Lionel Richie’s music has been embraced by Hip Hop, from Commodores samples in hits like Beastie Boys’ “Hey Ladies” and Eric B. & Rakim’s “Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em” to interpolations in R. Kelly’s “Fiesta.” Although last year’s “We Are The World 25 For Haiti” found Richie conducting sung vocals from emcee/singer Wyclef Jean, Lionel has never officially released material with a Hip Hop artist, and Miami, Florida’s Rick Ross recently revealed that he hopes to be the first.
“When I think of great music, I don’t categorize it. It’s just music. My favorite album is [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller album; that’s why I named my second album Trilla,” began Ross, speaking with Mikey T The Moviestar in a video interview. “When I think of great artists [a list of names] comes to mind – those are the artists that Hip Hop hasn’t collaborated with. There’s a very fine line between [those worlds]. I would love to be one of the first [Hip Hop] artists to collaborate with a legend such as Lionel Richie on a record that I feel the world would accept.”
The video can be seen below:
