American rappers Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat are battling it out for R&B supremacy on Friday night. The industry veterans will compete in a duel of R&B and New Jack Swing classics in the %u2018Verzuz%u2019 arena. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, the creators of Verzuz, confirmed the match earlier this week, revealing that it will be televised in collaboration with Essence magazine. The battle takes place during the second week of the publication’s Festival of Culture.
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It’s no secret that Brown and Sweat have amassed tremendous discographies over the previous few decades. Each of the musicians began their careers in the 1970s and 1980s and has a long list of well-known songs as solo artists and members of groups.
Brown began his career as a member of the R&B/pop group New Edition, who gave the world %u201CCandy Girl,%u201D %u201CCool It Now,%u201D and %u201CMr. Telephone Man.%u201D Brown quit the band in the mid-1980s and went on to become a solo star.
“King of Stage,” his debut studio album, was released in 1986 and included the No. 1 hit “Girlfriend,” but it was his sophomore effort, 1987’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” that became his commercially and critically acclaimed record.
The platinum-certified album included hits like %u201CMy Prerogative,%u201D %u201CEvery Little Step,%u201D %u201CRoni,%u201D and the title tune, which L.A. Reid co-wrote. Brown would go on to release three additional studio albums (excluding compilation and remix projects) and a slew of standalone singles, the most recent of which being 2018’s %u201CLike Bobby.%u201D
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Sweat began his musical career as a member of the Harlem-based band Jamilah in the 1970s. He went solo in 1984, but it took three years for his debut album, “Make It Last Forever,” to be released. That album was multi-platinum, and the single “I Want Her” reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sweat released a dozen additional studio albums and a string of singles over the next three decades. 1990’s “Make You Sweat,” 1991’s “Keep It Comin,” 1996’s “Twisted” and “Nobody,” and 2000’s “I’ll Trade (A Million Bucks)” are among his most popular albums.
