Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond To Face Off in "The Healing" Verzuz Battle
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are now enforcing a rule to ensure proper sound quality.
The latest Verzuz matchup is officially here. On Thursday, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland announced Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond will face off in a battle of gospel titans. Catch the battle on Sunday at 5 PM Eastern.
Bishop TD Jakes will provide opening words for the battle, which Verzuz is dubbing "The Healing."
"Everyone needs a hug," the announcement reads. "This one will be special."
In 2008, Hammond won a Contemporary R&B Gospel Grammy award for his album Free to Worship. On the other hand, Franklin has earned a whopping 25 total nominations, taking home 16 trophies in all.
"In the midst of all this darkness, let's celebrate light," Franklin wrote on Instagram. "Excited to join my brother @realfredh this Sunday."
This time around, the showrunners are requiring participants to use the official sound equipment they send out. The series even got some help from the Roland Corporation. "Roland actually created a special system that they made for Verzuz for IG," Swizz said. "And it works. Like you look at Ludacris' sound, it works. You can tell who's using the setup and who's not using the setup. It's only a couple plugs that's gonna change your life. 112 was using it. I don't think Jagged Edge was using it."
The Verzuz series is beginning to branch out. On Memorial Day Weekend, the Bounty Killer/Beenie Man battle was a rousing success.