The 8 best Hip Hop collaborations of 2008

December 21, 4:20 PMNY Hip-Hop Music ExaminerSamantha Greaves

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T.I. the swagger king. Photo Source. 

Hip hop in 08' was at best decent; but even in a slow moving year, there were still a handful of songs that were able to catch the attention of the masses and have them reach over and turn their volumes up a few notches when they heard it on the radio. No mystery here, 2008 was the year of collaborations in hip hop.

T-Pain had an astonishing 13+ collabo’s on his album “Thr33 Ringz” and you could not even bet on getting a song from an artist without having a feature from another artist. However, there were some collaboration’s that were a hit out of the park and many that qualified as foul balls. So here they are the 8 best hip hop collaborations of 2008.

#8 Jadakiss ft. Neyo “By My Side”

This song recently came out and yet you can’t walk past a car without hearing this song blasting from it. Jadakiss reemerges with this single featuring the talented Neyo to give us a little hip hop affection. Personally, the only part of the song that I like is Neyo’s part which happens to be the hook and the bridge of the song. I find myself waiting for his part to come up so that I can really get into the song. Although Jada holds his own with his very distinctive voice and original lyrics, Neyo finds a way to steal this song from right under his feet and make it his own. Nonetheless, it is one of the songs that came out this year that didn’t make me want to set my ears on fire.

right by my side - jadakiss ft ne-yo

# 7 Kidz In The Hall ft. Estelle “Love Hangover”

Not many people knew about this song. In fact, it didn’t get any radio play and you had to squint and pray to see the video on BET or MTV. In my opinion, the song’s lack of radio play was perfect; because the last thing I would want would be for the radio and music channels to exhaust the beauty and indie feel of this song with repetitive radio play. Estelle added her flavor and style making this song a must have in everyone’s iPod.

Love Hangover - Kidz in The Hall Feat. Estelle

#6 Nas ft. The Game & Chris Brown “Make The World Go Round”

Nas in my opinion is one of the lyrically blessed MC’s still present on this roller coaster we call hip hop. His flow sparkles on a relaxing yet vibrant beat that makes you feel like its summer of 95’. And though Jim Jones feels Nas is “stuck in Africa” (whatever that means) I think that Nas is still appealing to those of us that still understand what the essence of hip hop really is. The Game comes on the track and molds to the style of Nas delivering a verse that shows he is more than capable of writing a good line. My only question is where can we get some more of this game?

Make The World Go Round ft. Chris Brown and The Game - NaS

#5 Young Jeezy ft. Jay-Z “Put On Remix”

I challenge anyone to tell me this song isn’t hot! Everyone’s verse was perfectly placed and well delivered. Granted it included one of my music arch enemies (auto-tunes…dun dun dun!!!), the song helped showcased the artists diverse and original sounds and flows; something I like to call a lyrical hip hop buffet.

Put On (Remix) Feat. Jay Z - Young Jeezy

#4 Estelle ft. Kanye West “American Boy”

This is one of my favorite songs from this year. Estelle made her debut with this second single off of her album Shine and it was a hit with everyone. It has an early 1970’s feel and it’s so urban retro. Kanye West of course does his thing and helped to finesse the track. And although the single would have been a hit without him, he still does a great job at adding the golden touch.

American Boy [Feat. Kanye West] - Estelle 

#3 John Legend ft. Andre 3000 “Green Light”

Love, love, love this song! It was different for the piano-esque R&B crooner. It had commercial and club appeal and still was able to keep us entertained lyrically. Andre 3000 added his unique refinement that made the track glisten with melodic vibes but still kept his hip hop feel. What an ear pleasure to hear a male singer sound like a man and not like a mosquito in the Sahara desert. This song is a great example of how music’s cousins, Hip Hop and R&B, unite to make hits.

Green Light - John Legend feat Andre 3000

#2 T.I. ft. Rihanna “Live Your Life”

A very wise man once said that you can tell if a song is a hit just from listening to it for the first 5 seconds and that theory definitely applies to this song. It’s no secret that this year belonged to T.I. as far as putting out great music. He had at least 5 songs in heavy rotation on the radio and they were all hits. This song was lyrically spectacular and showed a more mature side of T.I. and also allowed Rihanna to get in touch with her Caribbean side that she clearly put on the back burner for Pop. The intro is attention grabbing and the song holds a lot of meaning; and shows you can rap about the things that matter the most and still have people bopping with the song at the parties and in their cars.

Live Your Life - Feat. Rihanna - T.I. 

#1 T.I. ft. Jay-Z, Kanye West & Lil Wayne “Swagger Like Us”

The very first time I heard this song I was on my way back home from work and was feeling a bit stress. When it came on I turned my radio up to the highest notch, rolled my windows down and was quite frankly, feeling my gangsta. This song is what we call fire. The collaboration was insane, the lyrics were hot, and I was so ecstatic at the fact that Jay put tight jeans on blast; L.O.V.E.D. it! The hook was extracted from another song by M.I.A. called “Paper Planes”; Kanye sure knows how to sample huh?! The beat for the song reminds me of the final stage of Nintendo’s Mario Brothers where I have to go through the white dungeon to save the princess (I don’t know about yall, but I still have my Nintendo system lol). The song was so hot that there were other rappers (i.e. Diddy and Jim Jones; I use the term loosely), who were upset that they were not asked to be on the track; One Life To Live ain’t got nothing on Hip Hop drama. Nevertheless, I think this song will always be seen as a classic for many years to come.

Swagger Like Us (Ft. Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil Wayne) - T.I.

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