Source: Verzuz / Twitter
Stacey Abrams made a surprise guest appearance during the Thursday season two premiere of Verzuz featuring Atlanta rappers Jezzy and Gucci Mane. The battle broke records, with over 5M viewers.
“Thank you guys for letting me crash before what I know is the battle to end all battles of Verzuz to end all Verzuz. So thank you for giving me some street cred with my nieces and nephews,” Abrams said.
“That’s right,” Jeezy responded.
“Can you wipe my record clean?” Gucci asked in jest. At this point, most of us were cackling.
“That’s a job that the governor could do. You know, we’ll have to think about that later. But for right now we can at least make sure that everyone shows up to vote so we have two senators to make sure we have COVID response and we’ve got stimulus money coming back to Georgia,” Abrams continued.
Before the highly anticipated and sometimes hotly contested (more on that later) drama began Abrams shared her wish that Georgia voters get out the vote in two upcoming Georgia Senate runoff races between Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock, pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church; and GOP Senator David Perdue and Jon Ossoff. The runoff could turn the tide of the Senate, which currently is majority Republican. As we know, Abrams activated hundreds of thousands Black Georgia residents to vote, which in turn turned the state from red to blue, helping Joe Biden secure the presidency.
Stacey continued, sharing that she understands the negative impact a criminal record can have on voting capabilities, as her younger brother has been incarcerated.
“I just wanted to say thank you to both of you especially for the work you’ve done to encourage folks who are coming back, returning citizens, to know that they have the right to vote. I’ve got a younger brother whose been in and out of the system and I know that redemption is real and I know that the voices that these men and women can bring to our state matter “So thank you for the work you’ve done.”
“That’s right we got you, baby. GA, you know we gonna stand up for ya,” Jeezy responded.
After she signed off Abrams was trending on Twitter, up until Gucci Mane stole most of the show from center stage at famed strip club Magic City, taking verbal shots at his friend-foe Jeezy.
The two have a long storied rap beef stemming from their 2005 collaboration “So Icy,” which was reportedly released on Gucci’s mixtape without Jeezy’s permission. After, Jeezy released “Stay Strapped,” a diss track promising $10K to anyone who stole Gucci’s chain, which prompted Gucci to respond with a diss track of his own. A late night break-in at Gucci Mane’s home resulted in him fatally shooting Pookie Loc, one of the intruders, in self-defense. And to make matters worse, Loc happened to be signed to Jeezy’s label. For years animosity brewed between them. Many were surprised that Verzuz creators Timbaland and Swizz Beatz were able to get them to sit in one room.
An awesome breakdown of their history can be read here:
Here are some of the funniest reactions to the shade throughout the night. Caution, most of this is NSFW, or Not Safe For Working From Home…
After sustaining Gucci’s insults for most of the night Jeezy called for an end to their feud by telling Gucci that he wanted to be an example for the youth in light of all of the young rappers who lost their lives to gun violence. But he also put his own twist at the end, which caused us even more anxiety.
At the end of the night with most of us on edge, they performed “So Icy,” and announced a joint afterparty celebration at The Compound, a famous Atlanta nightclub.
Now that it’s over, next could Stacey convince the ATL-iens to refrain from celebrating in the club during the ‘rona?
