Bow Wow, Soulja Boy next up in Verzuz battle

Rappers Bow Wow and Soulja Boy are the latest creatives to add their names to the Verzuz battle lineup.

Their battle, scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday via Instagram, the Triller app and the Fite TV app, aims to showcase the talents of two artists with divergent paths.

In terms of modern day hip-hop/rap, Soulja Boy took an unconventional road to prominence. A Chicago native who later moved to Atlanta — and then Mississippi — Soulja Boy was ahead of the curve when it came to being an artist/influencer, personal branding, production and business.

Instead of waiting for music industry gatekeepers to pluck him from obscurity, Soulja Boy uploaded his music and immediately burst onto the scene in 2007 with “Crank That,” a Grammy-nominated song, which garnered several million downloads, spending seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Standout tracks from the Mississippi-based rapper include “Gucci Bandana” (with Atlanta rappers Gucci Mane and Shawty Lo), “Pretty Boy Swag” and “Turn My Swag On.”

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Bow Wow, who initially went by the stage name “Lil’ Bow Wow,”which was given to him by rap legend and previous Verzuz contestant Snoop Dogg, appeared on his debut album “Doggystyle” on the track “ ”Gz and Hustlas.”

Bow Wow, who made a successful transition to films, reprised his role from “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” — the third film in the blockbuster movie franchise — with “F9,” now in theaters.. His other acting credits include “Like Mike” and the Chicago-filmed “Roll Bounce.”

The duo is also a part of the recently announced “Millennium Tour 2021” that’s scheduled to kick off Oct. 1, making a Chicago appearance Oct. 29 at the Wintrust Arena. The tour includes previous Verzuz battle participant Ashanti, Omarion, Ying Yang Twins, Lloyd, Pretty Ricky and Sammie.

Upcoming Verzuz battles include a yet-to-be-announced July 1 battle sponsored by Essence, the African American women’s lifestyle magazine.