Editor's Note: The history of hip hop and R&B is filled with broken promises. These albums - whether recorded in full, unfinished or simply hyped - have never seen store shelves. This month VIBE looks at 51 coulda-been classics from artists like Prince, 50 Cent, Lauryn Hill and Biggie Small & Jay-Z and talks to some of the forgotten few. Today, we examine Dream Teams.
THE COMMISSION
(The Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, Charli Balitomore)
The Commission (Bad Boy/Roc-A-Fella)
It might sound like the stuff of legend, but a rap supergroup starring the two Brooklyn heavyweights in their prime almost happened. Conceived during the recording of 1997’s Life After Death (Bad Boy), Biggie imagined the much-buzzed about Commission project as a high concept mafioso dream team (before The Firm), an album to be accompanied by a film or long-form video tie-in à la Jay’s 1998 Streets is Watching (Roc-A-Fella).
“He had some really good ideas,” remembers Philadelphian Charli Baltimore, Big’s then girl-on-the-side and The Commission’s proposed third member. “It would’ve been [a] very gangsta,very Italian movie. That’s how he envisioned it.”
Baltimore, Big, and Jay were set to serve as the central MCs alongside a rotating cast that would include Puff Daddy, Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s Lil’ Cease, and label executive Lance “Un” Rivera, who may have hosted in a consigliere role. On Life After Death’s “What’s Beef?,” Big gives a shout-out to the group on its opening bars, breaking down the full lineup and their proposed gangster aliases. He donned his Frank White alter ego and Jay became Iceberg Slim. Un and Cease were cast in the particularly paisano roles of Uncle Paulie and Caesar Leo DiGennaro, respectively.
But beyond that and a few additional name drops on Life After Death and Puff’s 1997 “Victory,” The Commission seems to have existed almost entirely in Big’s head. Nothing was ever recorded for the album and it’s un- clear how aware even the proposed members were of his grand scheme.
“I saw Jay out once, and I said, ‘You know, I’m the third party of The Commission’ and he was like, ‘Really?’” says Baltimore. “I’m not sure if he knew or not.”
Jay is certainly more familiar with the group’s legacy than its lineup. He turned up on the 2005 posthumous Duets: The Final Chapter (Bad Boy) project for “Whatchu Want.” [listen below] The lackluster, patchwork collaboration tacks Jigga onto an unearthed and unrelated Biggie verse while an overexcited Puff ad-libs, “The Commission lives on!” But only in theory, since Biggie unfortunately took any prospect of a proper full length to the grave. As Baltimore puts it: “There could be no Commission without Big.”
Cover art imagined for The Commission album
MURDER, INC.(Jay-Z, DMX, Ja Rule)
Murder Inc. (Roc-A-Fella/Murder Inc./Ruff Ryders/Def Jam)
This killer triumvirate kicked around teaming up—no doubt a dream project for then label scout Irv Gotti—but only officially collaborated on Mic Geronimo’s 1995 “Time to Build,” 1998’s “Murdergram,” and their swan song, Ja’s 1999 “It’s Murda.” Gotti hinted at the idea that some members could never get along, and Damon Dash explained Jay-Z’s hesitation. “Look what happens when Jay does a record with anybody— it usually ends up being a problem,” Dash said in VIBE’s June 2008 issue. “He don’t like to work with people.”
Golden State Warriors (Columbia/SME)
This planned threesome of West Coast lyricists was scrapped after a series of stumbles, including Saafir and Ras’ jail stints and a legal warning from the NBA’s Warriors leading them to rename the group Golden State Project.
Untitled project (no label)
A handful of verbose collaborations came from this rap quartet, which, admittedly, was a more exciting proposition at the turn of the century than it is now. The cobbled together 2003 compilation, The Horsemen Project (Think Differently/Proverbs) was a disappointment. Now that all four members are signed to in- dies, shouldn’t this have happened already?
Untitled Project (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam/Star Tral/Interscope/1st and 15th/Atlantic)
Child Rebel Soldiers is a nerdy rap fan’s fantasy trio: social consciousness, Louis Vuitton handles, and loads of swagger. Alas, it will never be. Each artist is too busy rapping, singing, producing for others, designing clothes, or planning their retirement to even think about participating in a functioning group.
NE-YO AND FABOLOUS
Best of Both Worlds (Def Jam, 2008)
This most likely to happen alliance would match Ne-Yo’s gentleman with Fab’s smooth gangster. Sounds like a natural fit: They share the same Def Jam office and already have certified hits in 2007’s “Make Me Better” and 2008’s “She Got Her Own.” Now all they need is some studio time together.
Happy Hour (Sho’Nuff, 2005)
Before he exploded as one-half of the Gnarls Barkley phenomenon, Cee-Lo was looking like a collabo-happy hustler. This peppy album for Jazze’s label—in which both artists sing, rap, and produce—was even serviced to press, but then it mysteriously disappeared.
2 Face (Rap-A-Lot)
Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder and the glut of posthumous rhymes that followed are two reasons this will never see the light of day— which is a shame. ’Face’s “Smile” featuring ’Pac was the lead single from his 1997 album The Untouchable (Rap-A-Lot) and proved these two had the promise of a classic.
DPG Unit (G Unit, 2007)
Snoop Dogg and 50’s crews formed like Voltron to record a handful of cuts on the 2003 Rock the Mic tour, though only one eponymous mixtape track was ever released.
DR. DRE AND TIMBALAND
Chairmen of the Boards (Aftermath/Mosley Music/Interscope)
This supergroup seemingly never got past the announcement stage, with both producers turning their attention to other projects (like, ahem, bodybuilding).
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