Future and Young Thug’s Super Slimey made its debut in October at no. 2 on the Billboard 200. On November, 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin released Without Warning and debuted at no. 4 on the album charts. And Quavo and Travis Scott’s collaboration, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, is set to debut at no. 2 on the Billboard 200 to bring in the new year.
This sudden upsurge in joint albums is intriguing, and on its surface, has no obvious creative explanation. The only viable explanation is that, rap is poppin and rappers intend on riding this wave towards all its success.
In the late 90’s, rap had become a more household genre of music and its financial opportunity was evident. Representations of rap’s acceptance shone through pop culture and the rap world became more acutely aware of the genre’s money-making potential – think Will Smith with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and LL COOLJ with In the House. Like I said, rap was poppin; and what’s better than one rapper? Two.
Started with a Remix, Now We Here
The early-to-mid 2000’s was the Age of the Remix. Any massively popular song would automatically inherit a remix. This happened more often with R&B songs that earned a revised hip-hop beat and verse from a rapper – such as Mariah Carey’s Honey (remix) and Fantasy (remix), and Brandy’s I Wanna Be Down (remix). In rap, it was standard for any hit song to merit a remix filled with as many other big-name artists as possible. DJ Khaled’s I’m So Hood (remix) is a well-known example – which featured Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross.
Engineered for the same purpose as 2017’s collaborative albums, these songs served as a royalty check. These new songs also drew attention back to the original versions, thus making more money. It’s an easy way to make money, you must admit. And it’s even easier and more efficient now than it would’ve been in the past.
The music production software and file-sharing technology has enabled rapper to complete projects without ever meeting face-to-face. This, alongside marketing and distribution shortcuts in the form of streaming services and social media platforms, has worked to make the collaboration process much easier. And if it’s that easy to make ONE song, imagine how much time can be saved when creating a whole album.
Rap is King
Regardless of the ease of recording or the number of artists squeezed onto a remix, the most important aspect when it comes to these rap collaborations is that RAP IS KING.
“The Rapper has ascended from pop culture figure of interest to the center of the pop culture universe. Where the “rapper” was once a faceless do-rag and baggy-T-shirt-clad monolith in the eyes of the public, they are now some of the world’s biggest stars with fully formed, idiosyncratic, and recognizable brands.”
To be able to have two or more talented rappers and producers working together to create a project for consumption is exciting. To those who are fans of either contributing artist, it serves as another release from their favorite rapper. It also keeps us wanting more. The collaborative album serves as a premium product that we can’t receive all the time, while it reminds us of what is to come.
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho was released on December 21, 2017.
Travis Scott’s AstroWorld is set for release sometime soon, we hope.
The Migos’ Culture II is set for release in early 2018.
See? They just keep us wanting more.
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