We’ll be celebrating Black Music Month all June long, bringing you weekly stories on the pioneers who paved the way for Black musicians to rise up the charts in addition to profiling the many currently pushing the culture forward.
When a collective of musicians know how to play well together, it can create lasting memories on all levels for fans — we get high-energy remixes on the charts, joint interviews that always make for good viewing, and even collaborative concerts if their schedules link up. In short, many of our faves have come to the realization that it’s easy to dominate the industry when you clique up.
RELATED: 20 Greatest Black Duets Over The Past 20 Years
Speaking of collaborative concerts by crew members, R&B queen Erykah Badu will be hitting the road this summer with her fellow Soulquarian brother Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def. As the flyer also teases “more extraordinary guests,” we’ll definitely be holding out hope that we see an on-stage reunion with all the group members at their upcoming Unfollow Me Tour.
Fingers crossed!
It got us thinking about a few other music collectives throughout Black music history that rocked the Billboard charts and beyond as a solid unit. Who could forget the joint effort of Timbaland’s production and Missy Elliott’s songwriting turning both Aaliyah and Ginuwine into modern-day R&B icons? Imagine trying to choose between the members of Wu-Tang Clan when you have Liquid Swords, Tical, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… to choose from — that’s not even including their debut group LP, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)! What Diddy formed with Bad Boy, even with the many mishaps that’ve gone down over the past few decades, still continues to prove that he knows how to market a superstar or two.
Take a look at 10 standout collectives of Black musicians that made history when they came together, and let us know some of your favorite Black music cliques:
Members: Jungle Brothers (Mike Gee / Sammy B / Afrika Baby Bam) De La Soul (Posdnuos / Maseo / Trugoy the Dove) A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip / Phife Dawg / Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Jarobi White) Monie Love Queen Latifah Black Sheep (Dres / Mista Lawnge) Chi-Ali
2. WU-TANG CLAN
Members: RZA GZA Inspectah Deck U-God Ghostface Killah Method Man Raekwon Masta Killa Cappadonna Ol’ Dirty Bastard
3. DA BASSMENT CREW / SUPERFRIENDS
Members: Timbaland Magoo Missy Elliott Aaliyah Ginuwine Tweet Nicole Wray Playa (Smoke E. Digglera / Digital Black / Static Major)
4. BAD BOY
Members: The Notorious B.I.G. Craig Mack Faith Evans Total (Kima Raynor / Keisha Spivey / Pamela Long) 112 (Marvin “Slim” Scandrick / Michael “Mike” Keith / Quinnes “Q” Parker / Daron Jones) Mase Mario Winans The Lox (Jadakiss / Styles P / Sheek Louch) Black Rob Carl Thomas Shyne Dream (Holly Blake-Arnstein / Diana Ortiz / Ashley Poole / Melissa Schuman / Kasey Sheridan / Alex Chester) G. Dep Loon Da Band (Sara Rivers / Dylan Dilinjah / Chopper “Young City” / Babs / Ness / Freddy P) 8Ball & MJG Boyz n da Hood (Young Jeezy / Big Duke / Big Gee / Jody Breeze / Gorilla Zoe) Cheri Dennis New Edition Red Café B5 Yung Joc Dirty Money (Kalenna Harper / Dawn Richard) Danity Kane (Aundrea Fimbres / D. Woods / Shannon Bex / Dawn Richard / Aubrey O’Day) Day26 (Robert Curry / Willie Taylor / Michael “Big Mike” McCluney / Qwanell “Que” Mosley / Brian Angel) Donnie Klang Cassie
5. ROC-A-FELLA
Members: Jay-Z Memphis Bleek Amil State Property (Beanie Sigel / Freeway / Peedi Crakk / Young Chris / Neef Buck / Omillio Sparks / Oschino Vasquez) Christión The Diplomats (Cam’ron / Jim Jones / Juelz Santana / Freekey Zekey) DJ Clue Héctor el Father Just Blaze Kanye West Teairra Mari Rell
6. THE SOULQUARIANS
Members: Erykah Badu Bilal Common D’Angelo Roy Hargrove Talib Kweli Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) Pino Palladino James Poyser Q-Tip Questlove J Dilla
7. RUFF RYDERS
Members: Big Stan Cassidy DMX Drag-On Swizz Beatz Eve Fiend Infa-Red & Cross The Lox (Jadakiss / Sheek Louch / Styles P) MC Jin Yung Wun Loose Parlè
8. DEATH ROW
Members: The D.O.C. Dr. Dre 2Pac Michel’le Jewell The Lady of Rage Nate Dogg RBX Sam Sneed Danny Boy J-Flexx O.F.T.B. Johnny J LBC Crew Prince Ital Joe Butch Cassidy
9. DIPSET
Members: Cam’ron Freekey Zekey Jimmy Jones Juelz Santana 40 Cal. J.R. Writer Hell Rell
10. G-UNIT
Members: 50 Cent Tony Yayo Lloyd Banks Young Buck The Game Mobb Deep Lil Scrappy Kidd Kidd Olivia
