Artists That Are Better As a Feature
 

What are some of the artists who shine on a feature as opposed to releasing a whole album of material? Post examples of course.

First choice: Homeboy Sandman

future, ab-soul, jay electronica (lulz)

Future? Really? This is a hard question. I was thinking Mystikal on ELE. It's cheating but Flava Flav and Professor Griff come to mind but I know that's cheating. How about Flea when he did Wild Thing? I think everyone who guested on Tical 2000 did their best work on it. Including Donald Trump ELE also references Trump. It's kind of odd that two 1990's records, both obsessed with an apocalyptic future both mention Trump. Tical doesn't actually reference Trump though. Incredibly, in my view, that actually is Donald Trump.

future for sure. outside of DS2 (amazing album btw) most of his solo stuff leaves a loooooooooooot to be desired.

oh and kid cudi as well, mostly cuz his solo stuff is ****.

R.o.c.

Redman always shines on features.

most of if not all of Wu-Tang tbh. i love RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck and Ghostface but man are they a billion times better on features.

rethink RZA

nope

He's the architect of the entire sound.

yup. and his features are still way better than his solo career. i genuinely can’t think of a Wu-Tang member who put out better music outside of the group. GZA (Liquid Swords) and Ghostface came the closest but they still couldn’t do it consistently.

Ghostface and RZA hold up.

I love ODB's Return to the 36 Chambers

Honestly I consider their solo albums wu tang albums.

So does Raekwon

Cuban Linx is in the exact category.

It's RZA.

right but the topic isn’t who sucks as a solo artist but is great artist as a feature. it’s who is better. they’re all, for the most part, great as solo artists, but are even better on Wu tracks. it’s cool if you guys disagree it’s just that you’re objectively wrong for doing so, nbd.

I don't think there's enough of a distinction between a wu tang solo project and a wu album to really count

Theoretically Barbra Streissand because she's got a great voice but generally really crappy songs to sing on her actual albums.

Frown,

Do great jazzmen who work better as side men count?

I'd say that's for a different thread, this is meant to be more hip hop oriented.

Ey don't come at soulo like that. He has some high quality solo songs. Future and Jay Electronia for sure though. Put Lil herb and Dave East in that mix. Don't get me wrong they have good solo songs, but when ever they hop on a feature they turn up like they have something to prove.

Del the funky homosapien

Sorry, but Ghostface is the best MC in the Clan, and has released some of the best albums. Supreme Clientele and Fishscale are pretty well established as all time classics. I agree with RZA, GZA has released Liquid Swords though, kinda proves that he can anchor an entire album as MC.

1. ghostface being the best rapper in Wu-Tang has nothing to do with the fact that he’s better on features.

2. having a great album or two does not exempt you from the subject

I just think it's a hard claim to defend, considering his catalog is so deep. What exactly makes you think that he's better on features as opposed to being an anchor of his own material?

Wu-Tang as a project proves that basically all of them are better as feature artists.

^

I think maybe that'd be true if you could show that they each failed to hold down their careers as solo performers, but given their successes as such I have a hard time following that logic. Raekwon, Ghostface, ODB and Method Man especially have all stepped up and made multiple albums that have sold fairly well and have even garnered mainstream critical acclaim. I don't think they could quite do that if they were seen by the average person as bland. Now, Inspectah Deck, U-God, even GZA and RZA I can see just because even though they have obvious talent, I think they lack a certain appeal to anchor an album by themselves.

While I certainly respect that you may think Ghost and others of the clan are preferable as features, I do think it's a bit preposterous to put someone who's accomplished so much in that list. It's sort of like if we're discussing basketball and you say that Larry Bird or Wilt Chamberlain is at his best as a sixth man. Maybe on an all-star team. :laughing:

no i think you're missing the point in the thread. nobody is denying that they aren't good on their own, we're simply saying they are BETTER as features.

to use your basketball analogy you might say LeBron is the best player of all-time and I might say playing on the Heat and the Cavs has put him there. (just an example)

Lebron James isn't a feature in any sense other than the most basic interpretation of the word, though. He's the centerpiece of all of those teams the same way that Michael Jordan was. My point is that Ghostface is a main eventer, a star player on a stacked team if you will. Maybe there's a communication issue like you say, but I don't think so.

i'll put it in as few words as possible.

ghostface is great on his own but he is better as a featured artist in wu-tang.

I'll do the same:

I disagree.

My pick for an artist best suited for features is actually just Madlib's alter ego Quasimoto. Even though I really like The Unseen and The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas, I think he's easier to listen to when he pops in for the occasional appearance on Madlib collab projects like he does on Madvillainy with Madvillain, and The Champion Sound with Jaylib. I just think his vocal effect that he uses for the character can be a little annoying for a full album.

lolwut?

A better analogy would be: Player X might be good enough to start a game, but I think he’s best used coming on as a substitute when the opposition is tired.

ghostface is good on his own but being a part of wu-tang is where he's at his best

not sure how that's confusing

LOL

That's the worst analogy yet.

i think we moved past the analogies with this anyway. not much more to say than we agree to disagree.

I'm just ribbing, but yeah agree to disagree, I don't think it'll get much further than that.

nicki minaj because i don't like any of her solo stuff but her verse on monster was cool

^ No.

The point is what Ghostface does, not the overall song quality. So is he better jumping in on a track or having a full song to himself. The team/LeBron analogy focuses on the song rather than what the individual player brings.

We agree anyway, so let's also agree that Method Man and ODB are by far the best Wu-Tang members?

damn meth is definitely up there, and as far as memorable verses ODB ranks pretty high too...

i don't necessarily agree but i don't disagree enough to say you're wrong.

opinion respected.