The formula for a chart-topping rap song in the 2010s was simple: a female pop star singing a short-but-sweet chorus and some heavy-hitting bars. While “Both of Us,” B.o.B’s collaboration with Taylor Swift, didn’t achieve quite the same success as 2010’s “Airplanes,” it found both artists embracing their pop-star power in ways they hadn’t before. “I wish I was strong enough / To lift not one, but both of us,” Swift dreamily croons in the refrain, before B.o.B launches into an uplifting examination of class, society, and what really matters. The collab — which arrived months before Taylor burst her country bubble with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” — came as a bit of a shock to listeners who would’ve never imagined the two joining forces, but with its sticky chorus, plucky instrumental, and motivational message, it’s become an oft-forgotten gem in both artists’ discographies. —Carson Mlnarik
Tagged: music