3 Duets That Need to Happen (Again)

Sometimes a good duet can go down in history. Either it’s two of your favourite singers collaborating and coming up with something that is your dream song. Or maybe it’s two singers that you would never have considered teaming up, yet it works. When a duet is done right and carefully planned, rather than being little more than being in a song with someone for publicity’s sake, then they can come out with something memorable and loved. However, that isn’t enough for me. More, I cry. Below are three duets that should happen again. Just once more. Please.

3 – KANYE WEST FT MAROON 5

Kanye West is taking a beating recently. He used to be one of the towers in the rap game; he was stylish, his songs meant something and every song had a cult following. In fairness, all of these things are pretty much still true, despite what the hard-core rap fans keep telling us, but I cannot deny that Jay-Z has taken his place at the top. That’s why he should call up Adam Levine, who is at the height of his career and request another duet for the team.

There is something so elegant about the above song. Again, Kanye is rapping about something more than ‘the hood’ and ‘his hoes’ (just the one hoe now, Kanye – soz mate). So we get these beautifully crafted lyrics and then Adam Levine just lends his vocal support for a chorus, accentuating Kanye’s rap rather than glory-stealing (which we could argue he did with 50 Cent and Eminem in ‘My Life’). He understands the style of the song and works with it, accordingly. I want to see more of this, which is why I am hoping that Kanye and Maroon 5 give each other a text in the near future.

2 – JAY Z FT LINKIN PARK

But then I would want Jay Z to answer that by teaming back up with Linkin Park. I love Numb/Encore. There is just something about the rap meeting the rock that I cannot get enough of. This is nothing more than a mash-up, but the songs go together so perfectly, it feels like the last piece of puzzle clicking into place at last. The two songs cut in front of each so naturally that you think that the songs were written separately with the specific purpose of coming together.

So why not do this again? If their duet happened so flawlessly by accident, imagine this being a planned song. Linkin Park coming up with a fantastic tune and Jay Z bringing it to life with one of his raps. This could go horribly wrong, I understand that. I nearly knocked this from the list with the idea that a reunion could trample on the success of this song. It could very well come across as a money-grabbing song, cashing in on the success of Numb/Encore. But you know what? If it is as brilliant as this song, I couldn’t care less.

1 – EMINEM FT DIDO

‘Stan’ is one of the best Eminem songs out there, mainly because no one expected Dido and Eminem to ever in a million years work together, let alone work so well. Apparently, they are good friends in real life, which is an even weirder thought. On one hand, we’ve got the most aggressive rapper out there, who is always rapping about how messed up his mental state is and then in the other corner, we’ve got Dido, who is so calm, she must live off herbal tea. They do not seem like they would blend well in a song, yet then we were given Stan which is one of the most beautiful, hauntingly chilling songs in the music industry, let alone the rap genre.

My one complaint is that Dido seems like she is paying lip service. She merely shows up for a sample of her own song, which is fine, seeing as it is Eminem’s rap that tells the story, Dido merely provides the atmosphere and tone. But maybe we could flip that with another song. Maybe Dido could take point and Eminem could guest-star in one of her songs. Imagine taking a Dido song and then throwing Slim Shady into the final verse. One of this extended verses that just keep going and going, never getting boring. Just piling that pent-up emotion into the song and making it a powerhouse hit. The kind of song that sends chills shooting up your spine, until it is over.

So yeah, go make.