Welcome back to Duets Week on theFiver.
Every once in a while, your nice pop and/or thrash-core artist will be visited upon that spritely ne’er-do-well, the rap artist. What’s a Dido or late John Lennon to do? I say, embrace the rap artist. Bring him some mead and balm for his tired feet, for he has tread from the far reaches of Compton or the Bronx to bring the noise. In that spirit of cooperation, please bear witness to:
Top 5 Duets: The Hip Hop Invasion
1. “Stan,” Emimen and Dido
You’ve got Emimen in my Brit-pop singer-songwriter! You’ve got Dido in my Detroit crossover rap artists! Two great tastes that taste great together, when Emimen recorded “Stan,” he sampled heavily from Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong’s “Thank You,” taking a sweet ballad and turning it on its ear. “Stan” is at once funny, chilling, filled with rage, and a warning over excessive music fanaticism.
2. “Bring The Noise,” Public Enemy and Anthrax
Remember when you didn’t hate VH1 gadflies Flava Flav or Scott Ian?
3. “Walk This Way,” Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith
Run-D.M.C.’s take on Aerosmith’s mullet-anthem “Walk This Way” helped bring rap to a mainstream audience and rejuvenated Aerosmith’s languishing career.
4. “Work It Out,” Jurassic 5 and Dave Matthews Band
5. “Encore” Jay Z and the Beatles
Not an official pairing in anyway, DJ Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album is perhaps hip-hops best worst-kept secret. Taking vocals from Jay Z’s “The Black Album” and the Beatles’ white album, Danger Mouse’s creation could arguably be more than the some of its parts.
Top 5 Duets: The Hip Hop Invasion
What would you pick for an encore?
