Hip hop has always been about collaboration and borrowing from a wide range of genres and styles. The first hip-hop tracks borrowed from funk artists like Chic and Run D.M.C made history by collaborating with Aerosmith. Alas, not every blending of genre will work. Here are the worst hip hop collaborations from the history of the genre.
Brad Paisley and LL Cool J
Perhaps the best known of the terrible collaborations, in 2013 country music star teamed up with LL Cool J to pen “Accidental Racist”. The song attempts to reappropriate the confederate flag as a form of pride for southerners. While the duo were hoping to write a song that would tear down the walls of racism and bring America together, the effect was entirely the opposite.
With LL dropping lines like “If you don’t judge my do-rag, I won’t judge your red flag” and “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forget the iron chains” it seems that he is coaxing Americans to forget about one of the most treacherous periods of American history. Aside from all of that the song itself is terrible.
B.o.B and Rivers Cuomo
Don’t get me wrong, I love Weezer but including the “nerd rock” front man to a hip hop track is the worst idea I have ever heard. When B.o.B. first burst onto the scene I had high hopes from his mixtape “May 25th” but his debut The Adventures of Bobby Ray was incredibly disappointing and including this track that seems like it should be on a remake of The Parent Trap. B.o.B’s flow focuses more on quick word play which is pretty obnoxious.
MOP and LFO
Nothing screams gangster like a bleached tips and choreography. In 2001 MOP decided to jump on the boy band craze by agreeing to collaborate with squeaky clean boy band LFO on this song about how life can be hard. MOP’s verse comes in around 2:10. Blegh.
