It seems like every artist these days is having a rapper guest featuring on a single! :blink: Sometimes it works well (Flo Rida on 'Higher', Kayne on 'E.T') but other times it's just out of place and pointless (Astro and Mike Posner on Cher Lloyd's tracks). It seems the common thing to do these days but I can't remember the charts always being like this? When did it get so popular?

Rap has become part of pop culture since the late 80s with public enemy and nwa but they have become even more mainstream since the late 90s when aerosmith dueted with then popular rappers.its only been the past 5 years that rap and dance has merged!!

Since the late 1980's. And you'd be surprised how many '90s tracks had rappers on them - most notably by Mariah Carey.

suppose mariah was the 90s rihanna!

Since the late 1980's. And you'd be surprised how many '90s tracks had rappers on them - most notably by Mariah Carey.

 

And by Michael Jackson. Black or White must be one of the most famous "rap interludes"!

 

Mariah Carey used to add rappers to all her singles, and then they'd always go to #1 in the Hot 100 apparently. Sound familiar? :lol:

I'm wondering whether I should even dare getting involved in this thread, given my past history... :lol:

 

There were certainly rap songs around in the early 80's, but fortunately they weren't of the 'gangsta' variety (which is why I didn't mind them much), but I don't remember any collaborations until much much later.

Since the late 1980's. And you'd be surprised how many '90s tracks had rappers on them - most notably by Mariah Carey.

That's where her career went downhill.

Jlo was using rent-a-rapper back in the day as well.

Jlo was using rent-a-rapper back in the day as well.

 

She also got most of her US #1s due to rap remixes apparently.

Most early 90s dance hits had token rappers on them, Rhythm is a Dancer, No Limit, Mr Vain...

She also got most of her US #1s due to rap remixes apparently.

 

i loved the ja rule mix of aint it funny!

This thread is not complete without mention of the groundbreaking work that underground band Erasure did with MC Kinky on their sinuous and menacing cover of obscure Swedish band ABBA's song Take a Chance on Me.

 

The madness starts at 2:31

 

 

Lyrically sharp and frankly controversial content included open references to phones and boats. In 1992!!! :o

 

 

Coming in!

If you like what you’re seeing take a chance with me

You won’t be grabbed if you’re feeling horny

Well you’re perfect so you got to know this precious property

I know the lads so cold musically

Nobody sits, understand me clearly

However hard you try you could-a never hold me

We all fix nice it up and just move freely

Special K - what he says so listen carefully

Me not sit all alone and just wait for the phone

Not call me up cause me never never home

Ya machine on cause we get a wrong one

Matthew Mark, mister Paul, mister Luke and John

If we like what we see we chance a situation

Nothing don’t pay nothing maybe see what follow on

What a jill may do if the right man come

Hey ride the boat now we just have a little fun

Go now!

Most early 90s dance hits had token rappers on them, Rhythm is a Dancer, No Limit, Mr Vain...

Yes, the early 90s had a load of groups who mixed elements of pop with rap, though generally the rapper was part of the group, (2 Unlimited, Culture Beat, Cappella, Maxx to name a few).

 

It was probably after this point that solo artists, such as Mariah and J Lo thought it would help them, so recruited more 'serious' rappers. This allowed them to use whoever they wanted to feature on their songs, while still able to revert to solo stuff if they pleased. Nowadays of course, it's just common practice to rope in a rapper. :D

when Missy Elliott , Jay-Z & Ja Rule started that trend.... at one point mist of the songs on the charts had either one of these 3 rappers included otherwise it wouldn't get into the chart.....

just like Pitbull & Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj these days....

Surely the trendsetter was none other than Mr John Barnes :lol:

 

You could argue that although Aerosmith's/'Run-D.M.C.' wasn't necessarily the first rap-rock/pop collaboration, it was definitely one of the most significant ones.

Surely the trendsetter was none other than Mr John Barnes :lol:

 

Just when I thought rap couldn't get any worse... :lol:

You can't pinpoint it to one exact time or particular song as it's not a musical trend or anything - it's just a sign that urban music is essentially fully a part of popular culture now that something that was exclusive to the genre at one point has seeped through to the entire music industry in general.

 

R&B and hip-hop had already been merging together since the new jack swing era of the late 1980s and early 1990s (somebody already mentioned Michael Jackson - Dangerous was entirely new jack swing apart from a few songs, so it's not surprising it had rapping on it), therefore it was only natural for R&B artists to get a rapper on their single to add a bit more edge. But it wasn't done outside of those genre circles too much at that point, bar a few exceptions/one-offs.

 

By the early-to-mid 2000s, it had got to the point where it became almost de rigueur for pop acts to get an urban makeover - mainly because the genre itself had got so popular by that time, and I suppose it was somewhat an age thing too of acts who had grown up since rap-influenced R&B music was popular, so were therefore more aware of the culture and all, unlike those who came before them - so this is when it started to be used more by pop acts, too. This has just eventually snowballed to the point it's considered something perfectly normal and a nice change-up of the track to have a rap in the middle-8 or whatever, just like someone might want to have an instrumental breakdown there instead. Depends on what the artist feels suits the song ultimately but it's surely a good thing they have more options these days (as much as it can make a mess of chart records with the crediting).

And I can't believe people are in here naming early examples of rappers featuring on songs, etc, yet are completely forgetting about this little legend from way back in 1984 (especially since it was a #1 UK hit!):