Triller Network, which owns the video social-media app and TikTok competitor, has acquired the popular battle series Verzuz. Billboard reported the deal, which went for an undisclosed sum. The Verzuz video series has been one of the breakout inventions of quarantine culture, pitting hip-hop and R&B artists against each other in face-offs between their discographies. Rapper-producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, who competed in the first Verzuz and continue to host the battles, became Triller shareholders as a result and have split part of their stake in Triller among the 43 artists who have performed on Verzuz so far. (Good for Patti and Gladys!) “There is no more disruptive and innovative brand in music today than Verzuz,†Bobby Sarnevesht, Triller’s executive chairman and co-owner, told Billboard. “Both Triller and Verzuz share the ‘artist first, music first’ vision. In a joint statement, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz added, “By putting Verzuz in the Triller Network ecosystem and expanding the Verzuz brand to be side by side with the powerful Triller app, we will be able to continue to grow and evolve the music business as a whole, as we have been doing.†D’Angelo was the last Verzuz performer on February 28, although he did not compete against anyone.