Hey I was thinking about this in light of some conversations about Jay-Z and Twista on One Song Only, but thought it diverged enough as a topic to be its own thread yknow.
Who are the rappers that make your face light up every time you see (featuring So-and-so) on the track list? I feel like there are some rappers out there who you may not want a full album of material from, but love to hear 16 bars from them. There are some rappers who do really great solo work, but maybe you think features are where they truly shine.
For me, a few spring to mind. Twista is one where I don’t really need a full album of Twista, but his parts on Cocoa Butter Kisses and Slow Jams make me excited every time.
I think Schoolboy Q has done fantastic solo work, but always seems to approach features as challenges and just does phenomenally every time. I think about Rockabye with Joey Badass, or any time he hangs around with the A$AP Mob.
Who comes to mind for you in this regard? Are there examples outside of rap that I’m just totally not considering?
2 Chainz is one of my favorite rappers going today, and every guest verse of his is such a delight. I’m not good at remembering song lyrics but I can recite practically all of his verse from Mercy from memory.
Conversely, every time I see Kanye as a feature on a song, especially recently, I am just filled with dread. I don’t think I’ve heard a Kanye guest verse in the past 5 years that hasn’t been atrocious.
This is easy for me. Andre 3000 on any of a number of songs from the past few years. Runner-ups are Mr. MFN Exxquire on Cancer 4 Cure or Jay Electronica on anything other than Control, since Kendrick clearly stole that show.
Danny Brown is good on literally every feature (and also every song, he’s just so good). Other than that, Heems, Open Mike Eagle are just good rappers, gangsta boo had a couple really good features with RTJ and Clipping and Busdriver’s flow is unconventional enough that he stands out on every track he appears on.
I mean, speaking of both Bun B and Andre 3K, can we stop to appreciate Intl. Players Anthem for being an all-time classic jam. Your post just inspired me to put it on now. There’s basically never a moment that’s not right for it.
ETA: Yes, Solo (Reprise) is immaculate. His Benz Friends verse is also immaculate. I’m not convinced that Andre 3000 isn’t the best rapper alive, at least based on his guest verses, and tbh I’m not even that big of a fan of his in general.
there is a full fucking album like this that is just sitting in DJ Shadow’s vault cuz Rocha doesnt want to release it and it makes me fucking furious
I suspect the album he did with El-P two years ago will face the same fate and…god damn dude knows how to pick a producer with whom to abandon a fucking album
I can’t help but think of Kendrick’s incredible run of features from 2011 to 2014. Obvs Control but also stealing the show on songs like Nosestalgia and Collard Greens. During those years it was almost guaranteed that a Kendrick’s feature meant a memorable verse.
feat. Pharrell normally means a verse and production which gives him an edge.
feat. Travis Scott means you are about to get very wavy and this song is also going to have great production for some reason.
feat. Bun B normally means you’re going to hear a great southern hip-hop cut.
feat. E-40 means you are either going to have some fun or learn about finance or both on this song and either way it’s going to be great.
feat. Mr Fantastik means you are listening to an MF DOOM album and you are going to want to find more from Mr. Fantastik and then get disappointed when you can’t find anything.
feat. Drake probably means you’re listening to an exciting up-and-coming artist’s hottest song. The downside is you need to listen to Drake on this version.
feat. Ludacris was once very exciting but now he seems like he will do a verse on literally anything.
I have been thinking about asking this same thing for ages and mine is absolutely Schoolboy Q. That dude has such an intense energy that overwhelms any track he shows up on. A guest verse from him is like a door being blown off its hinges.
