Rap rock
Encyclopedia
Rap rock is a cross-genre
fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop
with various forms of rock
. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal
and rapcore
, subgenres that include heavy metal
-oriented and hardcore punk
-oriented bands, respectively.
as having "big, lurching beats and heavy, heavy riffs" that "occasionally [...] [sound] as if the riffs were merely overdubbed over scratching and beat box beats", and described rap rock as having a more organic sound, characterizing many songs in the genre as rock songs in which the vocals were rapped
rather than sung
. Allmusic also states that the rhythms of rap rock are rooted in that of hip hop, with more funk influences than normal hard rock.
Hed PE, which fuses punk rock
with hip hop, sometimes incorporates reggae
and heavy metal influences. According to Rolling Stone
writer Rob Kemp, Incubus
' 1997 album S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
"links funk metal
to the rap metal". Kottonmouth Kings
perform a style which they refer to as "psychedelic
hip-hop punk rock". Kid Rock
incorporates country
and Southern rock
influences, and is backed by a 10 piece band, while Everlast
fuses blues
and rock with hip hop, performing with a live band that includes a DJ
.
The lyrical themes of rap rock vary. According to Allmusic, "most rap-metal bands during the mid- to late '90s blended an ultra-aggressive, testosterone-heavy theatricality with either juvenile humor or an introspective angst learned through alternative metal.".
Although some alternative metal
and nu metal
bands incorporate hip hop beats, rap rock bands were always fronted by rappers. Rock bands generally not associated with rap rock have experimented with hip hop influences, including rapping
. Such bands have included Blondie
, The Clash
, Rush
and Beck
. Many rappers have sampled
rock songs, including Ice-T
, The Fat Boys
, LL Cool J
, Public Enemy, Whodini
Vanilla Ice
and Esham
.
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. 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.
Rap rock began to enter the mainstream arena in the 1990s. Rock bands such as 311
, 24-7 Spyz
, Faith No More
, Living Colour
, and Red Hot Chili Peppers
fused rock and hip hop influences. The soundtrack album
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
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-90s. Among the first wave of performers to gain mainstream success were 311
, Bloodhound Gang
,, Kid Rock
and Limp Bizkit
.
Cross-genre
A cross-genre is a genre in fiction that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres.-Examples:*Action comedy *Comedy-drama or dramedy *Comedy-horror...
fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
with various forms of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal
Rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
and rapcore
Rapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
, subgenres that include heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
-oriented and hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
-oriented bands, respectively.
Characteristics
Allmusic describes rap metalRap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
as having "big, lurching beats and heavy, heavy riffs" that "occasionally [...] [sound] as if the riffs were merely overdubbed over scratching and beat box beats", and described rap rock as having a more organic sound, characterizing many songs in the genre as rock songs in which the vocals were rapped
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
rather than sung
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
. Allmusic also states that the rhythms of rap rock are rooted in that of hip hop, with more funk influences than normal hard rock.
Hed PE, which fuses punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
with hip hop, sometimes incorporates reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and heavy metal influences. According to Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer Rob Kemp, Incubus
Incubus (band)
Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
' 1997 album S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is the second album by American rock band Incubus, released on September 9, 1997. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA. It has been mentioned by lead singer Brandon Boyd that the acronym S.C.I.E.N.C.E...
"links funk metal
Funk metal
Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...
to the rap metal". Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings is an American rap rock group from Placentia, Orange County, California. Kottonmouth Kings officially formed in 1994, and describe themselves as "psychedelic hip-hop punk rock"...
perform a style which they refer to as "psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
hip-hop punk rock". Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
incorporates country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
influences, and is backed by a 10 piece band, while Everlast
Everlast (musician)
Erik Francis Schrody , better known by his stage name Everlast, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and songwriter, known for his solo hit "What It's Like" and as the front-man for rap group House of Pain. He is also part of the hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, which consists of members of...
fuses blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and rock with hip hop, performing with a live band that includes a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
.
The lyrical themes of rap rock vary. According to Allmusic, "most rap-metal bands during the mid- to late '90s blended an ultra-aggressive, testosterone-heavy theatricality with either juvenile humor or an introspective angst learned through alternative metal.".
Although some alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
and nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
bands incorporate hip hop beats, rap rock bands were always fronted by rappers. Rock bands generally not associated with rap rock have experimented with hip hop influences, including rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. Such bands have included Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
and Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
. Many rappers have sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
rock songs, including Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
, The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys are a successful African American hip-hop music trio from Brooklyn, New York City, that emerged in the early 1980s. Briefly, the group was known originally as the Disco 3.-Members:*Mark Morales a.k.a. "Prince Markie Dee"...
, LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, Public Enemy, Whodini
Whodini
Whodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, aka Ecstasy ; and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee.-Early years:Whodini was among the first hip-hop groups to...
Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...
and Esham
Esham
Rashaam Attica Smith, better known by his stage name Esham , is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop which he refers to as "acid rap", which fuses rock-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and...
.
History
In 1986, Run-D.M.C.Run-D.M.C.
Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
collaborated with Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
on a remake of the latter's earlier song, "Walk This Way
Walk This Way
"Walk This Way" is a song by American hard rock group Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic. It peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977, part of a string of successful hit...
", first released in 1975. The success of the "Walk This Way" remake helped bring hip hop into popularity with a mainstream white audience. Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, formerly a hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
group, began working in the hip hop genre. Their debut album, Licensed to Ill
Licensed to Ill
In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Sources 100 Best Rap Albums.It is still the only album by a white hip-hop act to receive the coveted 5 mics from The Source....
, largely featured a rock-based sound.
Rap rock began to enter the mainstream arena in the 1990s. Rock bands such as 311
311
Year 311 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Maximinus...
, 24-7 Spyz
24-7 Spyz
24-7 Spyz are a band from the South Bronx, New York, formed in 1986, originally consisting of Jimi Hazel , Rick Skatore , Kindu Phibes , and P. Fluid . The band is best known for mixing soul, funk, reggae, and R&B with heavy metal and hardcore punk...
, Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
, Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
, and Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
fused rock and hip hop influences. The soundtrack album
Judgment Night (soundtrack)
Judgment Night is the soundtrack to the film of the same name. It was released on September 14, 1993 through Epic Records and was produced by many of the album's performers. Every song on the soundtrack was a collaboration between hip-hop artists and rock / metal artists...
for the 1993 film Judgment Night
Judgment Night (film)
Judgment Night is a 1993 action thriller film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Emilio Estévez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven and Stephen Dorff as a group of friends on the run from a group of drug dealers after they witness a murder...
featured 11 collaborations between hip hop and rock musicians. Urban Dance Squad
Urban Dance Squad
Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch rap rock band formed after what was originally intended as a one-time jam-session at a festival in Utrecht on December 20, 1986...
mixed funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, heavy metal, hip hop and punk. Biohazard
Biohazard (band)
Biohazard is a band originally based in Brooklyn, New York. They are acknowledged as one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip hop. The original lineup consisted of Vocalist/Guitarist Billy Graziadei, bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld, guitarist Bobby Hambel,...
is also considered to be a pioneering act in the genre. Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
's Black Sunday
Black Sunday (album)
Black Sunday is the second album by rap group Cypress Hill. It was released on July 20, 1993. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling 261,000 copies in its first week, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group at the time. The album went Triple platinum in the U.S...
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-90s. Among the first wave of performers to gain mainstream success were 311
311 (band)
311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson , bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills and drummer Chad Sexton...
, Bloodhound Gang
Bloodhound Gang
Bloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American comedy band, although it began as a rap group and gradually changed its genre throughout the years...
,, Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
and Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
.