These collabs shook things up in more ways than one. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for 5 of the most revolutionary collabs in music — and 5 that should have stayed in the drafts.
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00:00Let me hear ya flow, sisters.
00:02Hey, sister go, sister soul, sister flow, sister...
00:06Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for five of the most revolutionary collabs in music,
00:12and five that should have stayed in the drafts.
00:14And it doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there.
00:22Shook the genre.
00:23Numb, Encore, Jay-Z, and Linkin Park.
00:26What the hell are you waiting for?
00:28After me, there should be no more.
00:30So for one last time, people make some noise.
00:33Rap-rock collabs can be risky business.
00:35While artists from both genres can potentially cross over to new audiences,
00:39they can also damage their credibility by selling out.
00:42Look no further than confusing combos such as Black Sabbath and Ice-T, or Weezer and Lil Wayne.
00:47Thankfully, Linkin Park and Jay-Z feel like a natural fit on Numb, Encore.
00:52Can I get an encore? Do you want more?
00:55Cookin' raw with the Brooklyn boys.
00:57One last time, I need y'all.
00:59Mashing up their existing hits on the EP Collision Course,
01:03the track lays Jay-Z's encore verse over the original Numb track,
01:07with Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington's vocals.
01:10Rather than coming off as forced, the song was instead a force to be reckoned with,
01:14winning the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rap-Song Collaboration.
01:18Because of love.
01:21Can I get an encore? Do you want more?
01:26Shaking our heads.
01:28Me, Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie.
01:31I never leave well enough alone
01:33And trouble's gonna follow where I go
01:36And there's a lot of cool chicks out there
01:38T-Swift usually knows how to kick off an era, but one of these things is not like the others.
01:43Me, the lead single from her Lover album, gave listeners whiplash with its juvenile sound.
01:48After Taylor went darker with Reputation, she returned with a song right out of The Wiggles.
01:52Spelling is fun
01:54Girl, there ain't no I in T
01:56But you know there is a me
01:59While fans might have been excited to see her work with Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie,
02:03he only added to Me's immature vibe.
02:06Together, Swift and Urie felt like two theater kids who were given too much creative control
02:10over the school play, and needed to be reined in.
02:12Ryan and Sharpay Evans, anyone?
02:15You're the only one of you
02:17Baby, that's the fun of you
02:19While we hope these two work together again in the future,
02:21next time has to be more age-appropriate.
02:24Shook the genre
02:25The boy is mine
02:27Brandy and Monica
02:28You might as well throw in the towel, because it's hard to imagine an R&B collab more iconic than this one.
02:34You need to give it up
02:36I haven't felt enough
02:39It's not hard to see
02:41While Brandy and Monica both have impressive solo careers,
02:44The Boy Is Mine was truly their time to shine.
02:46The supposed real-life rivals joined forces on the song,
02:49vocally dueling over an electric harp about a man they shared feelings for.
02:54They just be confused
02:56He belongs to me
02:58The boy is mine
03:01Both singers went all-in on the song's concept,
03:03assuming character and not even pretending to like each other.
03:06Even their 1998 VMA performance was filled with tension.
03:10The Boy Is Mine was clearly written before the women-supporting-women era,
03:14but it makes up for its message with a great story and some explosive enemy chemistry.
03:26Shaking our heads
03:27Him and I
03:28G-Eazy and Halsey
03:30From Sonny and Cher to Beyonce and Jay-Z,
03:32many of pop's power couples have made music magic.
03:35Unfortunately, G-Eazy and Halsey aren't among them.
03:38Cross my heart
03:40Hope to die
03:41To my lover
03:42I'd never lie
03:44The pair released Him and I,
03:45a song that made their year-long relationship seem more toxic than anything resembling couple goals.
03:50In addition to lyrics about fighting and bonding over substance use,
03:54the track positioned them as the 2017 Bonnie and Clyde.
03:57Yes, that's an actual line.
03:59They don't wanna see us make it, they just wanna divide
04:022017 Bonnie and Clyde
04:04In their defense, while this lyric instantly aged the song,
04:07it also came true in a way.
04:09Halsey and G-Eazy split in 2018,
04:11making Him and I a perfectly cringey time capsule for the previous year.
04:16Yes, I'll be true
04:17I swear I'll try
04:19In the end
04:20It's him and I
04:21Shook the genre
04:22Scream
04:23Michael Jackson
04:24and Janet Jackson
04:25These siblings are known for their soft, smooth, whispery voices,
04:28but they finally snapped here.
04:30Can't believe what I saw as I turned on the TV
04:33This evening
04:34I was disgusted
04:35I'll do you justice
04:36I'll do you justice
04:37I'll do you justice
04:38In the mid-90s, Michael Jackson enlisted his sister Janet
04:41to hit back at the media that had been hounding him for a decade
04:44for everything from tabloid tall tales to serious allegations.
04:48The result was Scream, an angry response that blended dance pop, R&B, funk, rock,
04:53and even had some sci-fi elements.
04:56You playin' the game
04:58I can take it much longer
05:00I think I might go insane
05:02Aside from the song's innovative sound
05:04and famously expensive music video,
05:06Scream was a show of familial support during a rough personal period for MJ.
05:11While the media didn't lay off him by any means,
05:13we at least got this cathartic collab from pop's biggest brother and sister.
05:25Shaking Our Heads
05:26Secret Love Song
05:27Little Mix featuring Jason Derulo
05:29What happens when you record a tragically beautiful, poignant song about star-crossed love
05:33and then add Jason Derulo to the recipe?
05:36Unfortunately, Little Mix's experiment yielded disastrous results.
05:46While Secret Love Song was written about same-sex couples
05:49who can't be together because of homophobia,
05:51Derulo's verse instead describes an affair.
05:54But that's not all.
05:55Besides adding a grimy meaning to the heartfelt track,
05:58his vocals are hammier and cheesier than a bodega breakfast sandwich.
06:08Thankfully, Little Mix also released the more understated, featureless,
06:12Secret Love Song Part 2.
06:14Despite being a sweeping romantic power ballad,
06:16this song should have had the group riding solo from the very beginning.
06:26Shook the Genre
06:27Under Pressure
06:28Queen and David Bowie
06:29Diamonds are created under pressure,
06:31and that certainly holds true for Queen and David Bowie's team-up.
06:35Opening with one of the most recognizable bass lines and piano riffs in modern history,
06:39Under Pressure doesn't let a second go to waste in its four-minute runtime.
06:49Both Bowie and Freddie Mercury have their own signature styles,
06:52and you'd be forgiven for thinking them too flamboyant to share the spotlight.
06:56Fortunately, the song marries their strengths perfectly,
06:59without either artist overshadowing or upstaging the other's presence.
07:11Like the best collabs and duets, it feels like a team effort rather than a competition.
07:16No matter what Vanilla Ice might have done to the hook later on,
07:19the original Under Pressure is a bittersweet triumph of two legendary acts.
07:27Under Pressure
07:30Shaking Our Heads
07:31Dancing in the Street
07:32David Bowie and Mick Jagger
07:34Bringing together two of classic rock's most beloved figures seems like a no-brainer for a great song.
07:40However, David Bowie and Mick Jagger's mid-'80s collab was a literal rock-bottom moment for the genre.
07:46Dancing in the Street
07:52On their campy cover of Martha and the Vandellas' Dancing in the Street,
07:56the pair decided to progressively belt the whole song.
07:58The music video takes things to the next level,
08:00with Bowie and Jagger dancing like toddlers on a sugar rush in colorful, oversized outfits.
08:05It's an invitation across the nation, just for folks to meet.
08:12On a positive note, they had great chemistry, but some people thought it was too much.
08:17The awkwardness was only accentuated in the mid-2010s,
08:20when an ASMR-style version of the video went viral.
08:23Whatever street these two are dancing on, we'll gladly take a detour.
08:27Shook the Genre
08:33No More Tears, Enough Is Enough
08:35Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
08:37No More Tears, Enough Is Enough
08:42Nearly two decades before the inaugural VH1 Divas special,
08:46these two powerhouses blazed trails for a disco decathlon.
08:49On No More Tears, Enough Is Enough, Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer answered the question,
08:54what would a girl power version of Bohemian Rhapsody sound like?
08:58No More Tears, Enough Is Enough
09:05The dramatic, nearly 12-minute track could almost be a suite, comprising several sections.
09:11Beginning with a deceiving slow piano intro,
09:13both singers abruptly launch into a high-energy disco breakdown around the two-minute mark.
09:18Summer and Streisand's collab became the first duet by two female artists
09:23to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, paving the way for more in the years to come.
09:28Enough
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09:50Shaking Our Heads, Birthday Cake
09:53Rihanna featuring Chris Brown
09:55Birthday Cakes
10:00Birthday cakes are a sweet, fluffy, wish-making opportunity
10:04and a way to feel surrounded by the warmth and support of your singing loved ones.
10:08And while Rihanna isn't talking about literal birthday cake here,
10:11Chris Brown is still the last person who should have been invited.
10:14Birthday Cake
10:22Three years prior to the Birthday Cake remix,
10:24Brown notoriously pleaded guilty to felony assault after an altercation with Rihanna.
10:28Although her feelings towards Brown might be complex,
10:31and she shouldn't be judged for working with him,
10:33the song still feels wrong to listen to.
10:35Not to mention the line,
10:36"'Sweeter than a rice cake' is potentially a dig at Brown's then-girlfriend,
10:40Karrueche Tran, who has Vietnamese heritage.
10:43Overall, there are much better ways to ring in another year.
10:46Birthday Cake
10:50Living or Dead, what's your dream music collab?
10:52Let us know in the comments.
11:20Here's what's next!