Verzuz is Back! Hit-Boy v. MIKE WILL MADE-IT | VERY BIASED REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: This review is written from the expectant perspective of a Hit-Boy victory. Very biased.

Hit-Boy has the advantage of being a performing artist. His crew is smaller in number, but Hit-Boy is able to stand on his own and present songs in a way that Mike Will is not so trained to.

Following MW’s HUMBLE open, Hit queued a Dot medley that stretched across multiple songs and energies. When Mike Will returns to DNA, it sounds unfortunately used after Hit just delivered Kendrick 3x. 

Hit’s use of Way Back may have come as an off-guard, but it was a nice early Swizz cameo, catering to the house. Preparation stands out as the name of the game, as Hit intros Trophies with the original sample. 

Mike Will counters with Itchin,’ a “B.I.G.” Future record that he believes belongs in the Grammys. Continually drawn to Mike Will’s custom Ear Drummers varsity, especially with the classic Hip Hop font taking me right back to BRONX 1973 and the Rock Steady pieces.

Hit-Boy continues this genius medley strategy – stacking barrages of hits 

We like this!! Following the Rocky combo, Mike Will counters with Body Party, a sultry slowdown, complete with a booth dancer to stamp the moment. Rather than going bar for bar with Rocky, Mike Will turns the room to his own accord. Strong chess.

Hit is not SORRY. He hits with Beyonce appearance #2, educating the room about his chord and arrangement duties on this Lemonade standout. 

These moments of contrast and dynamic conflict are what make Verzuz: in a few moments, we’ve heard Ciara, Beyonce, and then No Lie?! 

Energy management! Mike Will turns the room up with some good green and quality beverage, then Hit roots us all with a hometown homage: Racks in the Middle. The legend lives on. 

The Apple Music integration is doing numbers indeed, supplying quality visuals including song titles.

Hasn’t been addressed yet but… Chief Keef was definitely in the midst at the start of the battle.

Risk that seems to be paying dividends: MW takes the Nipsey tribute in stride and brings back Rihanna’s celebration of dollar signs? Dancer has moved foreground for her second feature as MW continues to work the crowd. 

We’re 40 minutes in and Hit has just plated one of the courses we’ve come to expect: he’s in SICKO MODE.

And shock the world! He teases! Whoa! Whoa! 

The crowd is upset but that Ace card has MW reaching for his as well: The Ear Drummers are here now! Rae Srummerd and the entire party emerges for a live Black Beatles performance – and Keef is back! 

Well, here’s new knowledge: Chief and Mike Will released a collaborative project entitled Dirty Nachos in 2024. 

Hold on, hold on… Texted my wife and watched a few practice videos and looked back up… Big Sean! This is a Hit-Boy centered review as his music is part of my daily life, so certainly I came in rooting for the victory… but this is HAPPENING!! 

oOKKOKOKKKOOKOK it’s getting gruesome now. The conversation between contestants has been very gracious so far. But now, Hit is stacking Wild Draw 4s by following up Big Sean live for Clique with unreleased chune with a No Limit sample!?

Mike Will interjects the decision with “It ain’t our turn?!” That’s tough. 

MW hurt seeing Sean slide for Hit, talking about an Aries birthday connection. 

Circling back to the preparation piece: Mike fields Sean appearance and fires toward home plate with Juicy J in a Black reptile trench and a blue fur hat. Mid-race, it appears that Hit is looking to win on music and Mike Will is planning to win on hype / shock.

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A section break is needed. Hit picks the most Pop of his Nas discography – super misfire – Spicy. A great song in its right but it is NOT the play to launch a six album Nas archive. No, no, no.

Thank you Mike Will. Great counter punch with King’s Dead. Strong chess again. “Miss me with that BS” stings nicely against a Fivio feature during 2026’s biggest Hip Hop night thus far. 

Ok, Beyonce is back. Volume 3. 

The smile from Hit during this performance is why I advocate for the scout. His story is trauma-loaded: loving father overly-attached to the prison-industrial complex throughout his life, spending two decades enrolled in a financially oppressive deal (read your contracts!), innate ups and downs of life → this night serves as a freedom party for Hit and his music.

Mike Will is over the Beyonce mastery. He is slaying all day and Hit returns with yet another Knowles record. 

She does make a good point however: “Sometimes some shit goes down when there is a billion dollars in an elevator.” That makes perfect sense. 

We are now 70 minutes into the battle. Mike Will came with the strength in numbers. He’s playing a road game with Hit at home in SoCal. As disclaimed, the New Bugatti just isn’t standing up musically with Hit-Boy’s approach. Back to the jacket though, we will ABSOLUTELY accept the Virgil tweet inscribed on the inside of the jacket. 

An abrupt end at 945PM? HOLD ON?! 5 more records? 10 more records?

4th quarter, Hit is landing the plane with a travis x frank look, meanwhile the Ear Drummers are HUDDLING to diagram their next approach. 

Concession speech at 950PM.

It’s almost over, let’s enjoy these Mike Will Hail-Marys as Rae Sremmurd returns to the stage to disclose their non type. 

Hit has left plenty in the chamber. With the setlist dwindling, he goes downtempo, dropping the world with Mr. Carter and M. Mathers. The mood is Victory Lap. Two records to go… the closer was pre-established coming into this battle. It’s only a matter of time…

50 deep but it aint deep enough? Chief Keef present for the entire event but no mic time? Final shoutouts and a request for lights off… Where to Mike Will? I’m not seeing the vision but I sense this is one of Mike Will’s personal favorites to choose this as a walk off sacrifice fly in the 9th inning. 

See, this is where teams lose games down the stretch, playing with the lead. With Verzuz playing with the possessions, Hit drops a Rihanna record – intentional hesi dribble? We’ll see.

The final Mike Will finale? Rake it Up by Yo Gotti. Great one, but not a Verzuz game winner. → Onside kick!! Flip from Gotti to Lamborghini Mercy! “Since we’re doing 3 records in 1” as Mike Will subs Hit’s timebound strategy of stacking records per at-bat. Play by the rules and play to win!

SEALED IT.

The inevitable has occurred, sealed with a 5 year old’s ultimate statement. According to Hollis the 3rd, only “6-7” of Mike Will’s records hit. 

Ahhh, pay attention → The Custom Carhartt is aside now, revealing a dazzling Paris muscle tee. Proper preparation prevents poor performance!!!