Hottest Feature Artists of 2019
By TRodriguez23547 of SOFLOSOUND.com
The rap feature is a thing of beauty. The moment a track can get as stale as two-week old Thanksgiving leftovers, a new voice comes in and elevates the same song to the next level. In 2019, hip-hop has become as collaborative as ever; if you're a mainstream MC dropping an album with no features, it's considered a risk. There's a reason why J. Cole going double platinum with no features is such a big deal; quality notwithstanding, going it solo on a batch of tracks is much more difficult than having a few extra hands on deck.
But features are more than just a way for artists to get the most out of a song. Since the dawn of the rap feature, the use of outside performers is a great representation of what the hip-hop landscape is like today. From big names to guaranteed hitmakers, today's artists may need a good feature list to bring in the streams, album sales, and screaming fans at the venue. The collaborators gotta be coherent, up-to-date, and eye grabbing while also sticking to the listeners' current tastes…
So what do some of 2019's most-wanted collaborators show about the rap industry today? Let's go over a few of the most acclaimed or desirable features on today's charts, and see their biggest feature contributions and what they brought to 2019… 1. Megan Thee Stallion
Appeared on: "Big Booty", Woptober II "She Live", Brandon Banks Bodied: "Handsome", The Big Day (arguably the most enjoyable verse on the record…)
Megan Thee Stallion not getting a Grammy nom is a crime worthy of industry excommunication, but besides that, Megan's presence in 2019 was absolutely electrifying and noticeable. She somehow always managed to bring an equally hardened but seductive style that gets the crowd shaking their behinds. What's more is that Megan has substance: her flow is impeccable, her persona magnetic and her confidence just infectious. 2019 was a year of women taking the mic as their own, and Megan was the frontrunner of this. Who else to show that there's gender equality on the mic in 2019 than the H-Town Hottie who brings what the crowd wants: sex, bars, and twerk anthems that'll break the booty scale in the club.
2. DaBaby
Appeared on: "Enemies", Hollywood's Bleeding "Panini" (Remix), Lil Nas X "Cash S**t), Fever Bodied: "Under the Sun", Revenge of the Dreamers III
DaBaby is easily 2019's biggest rising star. Going from dropping tapes featuring photoshopped Boss Baby art to being the biggest highlight on a track featuring J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, DaBaby brings a personality and ego that's reminiscent of larger-than-life bling era flexing. DaBaby was the avatar for many rap fans that just wanted to feel good; in times that can be as trying for so many, it's always good to live vicariously through DaBaby's success and come up. What's even more, is that he is a perfect example of how the internet impacts hip-hop more and more each year. With his incredibly popular Instagram shenanigans, including dancing with money and beating the pants off naysayers in the mall, he manages to make the news while also bringing back a sliver of older school, braggadocious rap that climbs the charts and brings the bump.
3. Travis Scott
Appeared On: "Hot (Remix)", So Much Fun "The London", So Much Fun "Whip", Rap or Go to the League "Mile High", Assume Form "Take What You Want", Hollywood's Bleeding "First Off", The WIZRD Bodied: None
Travis Scott is a man of many talents and even more net worth. 2019 was a year devoid of Travis Scott album releases, with the drought being only salvaged with his insane guest presence on mainstream trap albums. 2019 was the year after Astroworld, one of the most monumental rap albums of the past few years, so it's only natural that in the shadow of that record, everyone would want more Travis. Plenty of feature spots were given to Scott, no doubt for high prices, but in all honesty, no Travis feature really killed the song. Take a shot for every big trap album that had a track with Travis crooning some autotune into the hook; I guarantee you'll be drunk-calling Maria (ala Rodeo). Everyone just wants some more Travis, but it seems that he's taking it easy, focusing on his stage shows and settling in as the 2nd biggest feature-monger in the game behind Lord Quavo. If rap features were a name brand, he'd be the Adidas of the game; his name carries weight, even if some of the designs can be wack…
4. J Cole Appears On: "How Did I Get Here", Father of 4 "Purple Emoji" (Single), Ty Dolla $ign "The London", So Much Fun "Family and Loyalty", One of the Best Yet Bodied: "A Lot", I Am > I Was
Three things are guaranteed in 2019: death, taxes, and J. Cole slander. While his solo material is up for debate, no one can deny the versatility and human element that the North Carolina rap guru brings to every guest verse he lays down. Let's face the facts: J. Cole can go from talking solely about his wife on an R&B ballad, to rapping his ass off on a Premo beat. While some lines may be a bit suspect, his flow has seriously improved over the years, he can stick to a topic pretty damn well, and he has consistently high-quality output. 2019 was the year that the Dreamville collective really came into their own, with Earthgang, JID, and Ari Lennox becoming well-known forces in the industry. Their leader and mentor is J. Cole, so why shouldn’t he be the go-to guest to present Dreamville's down to earth philosophy to fans of both trap and conscious hip-hop.
5. Anderson Paak
Appears On: "RNP", The Lost Boy "Giannis", Bandana "Feel the Vibe", 1123 Bodied: "More", Flamagra
Cheeky, cheeky Andy. For albums that fall slightly below the radar of popularity, Anderson Paak is the embodiment of old-fashioned rap and raspy crooning mixing into a delicious soul-food dinner. His cocky attitude never comes off as aggressive, more so as a smooth mover and player. 2019 was a year where the gap between hip hop and singing almost completely evaporated, with some of the more underground rap projects of the year continuing the decade's trend of old school rap/R&B worship. If anyone's voice screams nostalgia and enjoyability, its Paak's. He always killed his features, often pushing the songs he was on to be the hot single of their respective albums. You want a guaranteed hit on your throwback record? Throw Andy on a track and let the cash roll in.
6. Pusha T
Bodied: "Use This Gospel", Jesus is King "Maybach Music VI", Port of Miami 2 "Palmolive", Bandana "Nightmares are Real", The Lost Boy "18 Wheeler", The Plugs I Met
King Push has gone from "respected coke rap legend" to "the drug dealer GOAT that murders every track and Canadian rap career in sight". Pusha's stellar 2018 year had naturally bled into 2019, with his notoriety as the meanest dealer out of Virginia only making him the most wanted voice for a rap feature. Putting Pusha T on your track, however, is a double-edged sword. By willingly putting him on their track, many artists simply got destroyed on their own song. Sometimes, his verses are so disgusting that they get left off the album altogether, ala "Maybach Music VI". His murder streak continues to this day, and by having his name on their album, any artist will get instant credit for at least trying to trade bars with the Cocaine King. For the oldheads and fans of lyrical substance in the game (of which there are many in 2019), Pusha was a beacon of both hope and despair.
7. Gunna and Young Thug
Appeared on: "Surf", So Much Fun "Hot", So Much Fun "Unicorn Purp", The WIZRD "3 Headed Snake", Drip or Drown 2
As far as master and student relationships go in hip-hop in 2019, none epitomized the year's melodic and luxurious focus quite like Gunna and Young Thug. As a duo, the ATL crooners made nearly every song they appeared on a success on both the charts and the whip. Something about them working as a pair resembles a trap-infused yin and yang, with Thugger bringing an absurdity to his singing and rapping that is always cancelled out by Gunna's smoothness, coming together to bring a beautiful blend of trap ignorance. Valuable on their own, Thugger and Gunna both had their moments to shine in the mainstream this year (especially Thugger on "Versace High Tops), but as a pair they channeled their inner Obi-Wan and Anakin to bring the goods on hooks and verses. What better way to demonstrate Thugger's huge mainstream breakthrough and stylistic influence in 2019 than the popular demand of the YSL King and Prince?
Hip-hop in 2019 was huge, although not necessarily dominated by any particular trends. Maybe the end of the decade was less of a time for advancement and more of a time to look back on what made the decade so enjoyable as a whole. It's easy to see why: the decade ushered in an entirely new cast of excellent women rappers (like Meg) that could body any male MC, viral rappers known for their social media presence (Dababy), and the return to some of hip-hop's roots in cutthroat lyricism and soul (Pusha and Paak). The decade itself was an amalgamation of all of rap's old trends, while bringing in new blends of sounds and styles to create something wholly enjoyable and fresh , and this is all captured by the guest artists here. Here’s to 2020's most in-demand features being as impactful and representative of the artform as these artists are!