Grex Music3 Conference

Item 89: The Rock 'n Rap item

Entered by jaklumen on Sun Apr 28 09:08:43 2002:

Rehashing a few bits of obscure material from the old music cf (I'd 
look, but I don't know how to access it right now)

Quite a bit of modern rock is infused with some rap in the lyrics, and 
some of the instrumentation is influenced by funk or hip-hop.  There 
was a lot of concern that commercial rock was going to die due to the 
popularity of mainstream hip-hop before this trend apparently boosted 
sales again, although the practice is hardly new.

The Beastie Boys were among the pioneers of this trend, rapping to 
rock beats.  (Can anyone remember any notable others?  List them 
below.)  Although they have changed their style to old school sounds 
with distortion, their affect seems to be felt in much of the rock I 
am hearing on commercial rock radio.

I am sure there are still purists, although this is not the first 
intrusion into hard rock and metal.  Trent Reznor has apparently 
convinced the mainstream rock world that electronica is okay again, 
judging from the lavish praise rock station DJs give him from time to 
time for his contribution.  This will likely be discussed in another 
item, however.
3 responses total.
#1 of 3 by scott on Sun Apr 28 13:14:33 2002:

I'd put the Run DMC / Aerosmith crossover ahead of the Beastie Boys, but I
could be wrong.

#2 of 3 by jaklumen on Sun Apr 28 23:03:54 2002:

Well, it's a question of which came into mainstream attention first, I 
guess.  I'm fairly sure that the Beastie Boys were working long and 
hard before Run DMC and Aerosmith decided to come together on a remake 
of "Walk This Way."  Did "You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party" 
come first?

Ah, here we go.. thank goodness for Google.  Tough call-- I can't seem 
to get exact dates.  _License To Ill_ and "Walk This Way" were both 
released in 1986.  According to the Beastie Boys site (link: 
http://www.beastieboys.com/timeline/index.php?year=1986), _License to 
Ill_ was the first rap album to reach #1 on the charts, and set sales 
records for that genre.

I think the former might be a bit more influential, although the video 
to "Walk This Way" might have been more dramatic.

***

Now.. besides Rage Against the Machine, what other progressive rock 'n 
rappers have there been recently?

#3 of 3 by jaklumen on Mon May 20 11:19:53 2002:

It would seem that Linkin Park is drawing upon the hip-hop genre 
heavily in recent recordings.

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