It was back in April when we were still in the first weeks of the COVID-19 quarantine when Mannie Fresh and Scott Storch met up for Verzuz. Before Swizz Beatz and Timbaland inked deals with Apple TV and made the online series a record-breaking event, Mannie and Storch met up to play some of their greatest hits in an epic producer battle. However, how each artist approached the meeting of the music differed as Mannie looked at it as a beat battle while Storch seemed to take a kinder approach. Mannie brought up Storch's previous drug problems and issues with the law, and afterward, he was criticized for being too hurtful or aggressive.
Swizz recently told GQ that he owed both producers a new battle as they weren't a fair match. In a recent interview with People's Party with Talib Kweli, Mannie Fresh addressed the controversy. "Honestly, it was a battle," said Mannie. He added that before Swizz Beatz and Timbaland even came up with Verzuz, he'd been doing "beat battles" with A-List producers. However, with his shows, the skits were a central part of the performances. "
"Nobody got they feathers ruffled or none of that. It's competitive. This is it," he said. "This is what goes on in hip hop. Hip hop is a story of your life. Nobody gave me the memo that this is a new hip hop and what I'm saying is the new hip hop is you gotta be politically correct. You can't say nothin' about somebody."
Mannie said he called Storch the following day to check-in to make sure he didn't "go too far" and apologized to his fellow hitmaker. "It was all in fun because it was a beat battle. He coulda done the same thing back, it wouldn't have ruffled my feathers. But, it was a lot of people who was like, 'Man, you went too hard.'... This is what hip hop does."
While Swizz may feel as if he owes Mannie Fresh another Verzuz opportunity, it's out of the question. The producer said at the time, no one wanted to do the Verzuz and when he learned he was going up again Storch, he began studying to have his ammunition ready. "I will never do another one I don't fit in that criteria," said Mannie. "I am competitive. I want to f*ck over you. I want to win... I don't have no bad feelings about Scott Storch. I love him like a brother, but if you wanna be apart of hip hop, you gotta open up your good and your bad."
He recognized that he has some controversies as well, including headlines that he's owned some checks by Cash Money. Yet, he claimed he wouldn't have been salty if that was brought up during the battle because that's what the culture is about.
If you missed the Verzuz with Scott Storch and Mannie Fresh, you can check it out above along with the clip from the People's Party with Talib Kweli below.