It's almost time to watch Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild, and we've got some (great) breaking news. Verzuz is actually reversing course and not putting tonight's show exclusively behind a pay wall!
Time: Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild is scheduled to start at 9:15 p.m. ET / 6:15 p.m. PT today (Tuesday, Feb. 15) and 2.15 a.m. GMT tomorrow (Feb. 16).
Pre-show: There will be a DJ Battle pre-show at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT / 1.30 a.m. GMT.
Watch for free: on Instagram and with the 14-day free TrillerVerzPass trial.
In an about-face, Swizz Beats announced that Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild will be on IG after all, in an Instagram post. To rewind, Verzuz had originally put the logos for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube on the flyer.
But the IG post dated Feb. 14 dropped all of those logos. And its caption notes "To watch, sign up NOW for the #TrillerVerzPass," which sounded like it's mandatory.
Now, it will be free on IG, and on TrillerVerzPass. This Verzuz (the 38th to date) is a perfect fit for Valentine's Day week. Both Hamilton and Soulchild have numerous hits to their name, and their R&B vibes are ideal for this romantic week.
The event will be broadcast live from the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles.
No performers have been named for future Verzuz events, but talk of Busta Rhymes vs Eminem has bubbled up, after Verzuz co-founder Swizz Beatz and E-40 suggested it.
For those unfamiliar with Verzuz, these shows are informal competitions between artists. Each superstar plays one of their hits, followed by the other, volleying back and forth like a tennis match. Then it's up to the public to decide (voicing their opinions in the comments and on social media) who won.
Verzuz has been massively popular, and Swizz Beats (the event's co-creator) announced that the previous battle (Gucci Mane vs Jeezy) broke an "all-time livestream viewership record," with 9.1 million streamers watching along. That's a massive multiple of the prior most popular Verzuz, when Brandy vs Monica had an estimated apex of 1.2 million viewers.
How to watch Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild online for free
So, unlike past Verzuz, we may have to wait for Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild to show up on the normal sites like YouTube. This time, Triller lives inside of Fite and the Verzuz Instagram account.
Fite, unfortunately, will be keeping Verzuz streams limited to those with its $2.99 per month TrillerVerzPass subscription. The good news, though, is that there is a 14-day free trial.
The Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild stream starts with a DJ Battle at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT / 1.30 a.m. GMT, and the main event begins at 9:15 p.m. ET / 6:15 p.m. PT / 2.15 a.m. GMT.
How to watch Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild on Fite
The other bit of good news is that you can get Fite apps on most platforms, including Fire TV (which Fite kinda hides on its own page).
Here are the download links for popular Fite apps:
Those with Smart TVs from LG, Samsung and Sharp (among others) can Cast their Fite streams from the Fite mobile app (Android, iOS)
You can't watch Verzuz: Anthony Hamilton vs Musiq Soulchild on YouTube
Do not go opening up the Verzuz YouTube or Verzuz Facebook page looking for the stream. As I mentioned above, this duel won't be on any of them.
At the most, highlights could come to some or all of those platforms later, but none of them will get it live.
