Music I Dream of Hearing!
I was on HHDX this week, and a writer there had an article breaking down a bit of Mainstream Hip-Hop’s love affair with the underground. And then I got to thinking, and then I got to drinking, and then I got to crying, now my self esteem is sinking. But anyway, What would be some collabs I’d pay top dollar to hear? I’m listing a few and Why!
#1 Kanye West and MF DOOM
Imagine this. Two of the heaviest samplers around, and my top two producers on the mic, on just one track, let alone an album! Kanye has a penchant for witty, sometimes intentionally corny, but self assured charismatic lines and songs, While Metalface is known for his ramble-esque, stream of conscious, obscurely referenced no-two-joints-are-ever-alike style. Splitting productin down the middle, or, hell, even co-producing every track (it could only be 12 tracks, no more, no less) Would almost certainly make for an album one part raw, one part flashy, eleventy billion parts Classic Hip-Hop.
#2 Ice Cube and Immortal Technique.
Listen, say what you want about IT. He’s been hyped up a bit recently, and, truth be told, though I own his whole catalogue, he’s no groundbreaking emcee. But he stays on some knowledge, and even on his funny (by his standards, that is) songs, he finds a way to weave some “You need to know such and such happened” lines in every verse. Cube is the father of said style, and the mainstream gangster rap we love and hate today. Truth be told, though he did some good (Three Kings) and wack (Friday After Next) movies, O’Shea never fell off on the mic, he just picked terrible beats and switched up his subject matter for like, three albums. But the beats are back, and he’s back on his Sox Cap grind it seems as of late. My faith was totally renewed in Cubie when I heard him on the Bad Day Worst Day Remix with Killer Mike (He comes later!) and Raw Footage was a solid, damn near classic Ice Cube outing. They would have to switch up production, because it would almost certainly get boring, but if they could throw two or three non-cliche’ hype tracks, I’d bump it til the nursing home.
#3 GZA and Lupe Fiasco
Lupe is a Beast. GZA is The Genius. They’re amazing storytellers, though in totally different ways, they never come weak. The weakest verse I’ve ever heard from Lu was Kick, Push. That song makes me want to find my old board and hit up Brigham and Women’s Hospital grounds just for old time’s sake every time I hear it. Pro Tools was classic GZA, packed full of songs, full of oddball, confident, left of center rhymes, and some scathing reminders of the God Zig-Zag-Zig Allah’s lyrical prowess. He’s got butter for the popcorn, dip for the chips, an ego for your trip, some scripts for you to flip. Lupe? Well, when he’s not lamping in some fly ish, he’s crashing the greatest of all time party at an amazing clip. Two albums. You know who else cemented their place in Hip-Hop lore with two albums? Chris Wallace, that’s who. The beats would be on point, they both have decent ears for tracks, and with a couple Lu written hooks (GZA’s can be deflating at times) and maybe a Matt Santos lookout, they’d be looking at more accolades than sammiches for fat women.
#4 Jay-Z and RAGU.
This would never happen. Rae and Ghost don’t like anybody, and Rae was a vocal critic of Jay’s return a few years back. But still, no one does crime and grime better than Rae And Ghost Unite. Jay, however, came close with his reasonable doubt outing (That came out when I was 6, damn!) While Jay’s was more of a flashy, mafioso don feel, Iron Man & Only Built 4 Cuban Linx were just the opposite: street level dirt from a ghetto head’s perspective, with some good ole Staten Isle 5 percenter flavor thrown into everything. Jay and Ghost are my two favorite emcees ever, with Rae not too far down the list, so to hear them each get a verse and play off of one another? I’d lock myself in my room and play it til my iPod exploded. This will never happen. But, please, I hope it does.
#5 Bun B and Q-Tip
RIP Pimp C. Bun is, in my book, level with Face for King of the South Honors. And Kamal? Sans him, Phife and Ali Shaheed, there is no KanYe, Lupe, Wale, etc. They’re almost polar opposites. Bernard came up as the king of the hubber trade, Q came up with his Sky Pager. But now the two are elder statesmen of this whole ish, yet they’re still just as nice on the mic. Gettin’ Up was my summer anthem, and Bun’s last two albums along with UGK’s are still getting spin. They can reach out all over for fresh beats and features, I’ve never seen either in a wack video, and Weezy has love for Bun, so need be, he could jump on a hook for a commercial single. It would be interesting, and amazing to say the least. Though the least expected, this would be, outside of Ye, the most commercially succesful album of the 5 I listed. Imagine Qtip over a DJ Toomp or Polow Da Don Beat, Or Bun B over Madlib?! Heat, guranteed heat.
