Hip-hop music is a beautiful torture sometimes. As much as the genre makes people from around the world understand the struggles of people from different areas of the country, sometimes as hip-hop fans, we're robbed of the opportunity to get what we want from the artists we love. I know I know, I sound selfish because hip-hop has given us so much already. But hip-hop artist love giving fans teasers with collaborations that are so amazing that it makes us as fans fiend for more. So I started thinking about what collaboration I’ve always wanted to hear. And it’s unfortunate to think about it because they’ll likely never happen. But it’s still fun to think about who I want to see make an album together as a duo. So I came up with a short list. And I think hip-hop would have been both blessed and spoiled from these albums had they been created by these genius tandems.
South Bronx…South South Bronx…
One of my favorite lyricists of all time is Boricua legend Big Punisher from the Terror Squad. The man’s bars and lyrics were out of this world, and verse for verse Pun could match anyone in my opinion. Every bar Pun spit in his debut album Capital Punishment was delivered with the precision of a surgeon. Anyone who got on a track with Pun knew it was survival of the illest. He had the perfect flow, and his breath control for a man of his size were only matched by that of the late great Notorious B.I.G. Pun was the co-leader of TS along side fellow Bronx Native Fat Joe. People don’t ever seem to rate Joe highly when it comes to best MC’s ever out of New York, but if you go back and listen to Jealous Ones Envy and Don Cartegena, it’s evident Fat Joe’s rhyme ability can’t be questioned. Between Joe’s gritty NYC style, and Puns penchant for destroying any beat he got on, a collaboration album between the two would have been special for NYC and hip-hop in general. Unfortunately the rap game lost Big Pun in 2000, and the dream I had of this happening ended then. But I think had these two done an album together, that collaboration would have been special.
Straight From The 213…
“And Imma snatch your ass from the backside and show you how Death Row pull off that hoopride/ Now you might not understand me/Cause I’m a rob you in Compton and blast you in Miami” – Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The 1990’s run that Death Row records had with its core three rappers of Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg is legendary. Snoop was a young upstart with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove to the rap world. Dr. Dre was a young veteran that knew how to get the best out of every artist he ever worked with. Whenever Snoop and Dre were in the studio together it was instant magic. From Nothing But A G Thang to Still D.R.E., the two west coast legends never let fans down when they worked together. I wish we could get a Dre and Snoop album, and since both rappers are still in the studio, it’s always a possibility. But at this point I think it’s more of a pipe dream. Dre has been teasing us with a new solo album for the better part of a decade, and Snoop isn’t the Snoop of old. I would still listen to an album with those two on it, but it’s anyone’s guess what it would actually sound like now. Missed opportunity in the 90’s for both Death Row and hip-hops fans in general.
It’s Panero and Kiss...Two-Thirds of A Brick…
Is there a better tag-team partnership in rap more fun to listen to than Stylez P and Jadakiss from the LOX? The sheer brashness, bravado, grit, and bars that come when these two get on a track together is jaw dropping. You remember the “Fiesta” remix freestyle they put out in the early 2000’s? I still listen to that regularly. To be honest I listen to all the LOX stuff regularly, but there’s nothing better than listening to Kiss and Stylez go back and forth. Every time I listen to Banned From TV I can’t help but think why on Earth did these two never put out any material together as just a duo. Maybe they never did it out of respect for Sheek Louch. Or maybe they just never thought about a Kiss and Stylez album. I know I have been thinking about it for years, and if they dropped that album tomorrow I would be the first to cop it. C’mon LOX, give us a new LOX album and then hit us with the Kiss and Stylez album. We’re here waiting.
From Marcy To Hollywood And Back Again…Back Again…
“It doesn’t matter if I was never signed to the Roc/ because me and Jay we were both signed to the Block” – Sauce Money. Why did Jay-Z never see it fit to sign Sauce Money to Roc-A-Fella records I don’t know, but early in his career, Jay and Sauce Money were absolutely lights out when they jumped on a track together. They’ve both said they are really close friends, and during Jay’s first two albums Sauce Money was there for all of the recordings. Sauce Money is even featured on Jigga’s classic debut album Reasonable Doubt. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best track from Reasonable Doubt was “Bring it on” featuring Sauce Money and Jaz-O. Sauce said the reason the track came out so legendary was because each rapper knew they had to outdo the other or at least try to keep up, and that’s what fueled their bars. That track is my favorite from Reasonable Doubt, and that was the genesis of my thought that Jay and Sauce Money needed an album together. But between Jay building Roc-A-Fella, and his obsession to make Memphis Bleek the next great rapper, Jay lost sight of his partnership with Sauce Money. It’s unfortunate because I think Sauce would have been the best rapper on Roc-A-Fella after Hov himself. I have no idea if they would have ever done an album together, but we would have had more Jay and Sauce money records. What could have been. “Sigh”
Life’s A Bitch And Then You Die…
Last but definitely not least on my list of dream album collaborations is the legendary Nasir Jones, and the legendarily underappreciated AZ. Is there anything in rap history more calming and insightful than listening to Nas and AZ on a track together. It’s poetry listening to those two. There are no punch lines, no happy raps, no non-sense Tom Foolery when those two get together. The masses become more intelligent when listening to these two MC’s together. They don’t try to outdo each other, nor does it ever seem as if either is trying to be great on the track; it just comes out that way. It’s two brothers on the same track with the intelligence of Harvard Professors. An album with Nas and AZ seemed like nothing more than mere formality in the 90’s. I was sure it was coming sooner than later, and I’m pretty sure the hip-hop world thought so as well. But 20 years after Nas’ debut classic illmatic, there’s still no album. And at this point it’s safe to say hip-hop will never see anything more than random collaborations between the two lyrical titans. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, and maybe as intelligent as these two are they knew their combined talents would not mesh for an entire album. We needed and still need more from these two, but since it may never happen, we must just enjoy the few records they’ve given us.
Those are the albums that I would have loved to see. Luckily I was able to get a Royce Da 5’9 and Eminem album in my lifetime and for that I’m grateful. I’m not holding my breath for any of the duo’s above (not counting Pun because that’s an impossibility) but who knows. Maybe, just maybe hip-hop can get one of these albums in these rappers lifetimes. Fingers crossed.
By: Frantz Paul
