When Pop Meets Rap

BY PAUL GRIEN

*This post came from news.music.yahoo.com. Great Read!

Five of the 10 best-selling songs for the year-to-date are pop/rap pairings. "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg is #3 for the year-to-date, followed by "Airplanes" by B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams (#4), "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris (#5), "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars (#9) and "Baby" by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris (#10).

Why has there been such a proliferation of collaborations that blend pop and rap? Most obviously, it broadens the potential audience for a record. Adding rap to a pop record gives it some edge. "Baby" has become Justin Bieber's best-selling song to date, with sales to date of 2,231,000 copies. Ludacris' rap gave the record an edge that expanded its appeal beyond Bieber's base of teen and pre-teen girls. It moved it from bubblegum closer to the center of pop.

Snoop Dogg's rap added some grit to Katy Perry's summer smash "California Gurls." It's still a Popsicle, to borrow an image from the record, but the flavor is now tangy lime instead of cool watermelon.

Coming at it from the other side, adding pop elements to a rap record makes it more palatable to a mass audience. That's why rapper B.o.B invited Hayley Williams, the lead singer for the rock band Paramore, and sweet-voiced crooner Bruno Mars to sing on his hits "Airplanes" and "Nothin' On You," respectively.

All three of the giant hits from rapper Jay’Z’s latest album The Blueprint 3 are collabos. "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Kanye West; "Empire State Of Mind" with Alicia Keys and "Young Forever" with Mr. Hudson have sold a combined total of 8,379,000 copies. (Jay-Z signifies how important his collabo partners are by giving them equal billing, not just featured credit.)

Blending pop and rap is smart business. It's like blending elements of comedy and action in a movie to try to expand the potential audience. Or adding a love story to bring in a female audience. Or casting actors of different races to try to appeal to a wider range of fans.

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