NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Cash Money vs No Limit Verzuz should have gone much differently. However, Cash Money proved that nothing lasts forever, while No Limit proved what a solid foundation looks like in Hip Hop.
For most watching, this was Dipset vs The Lox all over again. They Lox are more of a family unit, which No Limit displayed while Cash Money mirrored Dipset, which is more individuals. But it wasn’t always like that. There is no way that No Limit should have walked off that stage victorious, but they did, and Birdman is the reason for that.
Yes, families fight, but imagine if they had come together for the Hip Hop culture, as Master P kept repeating throughout the Verzuz battle. Isn’t that what Verzuz is all about?
The Cash Money defeat is due to the turmoil that’s going on. While No Limit has hits during their run, Cash Money had Hip Hop-altering hits and artists that should have wiped the floor with whoever Master P brought on the stage.
I’m not from New Orleans, so I can never fully understand the impact Cash Money and No Limit had and what that meant for their city. But from the outside looking in as an up north East Coast Hip Hop guy, I will always feel that Cash Money produced the best talent out of the two labels.
Master P put his hits down, so did Mia X and Silkk the Shocker, Mac, and Choppa. Cash Money countered that with Juvenile and Big Tymers. BG was more hype man than anything, but he was a team player. However, the elephant in the room, or should we say not in the room, was the real talent of Cash Money. Where the hell was Lil Wayne and the rest of their crew?
What makes having a Verzuz with labels so appealing is that there is no set period in which you can play hits. No Limit had damn near their full roster ready to roll, while Cash Money did not. Yes, Mystikal was missing and would have really set things off for Master P and No Limit, but the last-second Snoop addition was pure genius. And that goes back to the original statement, No Limit moved more like a unit than Cash Money.
Now, that’s not to say that over the years, No Limit did not have any public or private beef. Hell, we know they did, even leading up to the Verzuz battle with words supposed to be said between Mia X and P, but they put that to the side and did their thing.
Cash Money, well, that’s something different. Spats have been ongoing for years, with artists throwing shades back and forth. And to make matters worse, Lil Wayne had a show in Vegas the same night of the Verzuz. Ouch!!! There are no rules in Verzuz; everything goes. Cash Money should have had this in the bag.
Juvenile held things down on his own with his own hits and those from The Hot Boys, but Lil Wayne alone would have crushed damn near anything that No Limit performed. And if that wasn’t enough, Drake and Nicki Minaj would have made Snoop’s appearance feel like Lil Romeo reliving his teenage years.
In the words of Jay Z “No one wins when the family fueds.” We sensed that when it was Dipset vs The Lox. Cam and Jim Jones could have been better, but they didn’t move as a collective unit. The Lox had hits as a unit and as individuals, but that battle was won due to a bond. No Limit did not have the better lineup. There is not a person outside of that No Limit camp that would say otherwise. They had a small grip on Hip Hop, but what Cash Money achieved, they set Hip Hop on fire with their roster.
