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Didn't Jonas Brothers make a cameo on Timbaland's last album. Of course, The Beatles featured Eric Clapton on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", no?

how about Bing Crosby and David Bowie? It's now one of my favorite holiday songs!

All I need was w/ Mary & Method Man not Redman

This isn't new. Guesting used to promote an artist between releases, boost a new artists presence by lending credibility, or develop an unknown artist by guesting on bigger name artist's tracks. It was a form of artist development. Today it seems solely a way to dupe listeners into buying music they wouldn't otherwise buy. Its all marketing. Hip Hop is so played out that quality and talent takes a backseat to marketing and hype.

SNL did a great music video mocking this trend (in my interpretation)

of c&c music factory W/ right said fred

Despite the belief that hip-hop is exploding,the reason for the cameo is due to a lack of real talent in the industry.

Artists cannot make a decent single, let alone album, on their own. Instead, they have to rely upon a "name" to sell the song. This ruins the legitimacy of new artists.

Look at any R&B or hip-hop album. The biggest question during the interview is (a) who are your PRODUCERS (underscore the plural) and (b) who did you work with? The answer is then a litnay of names. It doesn't matter if the artist is established or if the artist is new.

This is just one more nail signaling the end of real music as we know it. It is all about licensing and sales.

And to think that duets and collaborations were a big deal. I guess "You're All I Need" by Mary J. Blige and Redman was the beginning of the end.

Who knew?!

HIP HOP IS JUST GROWING AT AN ENORMOUS RATE. SO ITS NO SURPRISE TO ME THAT HIP HOP ARTISTS ARE MAKING MORE AND MORE APPEARENCES. IF YOU WOULD LOOK AT SALES OF THESE ALBUMS, YOU COULD SEE WHY SHOWS ARE INVITING THEM TO PERFORM ON THEIR STAGE. RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS.