10 Collaborations That Never Should Have Happened

As EDM seeps into the fabric of mainstream music, you're bound to see a number of collaborations that might have you scratching your heads. It's bound

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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As EDM seeps into the fabric of mainstream music, you're bound to see a number of collaborations that might have you scratching your heads. It's bound to happen; pop acts will start to lean on dance music at a frequent rate, hoping to get shone in the neon EDM light. We're not mad at that, especially when they go in with the mindset of creating something unique or at least geniunely wanting to work within the dance music scene. There are a number of times where, for whatever reason, we caught wind of dance music producers working with artists from outside of the scene and we ended up scratching our heads at trying to understand WHY this collaboration came together. We've seen some odd tracks coming out of the woodwork so far, and figured now was the time to look back at some of the most confusing collaborations in a hope that history would not repeat itself. Here are 10 collaborations that never should have happened.

Roni Size & Cypress Hill

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Roni Size has had success with his collaborative efforts in the past, with Redman, Method Man, Bahamadia, Zach De La Rocha, and others truly helping bring legitimacy to the ethos of drum & bass truly deserving a seat at the table. We wonder if those looks made the people organizing the Blade II soundtrack to bring Roni and Cypress Hill together on "Child of the Wild West." Could B-Real not work at a proper drum & bass tempo? Who's choice was it to do the "murda dem" thing in the hook? We're glad Cypress ended up knocking out an EP with Rusko; stick to those slower tempos, B!

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Korn's "The Path of Totality" Album

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We're just confused at the point of all of this. At times, the music of Skrillex, Kill the Noise, and Noisia carries the fury that heavy metal and hard rock does, but what was the necessity of this? It was more of a conversation piece than anything, as the album didn't make much of an impact. It did give Jonathan Davis the nudge he needed to start Killbot, which was a far worse idea than Path of Totality.

Ludacris & David Guetta

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No. Just, no. No to whomever signed off on "Rest of My Life" as being a good idea. No to Ludacris for going so saccharine over this obvious pop reach. Why abandon what you're known for to try and fit in? This track could have effectively been David Guetta featuring Usher and any Sweet'N Low rapper that was laying around. Luda's an afterthought on his own song, and it ended up being a glaring misstep in his current evolution into whatever he's planning on being.

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Steve Aoki & Rivers Cuomo

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We love collaborations, trust. And while they don't always work out, or have whatever "desired impact" they're supposed to, we want to at least feel natural. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is not the artist that we figure would be working with Steve Aoki, but Aoki also has a rock background, so we kind of understand the desire. Then we saw the video for "Earthquakey People." Forget the fact that Cuomo's vocal isn't what we'd normally expect for a pop-leaning electro house track; Cuomo just gives off a super awkward vibe. We can't see Rivers dancing, or enjoying himself in this video. Obligations be damned, damn.

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Tiesto & Three 6 Mafia

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Tiesto's never turned down the right price, and in 2009, Three 6 Mafia was in a situation where they had their tenth album, Laws of Power, on the horizon, and it feels like they were at a crossroads, really trying to figure out how to keep that mainstream money coming in. Judging by how WTF-worthy "Feel It" with Tiesto was, how Juicy J's doing his solo thing, and Laws of Power not being available (or released), it might be Tiesto's fault.

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Goldie & David Bowie

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"Truth" was part of Goldie's sophomore album, Saturnzreturn. Word was that during the Metalheadz night at Blue Note's heyday, David Bowie was one of the celebrities frequenting the Sunday night institution. With him going through his own electronic phase during the late 1990s, it made sense that Goldie and Bowie would link up at some point. On an ambient track, though? Why not go ahead and, in the very least, throw a 'Headz-era breakbeat underneath this? It feels like an opportunity escaped us.

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Paul Oakenfold & Azealia Banks

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Maybe it's us. Aside from Azealia Banks' many beefs, she's actually not bad on the mic. Tracks from her 212 EP had us rocking, and when she goes "dance music," we like her fucking with the quirkier side of things. More Machinedrum, less generic EDM, please.

Photo Credit: World Red Eye

The Crystal Method & Filter

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The soundtrack to the movie Spawn (aka Spawn: The Album) featured the electronica version of rock acts working with electronic music producers. The Crystal Method was on the upswing, and they linked with Filter for some weird, hybrid tracks that effectively sound like lame Chemical Brothers impersonations. The sad part? The soundtrack album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, and stayed on the chart for half of the year.

Skrillex & A$AP Rocky

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The problem with this collaboration is that it got billed as a collaboration, but it really was just A$AP Rocky affixing some verses to an already-existing (and pretty damn popular) Skrillex remix. He had a readymade topic, and just added some lines about A$AP and "his n*gga" Skrillex. And in the end of the day, there are many better examples of when hip-hop and dubstep collide.

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Afrojack & Pitbull, Ne-Yo

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Ne-Yo's actually got the voice to be considered one of the better popular male singers for dance music. He knows how to ride house beats well, and has enough soul to keep things intriguing. He's also the only good thing about this project. And this might be more because we're just not understanding the Pitbull craze. For a time, he was just over everything. We get it, he had that touch for a time, but really, we couldn't decipher a number of his recent string of singles if you just gave us a title.

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