Dart's Rant Of The Day: When Did Hip Hop Turn Into Marvel Team Up?

It's me once again addressing some recent occurrences in the Hip Hop world with my own personal spin added on. I present to you all "Dart's Rant Of The Day: When Did Hip Hop Turn Into Marvel Team Up?". To you true believers I say "Excelsior!". Enjoy:

To anyone that's been paying attention this past year in Hip Hop a gang of collaboration albums have jumped off recently while at Duck Down Records they're not new to this phenomenon at all. They have the Pete Rock collaboration project with Smif N' Wessun, the long awaited Random Axe album. Previous to that, they released the Buckshot & 9th Wonder albums, the Special Teamz LP (Ed O.G., Jaysaun & Slaine) and Marco Polo & Torae's "Double Barrel" so it's no surprise they'd be seen as the pioneers of this current wave of team up albums. In order to shed light on this burgeoning phenomenon that inspired such projects in 2009 as Statik Selektah & Saigon's "All In A Day's Work", I present to you all "When Did Hip Hop Turn Into Marvel Team Up?"

As I previously pointed out, late last year we saw the formation of the Hip Hop supergroup Slaughterhouse comprised of Royce Da 5'9", Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz & Crooked I. This formation caused a shockwave that reverberated throughout the entire Hip Hip universe. The buzz and excitement caused by them was only increased exponentially with each successive hot track. Think about all the Slaughterhouse songs that people loved that weren't even on the album that dropped last August. They need to make a special edition with "Slaughterhouse", "Onslaught", "Move On" "Warriors", etc. all on it.

Halfway through 2008 a video hit the 'net that featured Black Milk in the studio with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson. They'd been working on individual projects but were in the process of crafting a collaborative effort as Random Axe. The project is executive produced by Hex Murda, the executive producer of "Caltroit", "Tronic" and a number of other bangers. The pairing of these three titans has produced song such as "Run" and "Monster Babies". The Random Axe project is slated to drop on Duck Down Records late this year. What up, Hex! © Sean Price


You take one of the top 5 emcees of all times (or as he'd say the top "one, two, three, four AND five") in KRS One and a legitimate Hip Hop legend in Buckshot, add top shelf production and a gang of standout emcees and vocalists lending guest appearances and what do you get? KRS One & Buckshot's "Survival Skills". Did you ever think you'd hear Mary J. Blige sing over a Black Milk beat while KRS One and Buckshot traded verses? This entire album had you going back to the liner notes like "Yo, is that...?" or "Who made THIS beat?". All hail Big Dru Ha and the entire staff over at Duck Down. Word is Bon Jovi.

Two of my favorite all time emcees decided to get together and make a collaboration album after years of friendship. My hometown hero Ed O.G and Brooklyn's own Masta Ace got down with M3 Music to craft a gem called "Arts & Entertainment" as A&E. The album is dope (I might be the lone oldhead on the internets that still uses that) and you'd think that myself and Travis @ WYDU A&R'd the project. It was set to drop on October 6th until the network A&E threatened legal action if they didn't change the cover art and the usage of A&E show soundbites ("The First 48") on the album. The new release date has yet to be announced but trust me, it's gonna be worth the wait to hear two legends trade bars.


Yet another project I'm looking forward to pairs two more of my all time favorite emcees in Tame One, the knotty headed terror from Newark and Boom Skwad general alongside Del The Funky Homosapien, the spaced out captain of Oakland's legendary legion of lyrical luminaries, Hieroglyphics Crew. The entire album will be produced by Parallel Thought. If tracks like "Catch Me", "Oops!", "Special" and "Flashback" are any indication then this will be an album Hip Hop heads won't wanna miss out on. It's almost here.


This one is gonna be bananas! You have Styles P paired up with DJ Green Lantern who is severely underrated as a producer and beatmaker in my honest opinion. Think about how many times Green Lantern has made a track (or even am emcee) fresher than they originally were? Now think about how many Styles P has managed to stay consistent with the bars and imagine how badly he'll body Green Lantern's production? Like I said before, this one is gonna be bananas!

Once again we come up on another pairing of one of my favorite producers with one of my favorite emcees (who happen to also be two of my favorite Canadians). Maybe you've been under a rock but if you aren't patiently waiting on MoSS & Eternia's upcoming project "At Last" then odds are that you've never heard a MoSS beat or Eternia spit a verse in your entire lives. If so, it's safe to say that you can't wait to hear this album in it's entirety...especially since Eternia insists on no leaks. Hey, I can wait..*Shakes, scratches self*

Another forthcoming project I've been waiting to hear for a significant amount of time now is AG & OC's collaborative effort titled "Oasis: Together Brothers". It's gonna drop on Nature Sounds later this year and judging by tracks like "2 For The Money" and "Think About It" I can't wait to hear the final product bang in my headphones while I make the scrunchface. D.I.T.C production is much needed in this day & age.

Yet another pairing of two beasts behind the boards The Alchemist & Oh No will yield the Gangrene LP. If you heard the song "Under Siege" off of "Chemical Warfare" or "Acts Of Violence" then you know what I mean already. Shit, I wanna hear a Step Brothers project from Alchemist & Evidence in 2010 after Evidence's "Cats & Dogs" album drops on Rhymesayers Entertainment late this year. It seems like everyone on Earth is getting together in Hip Hop to drop collaboration albums. Case in point...


Canibus & Keith Murray are the Undergods. DJ Quik & Kurupt dropped the heavily slept on "Blaqkout" LP earlier this year. Guilty Simpson and Madlib got together to make the "OJ Simpson" project. Madlib also provided Strong Arm Steady with heat, thus forming the "Stoney Jackson" project. The Lil' Fame & Termanology project "1982" is still forthcoming on Showoff Records as well as the news of another team up album coming from none other than Method Man, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah in 2010. I also just heard about DJ Muggs & Ill Bill getting together to record a new album. Don't forget about the DJ Rhettmatic & Buff1 "Crown Royale" project, either. Sheeeittt! © Clay Davis. We have a lot of music to look forward to in the near future, huh? Oh yeah, I forgot about all about this album...

One.