The HipHop Rock Phenomenon

The earliest recorded example of this fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, came in 1985 with the release of Run DMC’s “Rock Box”. The song featured a beat which sounded more like an AC/DC instrumental than what your average hip-hop consumer had grown accustomed to, nevertheless underneath the vocals of Run DMC the song was their first bonafied crossover hit. The single even landed them onto heavy rotation on MTV, making Ru

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On recordings such as “Good Time Boys” from the bands critically acclaimed album Mothers Milk, it is not hard to see that he is indeed rapping to the beat as opposed to the usually singing which one would expect from an alternative band. De La Rocha, whose previous experience as a rapper in various Los Angeles hip-hop groups, fit perfectly over the hard rock beats provided by his band mates. The song was only the first of a long string of hits for the group to feature hard rock beats, of course with pumped up bass and the prerequisite turntable scratch.

Despite what the media is trying to sell the public, do not believe the hype. Fortunately the music scene was finally ready for their sound, which led to the group gaining critical

acclaim and modest video play. It could be argued with that with the release of their first album in 1992, that they were the first rap/rock band to truly be split right down the middle. Their success carried over to their remake of Aerosmiths classic “Walk This Way”, which too became an instant classic. But the genius lies in the fact that the song retains its original qualities keeping it from becoming a wannabe rap song, yet at the very same time it pushed the creative envelope for music as a whole and also pushing the Chili Peppers onto new creative ground. The record also marked the first direct collaboration between a rap group and a rock band. Nevertheless some of these band are very talented and unfortunately some of them are not, but regardless of whether these bands are talented or not, bear in mind they did not create the

artform.

It was easy see that Run DMC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were bands who while firmly rooted in one genre of music heavily borrowed elements from another genre. n DMC the first hip-hop group to ever have their video played with the station. However Rage Against the Machine was much different than either one of these bands, it was the true brainchild of both hip-hop and hard rock. Which is not necessarily wrong, it is only sad that many artists and fans do not know the origin of the music they love.

Common topics in this essay:
Los Angeles, Run DMC, Rage Machine, Chili Peppers, Mothers Milk, La Rocha, Rock Box, Hip-Hop/Rock Phenomenon, Sugar Ray, Stone MTV, chili peppers, run dmc, hard rock, hard rock beats, rock beats, red hot, red hot chili, hot chili peppers, hot chili, bands talented, dmc hip-hop, run dmc hip-hop, los angeles, hip-hop hard rock, genre music,

Approximate Word count = 777
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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