Verzuz: Ludacris vs Nelly (On Teddy Riley’s Wifi)

The highly anticipated “verzuz” battle between the South and Midwest had the complete attention of Instagram on Saturday night.

The time was 7:00pm, and Atlanta’s own Ludacris was primed into Instagram live to the tune of 250,000 people. The humble 42 year-old rapper and 2 Fast 2 Furious star donned a large gold chain, burgundy basketball jersey, dark shades (he was indoors) and a pristine wi-fi connection while seated in front of a large poster of himself.

At around 7:20pm, Luda was joined by the man everyone had been waiting for- Missouri’s own, Nelly, who was likely smacking away entire gusts St. Louis wind away with his own bare hands.

That’s right- while Ludacris was enjoying the clear wi-fi connection ensured by presumably sunny Atlanta weather, the bandaid-less Nelly was battling a severe thunderstorm. (Cue the “uh-oh” introduction from “Where the Party At?”)

After a few attempts that resulted in looking like a barcode, Nelly eventually got a stable enough connection to praise Luda for the battle, as the two legends paid respect to one another. The battle then commenced, before Nelly’s Wi-fi went full Teddy Riley mode.

The audience, which topped 400k at this point, did not hold back their disdain. Jam packed with celebrities not used to having poor Wi-fi connection during a thunderstorm, Nelly was bombarded with insults ranging from being too broke to afford Wi-fi (internet service is expensive these days), laughing at his own jokes (his mic was muted for nearly half the battle) and being his own biggest fan (he was dancing as if he was performing at Coachella).

At one point, Teddy Riley himself chimed in with some shade for the “Hot In Here” rapper. You can definitely say Nelly was facing… a “dilemma” (cue drums).

The ever patient Ludacris encouraged the audience to not get discouraged, and eventually asked Timbaland for permission to play his new song, “Silence of the Lambs” with Lil Wayne. Ludacris went on to replay the song four times. At this point, the entire audience was personally calling Nelly to come back.

Nelly, of course, eventually jumped back into the battle, and the two displayed an extremely entertaining bevy of their hits, hitting all of the correct nostalgia buttons.

The audience was largely consensual with Ludacris being the winner for the majority of the battle. That is, until Nelly came back with his smash hit, “Just A Dream,” which surprisingly nobody seemed to remember. Except for, of course, Nelly, who could not be more excited for that surprise choice.

The pair eventually thanked the audience for tuning in, and despite the technical difficulties the battle was seemingly well-received. There is still no word on the status of Nelly’s router at this point, but it is likely wearing a bandaid on its face.

Hopefully the next “verzuz” battle will enjoy good connection and will be highly entertaining. Did I hear 6ix9ine vs Akon, anyone?