Back in the ’90s and early ’00s when the economy was booming and the potential for Hip-Hop seemed limitless, every artist and their moms was venturing off as a solo artist. Starting your own label was low-risk and a right of passage for successful acts. However, the decline of records sales in combination with/as a result of the recent recession have created a survival-of-the-fittest-type attitude among artists and record execs, alike. While the labels have responded by becoming stingier with their dough, sticking with established artists to knock out that hit single, solo artists are progressively receding into the comfort of the group setting. From a fan’s point of view, the allure of combining such star power is not unlike your favorite superheroes teaming up when you were a kid. And there are always those peripheral emcees who shine on guest appearances, and this should presumably be their bread and butter. Over the last few years, we have seen the following “super groups” formed:
- Buckshot & KRS-One
- EMC (Masta Ace, Punchline, Wordsworth, and Stricklin)
- Special Teamz (Edo G, Jaysaun, and Slaine)
- Slaughtahouse (Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9, and Crooked I)
- Randome Axe (Sean Price, Guilty Simpson, and Black Milk)
- Street Sweeper Social Club (Boots Riley and Tom Morello)
- La Coka Nostra (Everlast, Ill Bill, DJ Lethal, Slaine, and Danny Boy)
- Idle Warship (Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel)
- Torae & Marco Polo
- The 4 Horsemen (Ras Kass, Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt)
- Global Takeover (El Da Sensei and The Returners)
The latest addition to this list is the crew Gangrene aka Oh No and Alchemist, which makes their grand debut on Al’s newest album Chemical Warfare. On the track “Acts of Violence” (video below), Oh No and Alchemist form like Voltron and incite riots from a news room. Unfortunately, a bunch of the tracks from Chemical Warfare, dropping July 7th, have been previously released in one form or another, but it certainly looks to be a banger.
