We’ve all got more than a few favorite musicians, and while things have become a little easier in terms of setting them side-by-side on a playlist, there’s always that lingering feeling between the fade in and fade out that leaves you wondering what it would be like to have two of you favorite musicians join up to do a song or two. All that out there, we’ve put together a list of 10 artists we’d love to see link up, so check it out below and share your own in the comment section afterward.
1. Bruce Springsteen and Elton John
Even though they’re two classics with enough classics to keep an entire generation satisfied for a lifetime, it’s hard not to crave an amped up version of "Bennie and the Jets" backed by Bruce and The E Street, or a rendition of the “Ghost of Tom Joad” accompanied by some morose Elton John keys.
2. The Arcade Fire and Bob Dylan (young Bob Dylan)
We’ve heard Arcade Fire cover Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” so why not turn a few knobs on the time machine, and snag Bobby circa 1965 back for something along the lines of and Arcade Fire-featured “Ballad of a Thing Man.” An original would do just fine as well--think of Arcade Fire simply being a bigger version of The Band.
3. Adele and Linda Jones
This is simply a case of two of music’s most beautiful, soulful voices that just happen to exist a few decades too far apart. Tossing them in the studio together would surely put out something saturated in emotion, and help Adele add some doo wop to her repertoire.
4. Kanye West and Richard Wagner
Kanye hasn’t ever had too much trouble working samples into his instrumentals to vamp up the energy of the beats, but with a mind like Wagner at his side to aid in working up something, the end result would probably be something along the lines of a looped “Flight of the Valkyries” with a little 808 rather than the timpani drums.
5. Michael Jackson and Ray Charles
We’ll set “We Are The World” aside for this one and keep it strictly Ray and M.J. on stage. Sure, their styles are drastically different in certain aspects, but as for onstage energy, the two would put off enough electricity to evaporate any competition.
6. Bob Marley and Rihanna
Rihanna has her moments of crashing a little too far into the hyped-up pop elements with their innuendo twists, but bringing her voice alongside Bob’s for Caribbean-themed chiller focused mostly on the vocals would make for a strong hook-verse relationship between the two.
7. Frank Ocean and Count Basie
Frank Ocean is one of the premier soul/R&B voices emerging in music, and while he tends to lean more toward the morose “love lost” side of the genre, the strength of his voice that we’ve heard on a few upbeat tracks here and there would be a great addition to some fully-orchestrated big band sounds led by the essential Count Basie.
8. John Coltrane and Jaco Pastorious
John and Jaco respectively led whatever bands they were standing in front of galaxies away in terms of individual sound, so bringing together the masterful saxophone skills of Trane and the unconventional jazz-fusion basslines from Jaco would put off a series of solo tradeoffs and elevations that I’m sure we could kick back and listen to for full nights in a low smoke-filled downtown dive.
9. Kendrick Lamar and J Dilla
Who better to put behind hip-hop’s greatest emerging emcee than hip-hop’s greatest producer? It’s difficult to fathom what the two would put together after being locked in a studio for hours, but rest assured it would be far beyond anything we could imagine based off of conventional music at the moment.
10. Eminem and Amy Winehouse
We’ve seen Eminem tackle some emotional topics with exceptional soulful backing for the hooks, as well as plenty of emcees linking up with the late Amy Winehouse to produce some flawless blends, so imagining these two pulling off something in the vein of “Stan” isn’t too hard to materialize in the mind.
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