Over the past decade country singers have been wandering into the territories of hip-hop and rap music. Funny thing is, rappers don’t seem to mind, especially rappers like Nelly, Ludacris and T-Pain. With several artists from each category hailing from regions like Nashville and Atlanta, where country and rap is popular, there may be more similarities between the two genres than one might think.
When considering both genres, they each offer up similar song structures, which allow the artist to tell a story and give them a platform to speak from about their beliefs.
While combining the two musical styles may seem unusual, they actually complement each other quite adequately at times to form harmonious concoctions enjoyable for each fanbase. However, this formula isn’t always foolproof and can result in a train wreck of a song as well.
The flurry of country and rap partnerships in the past decade has also inspired the creation of the subgenre country/rap, which has seen artists, such as Cowboy Troy and Colt Ford emerge.
Curiosity from these opposite sides of the musical spectrum continues to develop and has led to some pretty worthy country/rap tracks. Some work really well, while others not so much. See for yourself with this list of the top five country/rap collaborations from the past decade.