Hip-Hop's Most Unlikely Collaborations

Time Zone (Afrika Bambaataa featuring John Lydon) - 'World Destruction' (1984)

When hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa linked up with former Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. frontman John Lydon for 'World Destruction,' the pair went into the studio and finished this classic track in a single day. The anti-authority hip-hop/rock/funk amalgam carried enough iconoclastic weight to be taken seriously yet still became a club banger both uptown and downtown.

Run-D.M.C. featuring Aerosmith - 'Walk This Way' (1986)

With the apex of rap-rock long past its heyday, it's hard to imagine that at one point, combining hip-hop and hard rock was nothing short of revolutionary. When Run-D.M.C. producer Rick Rubin suggested the group remake Aerosmith's 1975 classic, emcees Run and DMC initially vetoed the idea. Thank the musical gods Jam Master Jay nudged them in the right direction. The song would eventually become the first hip-hop track to crack the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and introduced a generation to hip-hop.

Fat Boys featuring Beach Boys - 'Wipe Out' (1987)

For every yin, there's a yang. As prophetic and ingenious as Rick Rubin was, a pox on the A&R who formed this "Boys" super group, logically thinking that bands with similar names will doubtless produce exhilarating music together. To be fair, the Fat Boys were always known more for their enthusiasm and humor than lyricism, but this song actually makes me long to hear 'Kokomo.' Seeing Mike Love and company on turntables is like watching home movies of my drunk uncle at my bar mitzvah. A note to rappers: The Beach Boys aren't hip-hop. Never were. Never will be.

Anthrax & Public Enemy - 'Bring the Noise' (1991)

This remake of Public Enemy's 1987 original song of the same name kickstarted the ostensibly bizarre relationship between the politically-charged hip-hop group and the thrash metal pioneers, eventually leading to an infamous co-headlining tour. Finally, rap fiends and metal heads had a track they could both move to, and rap-metal, for better (this song) or worse (pretty much everything else not on the 'Judgment Night' soundtrack) was born.

R.E.M. featuring KRS-One - 'Radio Song' (1991)

The same album that featured 'Losing My Religion' and the insufferable 'Shiny Happy People' also contains this track with former Boogie Down Productions frontman KRS-One.

De La Soul & Teenage Fanclub - 'Fallin'' (1993)

If you're of a certain age and, okay, gender, you not only listened to the 'Judgment Night' soundtrack repeatedly, but engaged in countless debates over the best tracks on this rap-rock compilation. This is the point in the rap-rock relationship where timid courtship became full-blown passion, and suddenly, seeing Mudhoney and Sir Mix-A-Lot or Biohazard and Onyx on the same track seemed normal. We're going with De La Soul & Teenage Fanclub, but feel free to substitute any song on the soundtrack.

Wyclef featuring Kenny Rogers & Pharoahe Monch - 'Kenny Rogers (Pharoahe Monch Dub Plate)' (2000)

When this first came out, we thought this mix of Kenny Rogers' 'The Gambler' and Pharoahe Monch's 'Simon Says' was some bedroom DJ's idea of an ill-conceived mash-up. Turns out 'Clef can produce just as awkward-sounding a track as any 15-year old with two MP3s and a bad idea. Granted, the former Fugees emcee has worked with numerous unusual suspects, but shockingly, the hip-hop crowd was not bowled over by Kenny Rogers crooning, "You got to count your dub plates before you touch the turntables." Every time this is played, somewhere a DJ cries.

LFO feauting M.O.P. - 'Life is Good' (2001)

Who would've suspected a collaboration between syrupy pop group LFO (Lyte Funky Ones) and music-to-smash-someone's-head-through-a-wall hip-hop duo M.O.P. (Mash Out Posse) would yield such terrible results? I'm guessing the thought behind this was for LFO to earn the street cred they somehow failed to garner on street-ready bangers like 'Summer Girls' and M.O.P. to get more mainstream commercial recognition than they had with previous tracks like 'Stick To Ya Gunz' and 'Born 2 Kill.'

RZA featuring Xavier Naidoo - 'I've Never Seen' (2003)

For 2003's 'The World According to RZA,' an import-only album featuring RZA's collaborations with international musicians, the Wu-Tang mastermind linked up with German singer Xavier Naidoo for this surprisingly sweet romantic ballad. Wu-Tang ist für die kinder!

Nelly featuring Tim McGraw - 'Over and Over' (2004)

I really just wish I heard the conversation that sparked these two disparate artists into working together.

"I was a huge St. Lunatics fan."
"I bump 'Not a Moment Too Soon' every night."
"Are you feeling something here?"
"My studio's around the corner."
"I'll get my duster."

N.A.S.A. featuring Tom Waits and Kool Keith - 'Spacious Thoughts' (2009)

It's not as if combining two of the weirdest people in music cancels each other out.

Chris Cornell (Produced by Timbaland) - 'Part of Me' (2009)

No one can fault an artist for wanting to explore a new musical direction after years of cultivating a certain sound. Everyone can fault Chris Cornell for the soulless, shameless cash grab that was last year's 'Scream,' a dance-pop album produced by Timbaland that received the critical and commercial backlash it so rightly deserved. Don't forget: you can't "unhear" a song.

Bonus: Phish & Jay-Z - '99 Problems/Big Pimpin'' (2004)

When perennial jam band Phish said they were "gonna bring out a friend of ours who is Brooklyn's own, a great singer and great musician" at a 2004 New York concert, no one suspected it'd be Jay-Z -- who seems to be on a mission to be the most popular artist to every single demographic in existence. This is still one of the most interesting live pairings in years. Best part: Jay-Z waiting for the crowd to finish a 'Big Pimpin'' line at 5:30 and getting met with dead silence.

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