The music magazine comes under fire by Beenie Man for excluding him and fellow dancehall musician Bounty Killer in the publication's cover feature highlighting the online rap battle series.
- Aug 12, 2020
AceShowbiz - Beenie Man has hit out at editors of Billboard magazine for excluding him and Bounty Killer from their "Verzuz" cover feature.
The latest cover for the publication features stars including Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, John Legend, DMX, Snoop Dogg, Kirk Franklin, Alicia Keys, and more - all of whom have participated in Timbaland and Swizz Beatz's online rap battle series.
However, the dancehall artists were noticeably absent from the line-up and, taking to Twitter, Beenie, real name Anthony Moses Davis, hit out at the decision.
"I guess billboard is REALLY THAT GUY," he tweeted. "When will DANCEHALL get it's recognition???? Nuh matter how the impact, no matter the hard work, no matter how powerful the music is, them still try it everytime them get a chance. Ah time now man. #FixUp..."
He added, "Big up Swizz & Timz but this is what our genre face! Everybody fwd and tek piece and build up dem thing and then do everything to undermine the genre DANCEHALL where they got it from. (sic)"
Meanwhile, the author of the article, Naima Cochrane, was also attacked online, prompting her to insist on Twitter that she had nothing to do with the cover art.
Following the upset, Swizz Beatz shared Billboard's cover art along with a new version that included the legendary dancehall artists. He wrote, "To our fans, while we are honored that Verzuz made the cover of Billboard, this would not have been possible without Beenie Man & Bounty Killer who set a big tone for our audience and represented for Jamaica."
"Thank You Billboard for the acknowledgement but, we feel this version of the cover best represents THE VERZUZ EFFECT," he added.
