It Takes Two: Hip-Hop's 12 Greatest Duos... According To Bun B
Bun B says: "That duo is the original dynamic of the MC and the DJ. The only other MC and DJ pair as known as Eric B & Rakim are probably Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff, but that’s because Fresh Prince is the biggest movie star in the world. They’re the most tangible symbols of a rapper and a DJ."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Eric B & Rakim
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: 8ball & MJG
Bun B says: "Those are people whose career mirrored UGK's: We both released at the same time, we went through all the markets together. A lot of people thought we were the closest of friends and thought we had to know each other cause out music was such alike and both our labels were based out of Houston. We didn’t even meet them until ’94, maybe ’95."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: The Convicts
Bun B says: "The Convicts were definitely a direct influence on Pimp C and myself. Big Mike and Lord 3-2 were definitely lyricists that we were able to be around and learn things from and get advice and get guidance from directly, not just from music."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Gang Starr
Bun B says: "You can’t mention duos without mentioning Gangstarr. One of the greatest musical groups of all time, period. Not just hip-hop. Premier and Guru have been able to do things to define them as artists outside of hip-hop. Guru with Jazzmatazz and Premier producing for Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera. Their contributions have gone beyond hip-hop. So they’re definitely one of the greatest duos."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: M.O.P.
Bun B says: "Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame just make great street music."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Salt-N-Pepa
Bun B says: "Salt-N-Pepa get credit not just for being women in hip-hop, but a lot of people don’t give them credit for being one the first groups to really incorporate that back and forth [flow] inside of the 16. Most of the time it was one rapper would do his verse and then the other rapper would do his verse. But they were the first ones to really be rapping inside of each other’s verses, back and forth. They weren’t just pioneers, they were innovators."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Mobb Deep
Bun B says: I like how they were able to do everything in-house, just those two cats. And they started real young, so I watched their whole progression.
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: OutKast
Bun B says: "That’s another group that released around the same time that we did. And we did get to meet them very early in our career. They were able to get ground faster than we were. They’re still very close friends with myself. Big Boi, he would call me OG, but me and Big around the same age. I might’ve put music out a little bit before them, but you know, he’s still done a lot for the game and he’s definitely an OG, too."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Clipse
Bun B says: The Thornton brothers are making some of the best music being made right now. They definitely speak to the streets and they help put the great state of Virginia on the map for hip-hop.
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: EPMD
Bun B says: "We don’t want to discount their DJ—DJ Scratch—one of the greatest DJs of all time. But they had a great dynamic with each other. One had a more slow flow, one had a more deliberate flow. And it worked."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Daz & Kurupt
Bun B says: "They definintely took West Coast gangster hip-hop to a whole ‘nother level."
Bun B's Greatest Rap Duos: Ying Yang Twins
Bun B says: "Highly underrated. A lot of people like to relegate them as just a dance group, but they have a lot more. They really are real artists, they just haven’t had the right opportunity to showcase their talent. They bring energy. When you’re around the Ying Yang Twins, you’ve got to come out your cool zone. You can’t be just frontin’, sitting back and letting people look in the fishbowl. You’re with the Ying Yang Twins, you’ve got to let your hair down."
