A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Friday metal – rap-metal edition

Two great tastes that taste great together. Well, sometimes… This particular cross-hybridization has spawned a lot of junk (Limp Bizkit, anyone?), but also some interesting stuff. Here’s a sampling:

Onyx and Biohazard, “Judgment Night” (from the soundtrack of the movie by the same name; this featured a bunch of metal/rap team ups):

Anthrax, “I’m The Man”:

and “Bring the Noise” with Public Enemy:

Faith No More (pre-Mike Patton), “We Care A Lot”:

and with Patton (Live at Rock in Rio doing “We Care A Lot” and “Epic):

Rage Against the Machine, “Bulls On Parade”:

Beastie Boys, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” featuring none other than Kerry King from Slayer on guitar!

And, of course, the ur-rock/rap collaboration:

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9 responses to “Friday metal – rap-metal edition”

  1. thekibitzer

    I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard Limp Bizkit but I’ve been a fan of Linkin Park for a few years – and as I understand it they’re pretty similar. Why don’t you like Limp Bizkit? Does it apply to Linkin Park, if you’re familiar with them?

    I really like the Rage Against the Machine song. I may have to check them out. Do they normally combine rap and metal?

    Jeremy

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  2. Lee

    Jeremy, you’re either pulling my leg or you’re a very young guy. (Though I suppose the two aren’t mutually exclusive!)

    RATM put out their first album in, I think, ’91, so they were doing the rap/rock thing a while ago. I remember reading a review of the album in Spin magazine which described it as a cross between the Beastie Boys and Helmet, so I knew right away that I had to pick it up. One of the cool things about it is that there’s a lot of rap sounds – scratching, etc. – but they’re all done with guitars. And they put out at least two or three albums after that.

    Are you familiar with the band Audioslave? It consists of the former members of RATM + the ex-singer from Soundgarden, though they don’t really do any of the rap stuff.

    I can’t claim to be a big fan of Linkin Park, though they do have a few catchy songs. But the less said about Limp Bizkit the better!

    Reply
  3. thekibitzer

    I’m not pulling your leg and I’m not that young – I’ll be 31 next month. However, spending all but the last five years of your life in wacked-out legalism puts the kibosh on musical enjoyment. The first twenty years were spent listening to quartet style Southern Gospel and the next five on CCM. Making more sense now? Heck, it took me a minute to figure out that was Aerosmith in that video above. It’s sad, really. I’m trying to catch up.

    Obviously I don’t know much about metal and hard rock. Aside from the aforementioned Linkin Park the only other band I like that fits into those general categories is Creed – they actually rate as one of my favorite bands, unlike Linkin Park. I’ve also listened to a little of Alter Bridge, which I understand is Creed minus Scott Stapp. Have mercy on me, a neophyte.

    Reply
  4. Lee

    Ah – that explains it! By contrast, my family were the most casual of churchgoers at best, and I spent my formative teenage years being both anti-religion and positively obsessed with music: metal, punk, alternative, rap, etc. I sometimes forget that not everyone was similarly obsessed! Though I do rather envy your exposure to gospel, which I know next to nothing about. I have dipped my toe into the CCM market now and then too (I like Jars of Clay a lot and also Sixpence None the Richer, though I’m not sure they’re properly CCM).

    Reply
  5. Lee

    P.S. Why so shy about the new blog? I just discovered it!

    Reply
  6. thekibitzer

    I still have a real affection for the mountain music (that’s about the closest appropriate term) of those fundie days. Nothing like it in the world. Here’s a MySpace memorial to one of the icons of that style of music and worship. It has a real power, even if I’m far from it theologically.

    Not shy, really. I’m a little embarrassed at how much I’ve moved around and I didn’t want to send out emails to everyone saying I had moved yet again.

    Reply
  7. LP

    I had forgotten about that Onyx/Biohazard collab…what a great song. It’s probably been 15 years or so since I last listened to it.

    Anthrax and Rage regularly pop up when I set the ipod to shuffle. Rage was in regular rotation while I was in seminary. I guess the whole social justice focus of their music really spoke to me then, being at a liberal, mainline div school and all.

    Reply
  8. Lee

    A bit different from “We Shall Overcome”!

    Reply
  9. rap

    no bad…

    Reply

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