Two year, the legendary producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz turned a vague beat-battle idea into a cultural colossus. The whole idea of the Verzuz battle came out of a single night in 2020, when Timbaland and Swizz had an informal showdown on Instagram Live, taking turns playing their hits and talking good-natured shit. More Verzuz battles followed, and the battles eventually became live events that streamed on the internet. The video-sharing app Triller made an agreement to buy Verzuz from Swizz and Timbaland in January 2021, but now Timbaland and Swizz are suing Triller for missing payments.