Rap Rock - History

History

In 1986, Run–D.M.C. collaborated with Aerosmith on a remake of the latter's earlier song, "Walk This Way", first released in 1975. The success of the "Walk This Way" remake helped bring hip hop into popularity with a mainstream white audience, following an earlier experimental track by rap artist LL Cool J, "Rock the Bells", where he had fused conventional rap lyrics over a hard rock arrangement. Beastie Boys, formerly a hardcore punk group, began working in the hip hop genre. Their debut album, Licensed to Ill, largely featured a rock-based sound. In 1991, thrash metal band Anthrax collaborated with political hip hop outfit Public Enemy on a version of the latter's "Bring the Noise", which saw rapped vocals shared between the Anthrax's Scott Ian and Public Enemy's Chuck D over a heavy electric guitar and electric bass riff.

Rap rock began to enter the mainstream arena in the 1990s. American rock bands such as 311, 24-7 Spyz, Faith No More, Living Colour, and Rage Against the Machine fused rock and hip hop influences. Simultaneously, British bands like Pop Will Eat Itself and Senser were similarly shaping the genre across Europe. The soundtrack for the 1993 film Judgment Night featured 11 collaborations between hip hop and rock musicians. Urban Dance Squad mixed funk, heavy metal, hip hop and punk. Biohazard, who collaborated with hardcore hip hop group Onyx on the Judgment Night soundtrack, is also considered to be a pioneering act in the genre. Cypress Hill's Black Sunday featured a rock-based sound and artwork which, according to Allmusic reviewer Steve Huey, resembled that of heavy metal bands.

Rap rock gained mainstream popularity in the late 1990s. Among the first wave of performers to gain mainstream success were 311, Bloodhound Gang, Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit.