Beats and Bonds: Unpacking the Memorable Collaborations of 2000s Hip Hop

While it has been argued that the “Golden Era” and age of hip-hop was between the 1980s and 1990s, the 2000s only highlighted its popularity as artists continued to make waves across the industry.

Groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan have been credited with being among those to have helped take the genre to the heights that it managed to achieve in the years leading to the 00s. In fact, it could be possible to suggest their successes helped to shape the future and provide inspiration for other artists in this space.

Artists like 50 Cent, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Jay Z and Nelly were all starting out or beginning to make bigger names for themselves in this scene, with many of them able to gain global recognition for the tracks that they were able to produce and release.

However, while many of them were able to become successful on their own, there were numerous tracks that are considered to be the pinnacle of 2000s hip-hop because of the collaborations that were formed.

What were some of the biggest 2000s hip-hop collaborations?

Given the vastness of what hip-hop music can actually be, there are numerous collaborations that have co-existed that many may not have expected to see. Interestingly, some of those that were unexpected have been some of the biggest to have been released in the 2000s.

The 1990s saw collaborations between Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., and many other big artists that decade, but the 2000s provided some interesting pairings, especially as they were able to come together and create new types of audio using the available sound effects that were not possible to have during the decades prior.

While everyone knows about Beyonce and Jay Z and the powerhouse couple, their track together in 2003 titled “Crazy In Love” has become one of the biggest tracks ever created. It has also been credited with being one of the greatest songs to have ever been released.

A year later, Usher, Ludacris and Lil Jon all teamed up to create “Yeah!”, which also became one of the biggest collabs of the 2000s. It would end up going quadruple platinum and would be heard almost everywhere.

Other huge 2000s collaborations included Ja Rule and Ashanti (Always on Time), Nelly and Kelly Rowland (Dilemma), and 50 Cent and Nate Dogg (21 Questions). While many collaborations can often feature more than one artist, it should also be recognized that there are individuals in the background who continue to collaborate with regard to production and creativity. Dr Dre and Timbaland were among the biggest behind the scenes in the 00s as they helped further mould and progress the hip-hop industry.

Hip-hop’s new direction

The 2010s and 2020s have been huge for the hip-hop genre, with this particular type of music having continued to grow in popularity. Numerous new sounds have been made, which has led to a new direction in which artists are able to go when releasing the music that they record.

Its popularity has become so great that it has become the No. 1 genre in the United States, with it having passed rock music in 2017 as the nation’s favorite. Of course, it is possible to argue that this would not have been possible if it were not for the collaborations of the 2000s.

Many of the pairings that were formed to record a track will have brought new ears to the music genre that may not have been interested in it in the past. At the same time, the new sounds and ways in which artists were able to record will have attracted a new audience, too.

Many of today’s hip-hop fans will be listening to individuals like Drake or Travis Scott, but without those who were doing their thing in the 2000s (and beforehand), the hip-hop industry may not have been as big as it is today without them and the influences that they had. For some music lovers, though, there is nothing better than the music that was released in the 2000s, and their tracks still remain among the best to have been released.