Hip-Hop Soul Collaborations

While R&B and rap collaborations have conquered the charts in recent years, they're part of a peanut butter and jelly territory that's been treaded for decades. The production values may vary like the mixed frequencies of a radio dial, but there's no denying the gut-bursting soul linking Chaka Khan's quirky 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You," the Kanye West-curated VIP room of "Slow Jamz," the piano-propelled gangsta stroll of "No Diggity," and the post-PlayStation pageantry of Usher's smash single "Yeah!"

The purpose of this hit-packed playlist is two-fold. One, get Egyptian cotton sheets shifting to the sneaky, sexy tune of Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson ("What's It Gonna Be"), the misty Ella Fitzgerald/Philly soul fusion of the Roots & Erykah Badu (the GRAMMY®-winning "You Got Me"), and the unrated Case/Foxy Brown collab "Touch Me Tease Me." And two, tame the often abrupt, abrasive overtones of rap with the easy-going grind of rhythm and blues, as heard in such subtle bangers as "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," "Unpredictable," "Dirrty," and "Mesmerize."

To fully understand why rap and R&B come together like that one Beatles song, there are few examples better than the first-class career of R. Kelly. Despite brushes with jail and investigative journalists, Kelly has emerged as the epitome of urban chic — an inviting voice you could bring home to Mom, offset with street-savvy lyrics and a personality that's half thug, half son of a preacher man. No wonder he stood head-to-head with Jay-Z for two entire records, in the same way the rest of our Deep Cuts are duels that end in stellar singles rather than bloodshed.

The formula seems simple enough: Drop a dope beat, riff over it with some rawer-than-tartare 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…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.