From Bad Things to Rescue Me – The Top Five singing and rapping collabs

If there is one thing that works well in the world of music, it’s when a song blends beautiful harmonies with edgy rap beats. Here are just five of the best singing and rapping collabs.

You Me At Six ft Chiddy – Rescue Me

Rescue Me by Surrey-based pop-punk band You Me At Six, featuring Chiddy, who at the time was one half of the hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang, was released in 2011. You Me At Six had been around for a while by this point, whereas Chiddy Bang’s track Opposite of Adults was released the year prior. This collaboration between the two artists shouldn’t have worked, but it did, as the contrasting musical styles complemented each other.

B.o.B ft Hayley Williams – Airplanes

You couldn’t go anywhere in 2010 without hearing Airplanes, as it reached number one on the Official Charts, in June of that year. Hayley Williams of the rock band Paramore provided the chorus and ad-libs on this track from rapper B.o.B. The catchy and wistful lyrics of “can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now” resonated with people everywhere, and B.o.B.’s rapped verses were easy to follow. YouTuber JustKingTBH (formerly known as It’s Kingsley B***h), dissected the song in a now-deleted video, predominately making fun of the lyrical content in a comedic manner. The viral video, if anything, helped the song to become even more popular.

Machine Gun Kelly ft Camila Cabello – Bad Things

Both as controversial as each other, this track features both Camila Cabello (from girl group Fifth Harmony) and rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The track was made for bedroom playlists, but annoyingly, it is quite good. You may be surprised to find out that it samples Fastball’s 1998 song, Out of My Head. Regardless, it’s a great track, reaching number 16 on the Official Charts upon its release in 2016.

Eminem ft Dido – Stan

This track is now an iconic moment in pop culture history. Released in 2000, Stan was penned and rapped by Eminem, featuring a sample from British singer Dido’s track, Thank You, as the chorus was (and still is), huge. Rolling Stone magazine included it on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Dido’s chorus is more recognisable as being from this song than its original song, Thank You. The lyrics explain the relationship between fan and celebrity, in the form of conversation through letters. It coined the term “Stan,” meaning super fan, which is still used today. The music video went on to win awards and was a great addition to an already brilliant track, using visuals and exceptional acting from Devon Sawa to help bring the story to life.

Linkin Park ft Jay Z – Numb/Encore

This remixed/mash-up version of the two original songs by pop/punk band Linkin Park and rapper Jay Z released in 2004 helped to bring pop punk back into the mainstream music scene. The track spent 45 weeks in the Top 100, despite never reaching number one. It also went on to win a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2006. It was created by Jay Z and Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda in an experimental session, who were so impressed with the end result, that they released it publicly.