I was reading this interview with The Rza over at HipHopGame, and in it he talks about how he’s got this new group with Shavo, the bassist from System of a Down and a couple other folks. It’s called Achozen.
That got me thinking of all the weird pairings we’ve seen in music over the past few years. Like, what happened to Expensive Taste, with Paul Wall, Skinhead Rob and Travis Barker? Are Cee-Lo and Dangermouse doing another record as Gnarls Barkley?? Will Lupe, Pharrell and Kanye ever really get together as CRS and give emo rap fans the wet dream of an album they’ve been waiting for?
But I don’t want to rehash all the groups, because honestly there’s just too many to keep track of. Every day someone says they’re pairing with so and so for a best of both worlds type album.
What I want to do is suggest some odd couples that I think could really make some great music. Like, some collabos that are so bugged out that there is no possible way they could get in the studio and not come out with something interesting.
Dr. Dre and Asher Roth– Dre has been quiet as of late, and I’m not holding my breath on Marshall’s return. If Dre could define the sound of one misunderstood suburban whiteboy generation, how ill would it be if he defined another, ten years later? This would call for a totally new Dre sound, something so musically different that we (the listeners) wouldn’t even know it’s Dre until he starts doing interviews and whatnot (not like anyone reads credits anymore).
Rza and MIA– Rza tried to cash in on the world market years ago, back when he put out The World According to Rza, with a whole bunch of foreign rappers. MIA rhymes over a whole bunch of weird digi beats already, and perhaps Bobby’s unique brand of electro tracks will mesh better with her accented pseudo-rhymes than they do with angry new york rapper spit. Supposedly they’re on this N.A.S.A. album, but not on the same song. Damn.
Kanye and Coldplay– To hell with one song, the new king of emo rap and the current kings of emo rock need to just lock in and do a whole project together. Apparently, nobody wants to hear Kanye sing. Chris Martin, different story. A lot of Coldplay instrumentation and arrangements make for good hip-hop tracks anyway, they’re just missing the boom bap (see: “Viva La Hova“). This could be cool, because it would the current musical version of Kanye without the weakest link…. Kanye!
Ron Browz, T-Pain and Akon– My thinking is that these three should form a digital doo wop group, completely auto-tuned. They’ll call themselves, The Autotuners. They’ll remake “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” like any current R&B start would, call it “Why Do Hoes Fall In Love,” just so today’s generation can “get” it, and make millions in iTunes.
Just Blaze and Rihanna– if TI’s “Live Your Life” is any indication, Just Blaze, when he actually produces, is still a remarkable talent behind the boards. Rihanna has embodied the pre-fab punk rocker persona since “Umbrella” dropped, but her music is still all bubble gum pop. She needs to link with Just for some harder tracks, then he can bring in his orchestra buddies from that Nike “2nd coming” commercial to do the arrangements.
Diddy and Prince– Puff broke out of a Bad Boy cold streak that last for years once he jacked Prince’s “Erotic City” for “Last Night” from Press Play. Although I would argue that Puff has very little musical talent at all, to me he’s always seemed like a little rap version of Prince mixed with MC Hammer (Shiny suits? check. Baggy pants? No.) And he sure does know how to put a hit together. He also knows how to supply the accompanying marketing aka “circus” that an artist needs to become a mainstream staple.
Mark Ronson and Mary J Blige– “Just Fine” was some ol’ “play this on Sunday” after church shit. I think if you’re going that route, if can be done better. Mark is the new school champ of blue eyed soul, and since it’s more likely that Amy Winehouse will overdose before she makes another album, he might as well just give her material to Mary, who’s got more than enough substance abuse experiences to sing about just the same. Would it sound as good as this? Hope so.
What other crazy odd couples should pair up and make some records?
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January 13th, 2009
at 1:57 pm
Matt Herbz says:
Premier and Aguilera was pretty weird.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:25 pm
Phil says:
But it worked. All the way to a Grammy in Preem’s hands.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:30 pm
Gullee Boy says:
We started this movement Jan. 3rd
THIS MOVEMENT IS CALLED,,,30 DAY HEATWAVE…. EVERYDAY FOR 30 DAYS WE WILL BE GIVING YOU A NEW FREESTYLE
THIS MUSIC PLAYER WILL BE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF MY MYSPACE PAGE
CHECK IT DAILY HOMIE
http://www.Myspace.com/GulleeBoy
30 DAY HEATWAVE
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:05 pm
bol says:
little know fact:
paul cantor works for asher roth’s management team
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:10 pm
macdatruest says:
Dre lookin like a gay ass MLK. Nigga stop smilin’ and drop Detox
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:38 pm
Jaesen K. says:
HAHA COSIGN
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:19 pm
Hold Tight The UK Garage And Grime... UK I Rep Thats Me When I Rhyme! says:
Not so strange as such… but i just wanna see Joe Budden on some Eminem beats. Joey is the realest rapper out there when i comes to expressing feelings, and the best ever songs with feelings have come from Eminem with Eminem beats. Joey killed the Sing For The Moment beat when he rapped over it. Surely it would be a great collabo?
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:32 pm
General says:
After listenin to “MVP” off Luda’s new CD, I would love to hear a whole Luda CD done by Preimer.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:47 pm
yoprince says:
that would be the most boring album ever made.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:26 pm
Phil says:
But not nearly as boring as Luda’s new album is now, so what’s your point.
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Reply here
January 13th, 2009
at 2:53 pm
Lowedwn says:
co-sign that one all-day!!!
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:34 pm
DV8 says:
Diddy and Prince wouldnt get past contract negotiations and Diddy’s talent is reciting others talent and Prince is not gonna let Diddy ruin one of his songs nor take any advice from Diddy so we can pretty much null and void that idea.
Hey Matt Herbz….I thought it (Aguilera/Premo) was pretty decent considering it was a pop album. Im just glad he did it with someone with talent as opposed to the likes of Brittney or somebody like that.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:44 pm
jackpot says:
I’m thinking Nas, Just Blaze and Kanye need to do an entire project together. But that’s not very odd. It’s just something that makes sense.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:08 pm
El Tico Loco says:
Andre 3k and Common would be tight with production by Jay Electronica.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:35 pm
'iliveonce says:
let me guess the song might be about the lovely Erica BADU.. lt me guess again..fight in vocal booth Erica’s ass has everyone hypnotized.
yea
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Reply here
January 13th, 2009
at 2:49 pm
yoprince says:
all i know is nas and polow da don need to get back in the studio again
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:29 pm
Phil says:
Um. Hell no. And do what? Another shit single like “Hero”? Nas can save that paper for Black Milk, Moss, Alchemist, Large Pro, 9th…anyone but that meathead polow.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:53 pm
doesntmatterbut says:
You’re misguided as to what the “emo” genre really is…Coldplay is far from anything considered “emo” by people who listen to predominately rock music.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 2:54 pm
Pana says:
Nelly and anybody..god knows he needs it.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:23 pm
Mutada al sader the king says:
Dude is Asher related to someone at the magazine ? I mean is he giving blowjobs in the hall way after work ? Why he gets mentioned on this site, day after day is beyond me. He’s a fucking clone !!
Rza and MIA would be dope. It would have to be old school, 36 chambers, 1st ODB album RZA though. Dust blunts and all.
Just Blaze did “live ya life” ? Well I’ll be..Nice
But MIA is trash. I can hardly stomach her single let alone a whole record.
Co sign macdatruest 1000%
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:53 pm
bol says:
it’s because Paul Cantor works for Asher’s management company
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 11:13 am
BGZ says:
Wurd on the old dusted RZA shit (not the Tarantino-Fruchiante-guitar RZA); he did some spaced-out things back in the day.
Also, bring back ODB (the OverDosed Bastard); Hiphop died with that man.
I personally always liked the pairing of Neptunes-beats and lyrically-endowned coke-talk; I also remember liking the Clipse over some dancehall riddims - better than your Lil Wayne shit (who, for the record, should go back to Mannie Fresh beats, The Carter 1 was a record I actually enjoyed).
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:30 pm
Jhon da Analyst says:
Jeru ft. 9th Wonder - “The Prophet and the Chosen”
Royce da 5′9 ft. Pete Rock - “Death and the Soul Brother”
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:55 pm
Simple like ABC, 123 says:
Ron Browz, T-Pain and Akon: The Autotuners
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That’s a nightmare!!!
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:55 pm
$ykotic says:
I got 2.
Fergie & Swizz- “Kill 2 Birds wit 1 Stone”(name says it all)
John Legend/Musiq Soulchild/Robin Thicke- “Choirboys”
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:58 pm
miles archer says:
“Dude is Asher related to someone at the magazine ? I mean is he giving blowjobs in the hall way after work ? Why he gets mentioned on this site, day after day is beyond me. He’s a fucking clone !” ——yo, co-sign that all day.
Joe Budden needs to do whatever he can to get Just Blaze to do his whole album.
I always wanted to hear RZA with Portishead, but like homie said, RZA fifteen years ago…
I’ma go way out there and say Hi-Tek with Sade… I think that would be bananas.
Myspace.com/fastlifearchitects
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 3:59 pm
Jhon da Analyst says:
Masta Ace ft. Premier - “Jeep Ass Nigga Obama Shit ‘09″….Awww Man, with the boom-bap!! These are complete album collabos I’m talkin’.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:17 pm
geico lizard says:
“Skinhead Rob”? Somebody thought they could sell rap records with a nickname like skinhead?
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:27 pm
REAL TALK 09 says:
Man..NELLY AND TIM McGraw…..”Over And Over”..i think dat was da begining of da end fo my dude,..he crossed too far over..LOL…oh well,he did get Ashanti aka dat GOOD GOOD…
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:28 pm
Combat Jack says:
http://combatjackwithtodaysmathematics.blogspot.com/
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:30 pm
REAL TALK 09 says:
KANYE AND LIL’ WAYNE should doi an entire CD 2gether….”Barry Bonds” was FIRE!..and…”See U In My NightMares” is my fave song right now off of “808z And HeartBreak”…
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 11:38 am
og bobby j says:
change your name…that might be the furthest from “real” that i’ve ever read.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 4:54 pm
Stu says:
Odd couple sometimes work really well.
Ja Rule & Mary J
Jay-Z & Linkin Park
etc etc
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 5:18 pm
UARK83 says:
How bout Rage Against the Machine and Wu-Tang….we could call them Raging Tang! Or Rage and Keith Murray.
Co-Sign Black Milk…dude has skills and young as hell.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 6:06 pm
amar says:
dre and asher roth has been done…i’d like to see dre and something different. He did the west coast thing, he did the white boy thing, he did the east coast thing…i’d like to see dre and a southern rapper…dre and ludacris…now that would be both odd AND fresh
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 6:18 pm
Mr. 306 says:
jeeerrrrrzeeeeyyyyy. where you at?
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 6:31 pm
Jon Dog says:
A whole Scarface album produced by Dre would be nice. Or a Tech N9ne Album produced by Eminem. Luda & Dre would be cool to hear.
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 10:29 am
opm509 says:
the scarface joint would be tight but Ive honestly thought about the tech and em joint
and I think tech would jus eclispe any em beat dont know if I jus aint beem lokkin hard enough but em jus isnt that good of a producer
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 6:33 pm
Mark_Man says:
RedMan, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris
all crazy as hell, they should get together and drop some heat
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 6:54 pm
SP says:
Add Eminem.
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 7:00 pm
Combat Jack says:
revised url:
http://dailymathematics.blogspot.com/
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 7:33 pm
Simple like ABC, 123 says:
Ghostface & MF Doom
Reply
January 13th, 2009
at 8:18 pm
Julio says:
heard that their during an album called swift & changeable, they got a song called angeles on it
check wikipedia
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 7:41 am
Simple like ABC, 123 says:
Yeah, “Angeles” is the shit, one of the best hip-hop song of 2006.
I can’t wait more for that album. They need to drop that thing.
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Reply here
January 14th, 2009
at 1:16 am
Clever says:
Dre,…. up there looking like a Bean Popping Space Monkey. He ain’t gon ever drop Detox, Jimmy lovine, Smacked his ass, and told him Em first Nica! Dre pushed his shit back like a bitch and, said yes boss! what ever you say Boss! With all that demand, he could have pushed it Independent or, is the rumors true, alot of the producers he been jurking took they shit and ran with it. Dre is one of the biggest lier’s in the History of Hip-Hop and, Em knows it. That’s why he looks wide eyed on Camera, still in Shock or high one. Plus everybody knows Em’s their Cash Cow.
Reply
January 16th, 2009
at 9:55 pm
Pana says:
Bean Popping space monkey? wtf? ROFLMAO!!!
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 1:44 am
jojo says:
I think it would be an insult to Prince if he were to be paired up with Diddy when he could be paired up with Andre 3000…
By the way, I heard D’Angelo is coming back, I’d love to hear Red and Meth on the next album again…
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 8:04 am
Simple like ABC, 123 says:
Another “odd couple”:
Ghostface & Mark Ronson
Bun-B & Dj Premier
Jay-Z & Rick Rubin
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 8:53 am
bucsormore says:
thats some ass combos it should be a bun and ball and g album or a fab and jay or jeezy and zoe fuck dre and who ever lazy ass nigga and phil u a hater dude 9th wonder alchemist or large proffeser over pollow the only thing they goy over him is a longer track record hero beat was raw ass fuck not to menchon promise,get buck,love in da club,let go get this paper, shit ever beat i heard from pollow the fergie shit he way better than them but i guess thats y he got hits out here and they lookin at they cell phone wishing they get a job that was outrageous they nobodys to pollow 9th wonder lol
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 10:39 am
Pierzy says:
Can XXL get off Asher Roth’s nuts please?
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 1:38 pm
Al says:
Gooch, I agree with you more often than not, but this post is full of head-scratchers. Coldplay is emo? “Just Fine” was an Amy Winehouse-type record? Plus half your established examples are just garden variety “omg white rock musician works with black rapper” mock-surprise bullshit. Even your plausible suggestions aren’t good ones. Shoulda kept this post in the drafts folder.
Reply
January 14th, 2009
at 2:19 pm
Jason Knight says:
Me and UnReal
Reply