In the mid-1980s, Ron G. became the master of the blend tape. By putting together R&B and hip-hop instrumentals, he and a DJ named Hot Day (whose "Hot Day Master Mix" married New Edition to Public Enemy and Isaac Hayes) reinvented the mixtape and, incidentally, shifted the course of history.
Andre Harrell's Uptown Records was already the home for hip-hop-inspired R&B, and that reputation increased when he hired an aspiring young executive named Sean Combs. Teddy Riley—only 17 when he produced Doug E. Fresh's "The Show"—had introduced the genre to New Jack Swing, crafting R&B songs with hip-hop breakbeats. Combs, however, reinvented R&B by hewing even closer to hip-hop's formula.
Inspired by Ron G. and Hot Day's blend tapes, he remixed Jodeci's "Come & Talk To Me" with the beat from EPMD's "You're a Customer." It was a hit, and Puffy's first remix credit. Soon, the R&B world saw the potential, and many others followed. If hip-hop was the music we heard pumping out of passing Jeeps, how would that not seep into the love (and lust) songs that made R&B what it was? R&B and hip-hop's fortunes became one and the same.
Now, it's time to talk about which of these early "mash-ups" stand above the rest of the pack. Brush the dirt off your baggy baseball jersey, and get ready for an extensive look at two genres that are, thankfully, obsessed with one another. These are The 50 Best R&B songs That Flipped Rap Beats.
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