We now know the real reason why Keyshia Cole was so late for her Verzuz battle with Ashanti.
Diehearted fans of Keyshia Cole comprehend that along with her ability to tug on hearts via her soulful ballads and R&B joints, she also posses a pretty fun personality, which even things out. Sadly, during her Verzuz battle against Ashanti, fans received a slightly dejected KC, that’s at least until what she was sipping in her mug kicked in. After the numerous Covid delays that prevented the initial battle, the stage was finally set, with participants reverting to a home setup.
Sadly both Ashanti and Keyshia Cole were more than fashionably late to make an appearance in front of the camera, leaving nearly 1 million viewers to adore bags of Doritos and bottles of Ciroc.
Verzuz organizer Swizz Beatz addressed the situation publicly when he commented, “This is very disrespectful, cant lie man…”
After an hour of waiting, Ashanti appeared on camera and did a few numbers as she hyped up the crowd and held it down for the “Love” singer, yet, the battle didn’t commence until her arrival 15 minutes later. Many viewers were not pleased that the “Heaven Sent” singer did not offer an apology and seemed to be sporting a pretty lethargic attitude. It turns out her late entry and vibe may have been a result of technical difficulties.
Cole’s personal disc jockey, DJ HI-C, was speaking to the crew at 97.9 The Box when he explained that she was not actually late to her own home but stayed away from the camera because it was blurry.
“It started out weird..Not to say nothin about Verzuz or anything like that. On Keyshia’s defense, she didn’t wanna come out ‘cause her screen was blurry,” said Dj HI-C. “On her end, her screen was blurry. She was there on time. I seen everything. She was there, but she didn’t wanna come out because the screen was blurry and stuff wasn’t right, you know. We couldn’t hear [Ashanti’s] side, so it was a lot of technical stuff going on there.”
While Ashanti’s feed was quite pristine, Cole’s audio and video posed a problem for some, especially those viewing on Instagram. The reveal has earned the wrath of some viewers, who have called on stricter measures from Verzuz organizers.
“I went back and watched it, they were BOTH mad disrespectful to the [Verzuz] audience. Here are a few rules you may want to consider for the artists moving forward with love. Do not be on your phone while performing. Don’t get up and walk off while the other artist is singing. Don’t throw shade. Don’t be LATE. Respect the fans, their time, etc. Do a test from a private IG page hours before the live performance,” wrote one IG user.
Others were more sympathetic and understanding of the situation, shedding light on the fact that most entertainers see the Verzuz battles as full-blown productions.
“Most real artist not performing if their sound messed up. Seeing we in a pandemic this is their shows so everything should be right before they perform. To us its just a live video, for them these they concerts and the set up was janky as hell on Keyshia end.”
