The latest Verzuz between Tank and Tyrese brought out the soul, shade, and stars as the TGT bandmates went hit for hit.
The head-to-head started off with Tank performing “Coldest” and dedicated his soulful version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to the ladies. Tyrese shaded him for “putting n***as to sleep on the first song” before turning up the energy with “What’Cu Like.” He followed by a blast from the past from Chingy “Pullin’ Me Back.” The mics were on and the TGT tension was thick!
Tank clapped back that he likes to take it slow and has the catalog to “go all night” as he serenaded the crowd with J. Valentine for “Slow” and a mashup with “Slowly.” Tyrese swapped out his streetwear for some soul singer style in a black turtleneck, a blazer with sequined lapels, and matching bellbottoms. He came out fully in character, smoking a cigarette before SANGING “Stay” with all his heart to girlfriend Zellie Timothy. Tank tied it up after taking that round, and gloated that his opponent went from “one coat to another bad coat.”
After another round of “You Don’t Know” and Tank’s Aaliyah collab, “Come Over,” vs Morning After / Signs Of Love Makin’,” Tyrese joked about not needing to watch the clock. Tank quickly quipped that the Baby Boy star didn’t come prepared for timing or top hits to compete with his #1s. “You think because you sang a mid song longer, it’s going to get better! It’s just going to be a mid song sang longer,” he said. “It just didn’t make the song better.”
The “When We” star flexed his prolific pen with songs he wrote for other singers like Pleasure P’s Grammy-nominated “Under.” Tyrese perfected his audio to belt out the highy anticipated classic, “Lately,” joking that he took over the crowd and wouldn’t give them back during “What Am I Gonna Do.”
Between audio issues, TSA delays holding travelers hostage, and The Millennium Tour Presents: The Boys 4 Life Tour tying up many of Tank’s top collaborators, both seasoned singers had to improvise. Tank took it to another level when he went from riffing on Marques Houston’s “Naked” to dragging Tyrese about suffocating in his turtleneck after a third wardrobe.
The catchy and comedic clapback left Tyrese singing along, joking that Tank should’ve tagged in Kim Burrell for his runaway runs.
Some fans joked that Tyrese won because he had bigger hits that dominated the lineup and mostly performed solo. Meanwhile, #TeamTank claimed that writing all those hit songs like Omarion’s “O” made him an elite artist and celebrity cameos are just part of the OG Verzuz game. That made it tough to call a clear winner between LeToya Luckett popping out to perform “Regret” and Tyrese singing his face off on “Shame,” which Tank admitted was an undeniable “smash record.”
Jamie Foxx pulled up to make it “Do What It Do” with Tank and the mic was most definitely on!
While Tank changed artists, Tyrese continued changing jackets. He stepped out suited and booted in a white tux to declare he “already won.”
With the performance of another breakout hit, Tyrese might have been right. Jamie is a tough act to follow, but so is “Sweet Lady!”
The final guest for Tank was musical menace Trey Songz, making appearance between seemingly constant court dates. Like many critical comments about the cameo, Tyrese wasn’t having it and ran Trigga off the stage for sliding in a remix of “When We,” after the original came and went.
Tank closed out with “Maybe I Deserve” and “Please Don’t Go,” which even Tyrese was vibing with despite Tank getting on one knee to beg not one, but two, women in the crowd. It’s giving DRAMA!
All Tyrese needed to do was drop the mic with one question, “How You Gonna Act Like That?” Tank didn’t go down without a fight, joking, “How your band gonna act like that? How your jacket gonna act like that? You took off that turtleneck because that turtleneck was acting like that.”
Tyrese fired back, “You’re an opener not a headliner, we all a need a comedian before the main act comes outz.” Tank dropped the receipts on being the only one to have “four headlining tours.” He joked, “Fast & Furious is nice but you can’t tour.” Oop! The brotherly beef got a little serious, with Tyrese dissing the “hotel lobby” bookings.
Whew, that was a close one! Once again it seems that the real winners are music lovers. Both veterans brought the vocals and made it clear that R&B is still alive, even with Jack Harlow entering the chat. They gave each other their flowers for decades of success and teased another TGT album, but Genuwine was M.I.A.
What do you think of the Tank and Tyrese Verzuz? Was there a clear winner?
