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The best rap duos of all time: 15 hip-hop duos to know
By the AI Rap Video Generator team · Published
In brief
A rap duo works when two voices make each other better: one sets up, the other lands it, and the chemistry is the whole point. These are 15 of the best rap duos of all time, from the 1980s to the 2020s, with where they came from and one record to start with. The order is roughly by era, not a ranking.
15 rap duos, by era
| Duo | Members | From | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eric B. & Rakim | Eric B., Rakim | Long Island, New York | Paid in Full (1987) |
| EPMD | Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith | Brentwood, New York | Strictly Business (1988) |
| DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince | Jeff Townes, Will Smith | Philadelphia | He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988) |
| Pete Rock & CL Smooth | Pete Rock, CL Smooth | Mount Vernon, New York | Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992) |
| Kris Kross | Chris Kelly, Chris Smith | Atlanta | Totally Krossed Out (1992) |
| OutKast | André 3000, Big Boi | Atlanta | Aquemini (1998) |
| Mobb Deep | Prodigy, Havoc | Queens, New York | The Infamous (1995) |
| UGK | Bun B, Pimp C | Port Arthur, Texas | Ridin' Dirty (1996) |
| Gang Starr | Guru, DJ Premier | Brooklyn, New York | Moment of Truth (1998) |
| Black Star | Mos Def, Talib Kweli | Brooklyn | Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998) |
| Method Man & Redman | Method Man, Redman | New York and New Jersey | Blackout! (1999) |
| Clipse | Pusha T, Malice | Virginia Beach | Hell Hath No Fury (2006) |
| Run the Jewels | El-P, Killer Mike | Brooklyn and Atlanta | Run the Jewels 2 (2014) |
| Rae Sremmurd | Swae Lee, Slim Jxmmi | Tupelo, Mississippi | SremmLife (2015) |
| Unc & Phew | Quavo, Takeoff | Gwinnett County, Georgia | Only Built for Infinity Links (2022) |
What makes a great rap duo
- Contrast: OutKast paired a Southern storyteller with an experimental one, and each made the other sound new.
- A producer and a voice: Gang Starr and Pete Rock & CL Smooth split the work between beats and bars.
- Family: Rae Sremmurd are brothers, and Unc & Phew were an uncle and his nephew.
- Back-and-forth: the best duo verses trade lines like a conversation, not two solos glued together.
Start your own duo (on video)
Got a partner in rhyme? Add a photo of you and one of your friend on our ai rap video generator and you get a 12-second clip of the two of you trading four lines written for you (edit any line), lip-synced on a stage you pick. A 720p video is 10 credits.
For the orange-wall duo trend, try hotel lobby ai, or go head to head in the ai rap battle generator.
FAQ
There is no single answer, but OutKast, Eric B. & Rakim and UGK are on almost every list.
OutKast and Kris Kross, plus Run the Jewels, which pairs Atlanta's Killer Mike with Brooklyn's El-P.
Yes. Rae Sremmurd are brothers, and Quavo and Takeoff, who recorded as Unc & Phew, were uncle and nephew.
Yes. Add a photo of each of you, write four lines, and the creator makes a 12-second duo clip.
Sources
What's new on this page
- Published with 15 duos from the 1980s to the 2020s.
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Make your AI rap video
Two photos and four lines. You only pay once the lyrics are right.