The veteran music impresario wonders whether Mariah’s songwriting is underrated, but fans are upset he even made the comparison.
Verzuz battles have become a great way to salute and pay homage to the legacies of artists who probably don’t get as much recognition as they should — or at least, give them their flowers while they’re still around to appreciate it — but as the series continues, there are some who want to see even bigger stars hit the stage to play their hits. One of those who do is LA Reid, who stated during an interview on The Real that his dream matchup would be between two megastars in Beyonce and Mariah Carey. While both are vocal powerhouses who have sold millions of records and become nearly ubiquitous household names — especially now that it’s December, which is slowly but surely becoming more of a celebration of Mariah than yuletide cheer — many fans, upon hearing the suggestion, voiced their disapproval on Twitter. While much of the chatter was the typical stan war stuff (“Beyoncé is the Queen of what exactly?” one user questioned), there were others who pointed out that the two aren’t exactly peers, since Mariah debuted a solid decade before Beyonce’s solo career took off. The best Verzuz battles so far have been those between artists from similar generations, such as The Lox and The Diplomats, or the recent showdown between Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia. Beyoncé is the Queen of what exactly? Queen of her fans? B is good but cannot match Mariah’s vocals.
