Best Rap/Sung Collaborations
Hip-Hop and Pop is one of the best combinations in music. Give a good beat to a decent rapper and you have a great rap verse and a billboard hit. Even though the lines between Rap and Pop are more blurred than ever before, these songs have us remembering that there is a line somewhere. Therefore, I present to you the top five best Rap/Sung collaborations.
For this list, I decided to omit any song that was by a rapper and featured a singer, as that is a list for another time. We've also limited the list to songs that were hits, just to narrow the field a little bit.
#5 "My Love" Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
Not their last collaboration together, My Love by Justin Timberlake and T.I are great together on this verse. Off of Justin's FutureSex/LoveSounds, the song has always been a standout. T.I. is the cool wingman in this verse, offering up reasons as to why the lady in the scenario should end up with JT and her friend with him. It's littered with great punchlines and an impressive flow on Timberland's beat. It's one of the best and was recognized as such with a Grammy Award for best Rap/Sung collaboration.
#4 "What's My Name?' Rihanna featuring Drake
The song was a worldwide success, and the first of many collaborations between the two. The chemistry between Rihanna and Drake can be felt on this seminal track off of Rihanna's Loud album. "What's My Name?" can first seem to be the typical one-night stand song, but ends up being more than that thanks to Drake's verse. His crooning voice over the beat, laced with the metaphors and wordplay make it seem that he wants more than just one night with the barbadian star. It's one of the best pop verses of his career and shows why he and Rihanna are shipped so hard.
#3 "Dirrty" Christina Aguilara featuring Redman
Christina was a good girl who wanted a new bad girl persona. Redman gave her legitimacy. In the early 2000's pop hit "Dirrty", both of them got what they wanted. Redman's verse is rocking and powerful on the dance track. Let's us never forget the following lines: "My block live and in color, like Rodman hair (yeah) / The club is packed, the bar is filled / I'm waiting for sister to act, like Lauryn Hill". The verse is full of punchlines and is tight like none would ever expect on such a simple verse. A call out to Ol' Dirty Bastard at the end was the cherry on top of the rap verse cake.
#2 "Fantasy" Mariah Carey featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard
This is not a combination that most people would've believed to see at the time, but it worked so well. "Fantasy" is one of those seminal tracks of Mariah's career, partly due to ODB's verse. It's rough and gritty, but it hits on the beat so well! It starts off with the iconic beginning: "Me and Mariah, go back like babies and pacifiers!" It's such a beautiful contrast from one artist to the other. Mariah is soft in this track, talking about the love and fantasy-like feeling of a new relationship, while ODB talks about the dirty and nitty-gritty aspects of the relationship. It's a match that wasn't made by anyone, but thank goodness it happened.
#1 "Crazy in Love" Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z
There wasn't any other choice. The song went #1 in almost every place it touched, ending on year-end and decade-end charts. Beyoncé broke out of the group Destiny's Child and established herself as a solo star. This was thanks to Jay Z. The whole song is powerful with an incomparable music video. Jay Z oozes confidence on the song, with everything playing to his strengths. His bars are tough and his demeanor is intense. It makes Beyoncé seem like the innocent girl and him the rugged bad boy. Three children and almost two decades later, the pairing still works.