Last week, Alicia Keys dropped her album Keys. Her eighth studio album debuted at #41 on the Billboard 200 chart, which may not have met the expectations surrounding this much hyped release. But Keys has been on the promo path all week to spread the word about a mammoth double album that was accompanied by a short film and which features Pusha T, Brandi Carlile, Khalid and others. But what happened today may get her some more attention.
Keys jumped on a Twitter Spaces conversation with Rob Markman of Genius to promote the album. “…another MAJOR special guest texted me that they are jumpin’ in with us,” Keys tweeted just hours before the chat began. “Please don’t say we didn’t warn y’all,” Markman tweeted. And then moments before it began, Keys went out on a limb to tweet “This twitter spaces is about to be one of the most legendary conversations of the century.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/aliciakeys/status/1473441811309817862
For those who heeded Keys and Markman’s alarm calls, they would have heard the illustrious Jay-Z hopping on the call for a solid hour and a half. That’s a feat in and of itself, considering Hov follows exactly 0 accounts on Twitter and gave up on Instagram quick. But there he was, chopping it up with Keys and even having the conversation pointed back at him. When Keys asked him if he’d ever do a Verzuz Battle, he basically said no.
“Ain’t nobody that can stand on that stage with me. I ain’t gonna lie, no disrespect. Everyone’s amazing, they’ve done what they’ve done. No one can stand on that stage with me. Theres not a shot. Theres not a chance in hell that anyone can stand on that stage for I don’t know how long it is? 2 hours? 2 hours….That’s ain’t gonna never happen. Let’s move on from Verzuz and move on to this Keys album.
Jay-Z even said all he would have to do is drop his elusive Hot 97 Grammy Freestyle on the Verzuz stage and it would be over right then and there. We won’t disagree. Regardless, Keys pulled the ultimate ace up her sleeve to promote her new album, and her husband Swizz Beats even got a little promo for that little Verzuz project of his. You can listen to a portion of the conversation below.
Jay-Z on never doing a #VERZUZ battle “There’s not a chance anyone can stand on that stage with me” on @TwitterSpaces w/@aliciakeys @Genius @RobMarkman @Kozza @sc pic.twitter.com/Wh6IEdZfKQ
— ?jordan (@JustJordan_925) December 22, 2021