Legendary southern rap duos UGK and 8Ball & MJG are set to face off in a forthcoming Verzuz scheduled to take place on Thursday (May 26) at 8 p.m. ET. The event, which will take place live in Atlanta, will air on Triller and Verzuz’s social media accounts.
Reports of UGK and 8-Ball & MJG possibly participating in a battle first surfaced in May 2020, when Bun B revealed that he’d spoken with Verzuz founders Timbaland and Swizz Beatz about potentially going head to head with his Memphis counterparts.
In 2021, the Texan confirmed that he’d be representing UGK in a Verzuz and that he’d be going up against 8Ball & MJG during an appearance on The Donnie Houston Podcast. “I know I’m doing a ‘Verzuz,’ but it’s not Texas-based,” he said. “I’m doing ‘Verzuz.’ It’ll be UGK probably against 8Ball & MJG. … Yeah, UGK will represent Texas in Verzuz going up against [neighborhood] North Mound.”
However, the matchup was delayed for more than a year, during which the platform endured controversy for the Verzuz matchup between Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia, which included a physical confrontation between members of both crews. Tempers also flared between Gucci Mane and Jeezy during their historic Verzuz matchup.
While Bun feels UGK’s battle with 8Ball & MJG would be great for the culture and both groups’ fanbases, he’s since voiced trepidation over whether fans would tune in to enjoy the music or to see if any confrontations between the two sides may ensue. “I think it would be a good one, but I think you gotta understand…a lot of people tuned to Jeezy and Gucci Mane[’s Verzuz] for the wrong reasons,” he said during an interview with B High ATL.
“It was a lot of suspect sh*t being said because people were expecting a fight,” he said. “They really thought something was gonna happen that day. … Both of them walked in as they man they was, and they both walked out the man they was.”
“It wasn’t about charting artists, or who had the hot record, it was about creating a vibe,” he said. “I think UGK and 8Ball & MJG would’ve worked, under those circumstances. The fans obviously still wanna see it [and] we’re ready to do it if called on, but it’s a little different now.”