Hip-Hop Soul Collaborations

Hip-hop and soul collaborations have conquered the charts in recent years. The production values may vary like mixed frequencies on a radio dial, but there's no denying the appeal of the Kanye West-curated V.I.P. room of "Slow Jamz," the piano-propelled gangsta stroll of "No Diggity," and the post-PlayStation pageantry of Usher's "Yeah!"

The purpose of this hit-packed playlist is two-fold: 1) to get Egyptian cotton sheets shifting to white-hot hook-ups (e.g. Nelly Furtado and Timbaland); 2) to tame the often abrasive overtones of rap with the easy-going grind of rhythm & blues. Cue up subtle bangers like "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and "Mesmerize."

To fully understand why rap and R&B come together, look no further than the first-class career of R. Kelly. Despite brushes with jail and investigative journalists, Kelly has emerged as the epitome of urban chic, with a personality that's half thug, half son of a preacher man. No wonder he stood head-to-head with Jay-Z ("Big Chips").

The formula seems simple enough: Drop a dope beat, riff over it with some raw rhymes, and, finally, sweeten the otherwise salty deal with a reputable R&B singer like R. Kelly, Ashanti, or Mary J. Blige. And it is that simple. . . in the hands of the right people: iconic names like Jay-Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Fat Joe, Eve, Jennifer Lopez, Common, LL Cool J, and Mariah Carey. Theirs is a world where loops lash out at you like a snake's tongue one second and soothe the soul with ultra-soft harmonies and slow-burning breaks the next.