He’s back in the limelight, and that’s good for local music
Teddy Riley is having a moment.
Don’t call it a comeback. It’s more like a resurgence.
The New York native and iconic music producer with ties to Hampton Roads has found himself back in the spotlight after going head to head with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds in a Verzuz battle on Instagram. Verzuz is a series of hit-for-hit musical showdowns created by two producers: Norfolk native Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. The series has dominated social media since the coronavirus quarantines began in March.
True, Riley was dragged by viewers and even other musicians for some technical difficulties on his end of their first live-streamed battle. But when he and Babyface reunited for the rematch two nights later, things went much more smoothly. More than 500,000 watched the two megaproducers go track for track. Their battle broke Instagram. Fans turned to streaming services in droves to listen to their selected cuts. Billboard reported that the number of streams for songs used in the battle doubled