It’s true, sometimes two can be better than one. As artists are stepping out of their comfort zone now more than ever, we are experiencing some of the most extraordinary music to hit the surface. As catalysts for the art, when a musical connection is sprouted, artists seem to capitalize on that and continue to feed us with sounds. Noting a few groups who do this the most like Chance & Noname, Drake and Isaiah Rashad & SZA, Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Future & The Weeknd, the heat they come with is temperature wise unmatched. Let’s take this ride a little farther.
Chance & Noname
Who’s holding the rap scene down more than Chicago right now? Exactly. Chance the Rapper has been the general for this new Chicago army that has been suited up since Acid Rap dropped in 2013 and the SAVEMONEY crew exploited their extraordinary talents. Now the drill is booming too, don’t get me wrong but looking at both sides, my eyes have always been drawn to the inside crowd being Chance, Vic, and Noname rather than the outside being, Chief, G Herbo, or Bibby. So all in all, after a damn near flawless tape in Acid Rap, we all heard this poetic sensei named Noname Gypsy add her flavor to the Kool-Aid on a track called “Lost”. Y’all know how hip-hop does, they build this armor of female rappers being sexy and aggressive but Noname, prevails past all of that and has never shied away to become a product of the industry. Knowing the two were extremely talented friends, a few years later they dropped “Israel Sparring” and man, I must let this one speak for itself; just click the link. I think these two won because they’re the only duo that made us thirsty, longing to hear more than being satisfied with what we just heard. We then heard fluid cohesion in “Warm Enough” on Chance’s Surf and “Finish line” on Coloring Book but in reality, they don’t have a high number of songs together. But I will take that. It’s like a super moon; it doesn’t come around often but when it does, the world stops in amazement.
Isaiah Rashad & SZA
T.D.E. or die. Let’s get this out right now; T.D.E. is the best label in hip-hop right now. That man Top Dawg built an all-star team, shouts to him. With Kendrick, Ab, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy collaborating for Black Hippy, that left the two newest signees Isaiah Rashad and SZA to create music together, thank god. These two come on a track with soul that’s deeper than the lyrics coming off of a vinyl on an old school record player. We first heard the two collaborate on Isaiah’s Clivia Demo on “Ronnie Drake”. Ignoring this evolution of hip-hop, SZA and Isaiah bring that raw neo-soul as Isaiah spits that spoken word and SZA preaches the sermon in the chorus. They then connected for ‘West Savannah” a track that tailors to the non-sober mind. When SZA dropped Z in April, they got together for a track called “Warm Winds” which was a straight tidal wave in terms of disrupting the scene. Their music in peerless, unable to be matched. The feelings provided are so raw that they usually only come with death and heartbreak, on some real shit. This past year, on Isaiah’s debut album The Sun’s Tirade they did it to us again with “Stuck in the Mud”, a boom box track that feels just like hip-hop in the early 90s. My boy Josh said it best, the insomnia people have on this duo is insane because their music, is magic.
Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR
Back in the early 2010s, rising Canadian star Drake was living off of the hype behind his infamous mixtapes Come Back Season and So Far Gone, making his mark on the industry as a rookie to look out for in the game. Collaborating with another Canadian native, The Weeknd, they built a cohesive unit called OVOXO and I swear to you, these guys were untouchable. After some mishaps and changed directions, the two took a break from one another but a few years, Drake brought up another R&B singer to assist on his kill streak; PARTYNEXTDOOR. On PND’s debut mixtape, the two connected for “Over Here”. As we were suggestively introduced to Party as an artist, when we the way he vibed drake it added more light to what was fluorescently present. Then they did it to us when “Recognize” dropped on PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO. If that track didn’t soothe your heart, you must not have one. Recognizing, no pun intended, that these two make that feel good, we expected them to collaborate at least once whenever Drake or Party dropped a project. They then gave us “Preach” on If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, “With You” on Views, and “Come and See Me” on P3. The thing that prevails these Drake and PND collaborations is the fact that they don’t really blend. More so, they both come on a track steering in a different lane but in the end, they always reach the same destination; that place of serenity and tranquility.
The Weeknd & Future
Lastly, let’s talk about The Weeknd and Future. Future’s game has been elevated for some time now but he still resurged over the past year or two. Likewise, The Weeknd started killing features everywhere and took his talents global. In the scheme of EVOLand Beauty Behind The Madness, on Christmas Day in 2016 The Weeknd uploaded the collaborative “Low Life” onto his Soundcloud; that fire hit. With a rather new sounding pop flavor at that time, The Weeknd was losing a few of us older fans. His music was becoming a lot more radio and a lot less mixtape, which was not at all him as well. He had some signs that he hadn’t lost himself but the biggest was in the features he had been killing all year; “Low Life” was certainly one. And then Future, my man Future… He was dropping left and right, captilizing on the hype but still did too much; he came back with the heat on this one though. So like many other artists, we saw The Weeknd collaborate with the unexpected but what shocked me as a writer was the lasting connection. This past year, in the fourth quarter of 2016, The Weeknd dropped Starboy in which Future was featured twice. From “All I Know” to “Six Feet Under”, their impact was duo was so strong that I kept thinking Future was on more songs, thinking about their sound. It’s no doubt that they will continue to make music in the feature and we know one thing, it has and will be fire.
By K. High