There exists in popular music a grand tradition of two (or more) acts teaming up to create a fantastic hit. True, most of these team ups are pretty terrible (Islands in the Stream, Dancing in the Street), but there have also been a couple of great dual efforts in the past like "Smooth" (Santana and Rob Thomas) and the Bowie/Queen version of Under Pressure. Rap artists can never seem to go a whole album without getting a couple of guest artists on to shoot some rimes.
So, without further ado, here is a list of team-ups I'd like to see (hear?); this list is not exhaustive, just a few off the top of my head...
Public Enemy and Lupe Fiasco
Public Enemy, the original social activist Rap group and Lupe Fiasco, the Muslim-American social activist rapper. I imagine that the two would come up with something a bit like an American version of "Thou Shalt Always Kill", a rapid-fire tirade on all the things wrong with contemporary American culture and the oppression of minorities.
Andrew W.K. and Lady Gaga
Confused? Both Andrew and Gaga have one major theme in common, the promotion of self-esteem. Andrew (I can call you Andrew right?) focuses on partying as a method of self-expression, party how you want and fuck anyone who tells you not to enjoy yourself. Gaga tells her "Monsters" to love themselves and live their lives how they see fit. If these two could get together (musically, Andrew is happily married), the result would be the greatest party song ever created. The only problem I can foresee is the blending of styles, Andrew does Power Metal and Gaga makes 80s pop. I think maybe they could meet in the middle with 80s Hair Metal? Given Andrew's fantastic work on "Gundam Rock", I think it could work.
Devo and Weezer
The two greatest Nerd Bands of their respective generations unite! Not much to really explain with this one, I'm thinking a combination of "Girl U Want" (Devo) and "Buddy Holly" (Weezer). Both bands have a big pop appeal but still maintain that subversive edge that really makes them worthwhile acts. While I'm dreaming, I may throw They Might Be Giants into this mix...
Henry Rollins and Iggy Pop
Iggy and Rollins have had this kind of fake "rivalry" going on for decades now, often going back to back at festivals to compete with one another. It's about time they got together and did an album like Kanye and Jay Z, before they get too over the hill. Besides, Punk Rock really needs a kick in the rear to get going again and Rollins and Iggy could do that without breaking a sweat.
That's it for now, see you next time.
Hat Guy - The world's forgotten boy.
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