The “Verzuz effect” is real, says Babyface, after his social media following skyrocketed after his internet-breaking head-to-head clash with Teddy Riley during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The songwriting/producing icon opened up about the battle during a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. According to Babyface, the Verzuz clash showcased his catalog of classics to a new audience of fans, the younger generation.
He recalled his Instagram following blew up overnight, boosting his follower count by more than 700,000.
“Verzuz was just so powerful I went from 300,000 followers on Instagram to over a million overnight,” he told Gillie Da Kid. “I remember I went to Walgreens and there was a young girl that said she didn’t know my stuff but she was [now] a fan.” Babyface has further increased his IG following, currently sitting at 1.3 million Instagram followers.
Babyface Says The Impact Of Verzuz Led To Working With New R&B Stars
Moreover, this new energy inspired Babyface to cater to the younger crowd, leading to him working with some of the new stars of R&B on his upcoming album.
“I realized I started reaching a younger crowd and I thought I should do music that touches them as well,” he added. Check out the clip at the end of the page.
Earlier this month, Babyface linked with Kehlani on “Seamless” and dropped “Keeps on Fallin” with Ella Mai in June. Check out his live BET Awards 2022 performance with the British songstress below. Girl’s Night Out, his forthcoming album, due later this year, will feature appearances from Ari Lennox, Doechii, Sevyn Streeter, Queen Naija, and more.
Babyface and Teddy Riley broke the internet when they went head-to-head in April 2020. Instagram crashed while #TeddyRileyVsBabyface was the top trending topic on Twitter.
Though they were unable to finish the clash due to technical issues, they gave the fans many of their hits from their distinguished histories.