, even if some viewers were wondering why she chose her solo version instead of the Jay-Z collaboration (my guess at the answer: piano). ROUND 6: Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down” vs. This round should have been a lock for Keys, but John countered with his 2004 seminal ballad “Ordinary People” and sang live at the piano (Alicia didn’t even get all the way into her verse on “My Boo.”) ROUND 5: Usher and Alicia Keys’ “My Boo” vs.
But John’s move into his wedding song tunes, and again utilizing the piano, gave him an edge.
ALICIA KEYS FAMILY DIE PLUS
“I forgot about that one!” is always a plus during a Verzuz event, and part of the reason Swizz and Tim insist that participants have a deep catalogue in the first place. Alicia wins points for “Gangsta Lovin’” being a somewhat forgotten gem in her arsenal. The songs were too different in this round to easily call a winner. ROUND 4: Eve and Alicia Keys’ “Gangsta Lovin’” vs. On the third round, Keys gets into her hits, but Legend counters with his debut jammy jam from 2004’s Get Lifted. John moved into the “things I did with Kanye” portion of his early catalogue (it’s easy, now, to forget that Legend started as part of Kanye’s G.O.O.D Music camp) with the Slum Village jam “Selfish.” A curious choice despite debuting it at the Grammy’s earlier this year, viewers still don’t know the song that well. Kanye West and John LegendĪlicia started the second round with “Underdog,” a track from her 2020 self-titled album. Much like Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond’s Healing, Alicia and John joined more as a celebration than a battle, jumping on background vocals for each other’s songs and collaborating on select pieces like their collective welcome for the night’s festivities, a rendition of Bob Marley’s very fitting “Redemption Song.” In fact, one of the few viral moments was between comedian Tony Baker and Teddy Riley in the Verzuz chat at the very beginning of the evening.
ALICIA KEYS FAMILY DIE FULL
This Verzuz wasn’t full of the meme-generating moments, technical difficulties, and quotables that have become the secondary appeal of previous matches. Keys, who has also released new music with her self-titled album earlier this year, was a little less focused in her playlist for the night but covered all bases from big hits to newer cuts. He leaned heavily into his deep discography of features and some uncredited assists fans may not have known of. Legend, whose latest studio LP Bigger Love debuted on Friday, used the occasion to remind viewers-many of which were core Legend fans that have drifted since he’s gone more Adult Contemporary with his music-why they loved him in the first place.
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