First off, I’m a Dipset fan. I’m not going to say I’m the “biggest fan”, because I know there’s a lot of us out there. Back in high school, I was known as THE Dipset Fan. I had a lot of their albums, mixtapes, hats, XXL tee shirts. I loved Rocafella records, the producers, and damnit, The Diplomats! Last night, I watched one of my favorite rap groups of all time get bodied by another one of my favorite rap groups of all time on the LOX vs Dipset Verzuz.
The showdown’s billed as an epic duel and brings two of the biggest New York groups of all time, and their genres of hip-hop, together on stage. With over 600k IG viewers live at any given time during much of the battle, the internet was clearly tapped in for this one.
To be completely honest, I thought that Dipset was going to take this. I like both groups yet I probably listen to more Dipset. Both crews have big hits, solo hits, group hits, and features on other artists’ hits. Both crews have also worked with hall of fame legendary products. Dipset, however, cultivates their own sound better and I thought their hits were going to hit harder as a result; but that wasn’t the case. Take a look at all the reasons why.
Hits from Dipset and The LOX
At a surface glance, it seems like Dipset would take this category. “Dipset Anthem”, “Oh Boy”, “I Really Mean It”, “Suck It Or Not”, and “Balling”. These songs HIT and some were indeed true “hits.” But when you look at the LOX catalog, including features, the decision is not so simple. These guys have Grammys, and they’ve also worked with the top hip-hop and R&B talent.
Performance Skills
A few songs into the Verzuz, it becomes apparent that one group is a polished, well-oiled professional machine and one needs to hit rehearsal a few more times. While Dipset does tour from time to time, there’s a visible, unconcealed internal conflict, leading to a reputation of regularly not having all members present for shows. Legal issues have been at the root of a lot of that, but their lack of consistently rocking together showed. Meanwhile, the LOX is the product of many global tours with one of the best performers of all time. They’ve not only clearly picked up performance skills, but they also mesh effortlessly like brothers finishing each other’s bars. The Diplomats on the other hand regularly forget the words to their own songs (Juelz…I don’t mean disrespect, but wtf).
Structure
While both sets’ structures weren’t the best in my mind, the Diplomats saved way too much of the “platinum” for the end of their set. D Block…err…the LOX effortlessly blended classic beats for some verses, went from solo to feature to group songs with ease, and also responded to the ladies’ call with an incredible bout of haymaker selections. I still think they could have brought better picks from the catalog and rotation early on, but LOX really took this area.
This was a crazy Verzuz. It is definitely one of my personal favorites and I’m not sure how it could be topped. These are two legendary groups that I’ve listened to for decades and still go hard to this day. Shout out hip-hop, New York, The LOX, and Dipset.
