Alicia Keys and John Legend celebrate Juneteenth on Instagram Live

When the United States shutdown amidst a pandemic, I wasn't expecting it to be the start of a musical boom. Concert venues closing, difficulties getting together to record new tracks. How could this be the environment to get things going? Cue Verzuz Battles.

Instagram proved the perfect platform to bring music to the limited masses. A new event called Verzuz started in which legendary artists would square off remotely. They would share anecdotes from their years in the industry, perform or play recordings of their classic songs, and ultimately just have fun.

What a pandemic it has been.

So far we've seen great battles. Erykah Badu and Jill Scott brought the world together in a way no one else can. Babyface and Teddy Riley faced off TWICE, showing off their massive catalogs (and Teddy's struggle with technology). Jagged Edge and 112 showed a history and variety of tracks that could surprise casual listeners.

The shows have been an awesome experience that has made the pandemic more bearable. The only pain during it all is, because these performances are on Instagram Live, there's no easy way to watch them again. If you search Youtube for them, you might be able to catch peoples recordings of them like this playback of Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

If you've missed them thus far, June 19th has the next awesome collaboration. John Legend and Alicia Keys are participating in a verzuz battle for Juneteenth. 8PM ET/5PM PT. You can watch it on their instagrams and join in on what should be an amazing experience.