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Pop/Rock » Heavy Metal » Rap-Metal
Rap-Metal seeks to fuse the most aggressive elements of hardcore rap and heavy metal, and became an extremely popular variation of alternative metal during the late '90s. With few exceptions, rap-metal is far and away the domain of white musicians coming to the form from the metal side of the equation. Prior to the initial emergence of rap-metal, there had been several successful fusions of rap with hard rock guitar -- Run-D.M.C.'s collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of the latter's "Walk This Way," the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill -- but the true birth of rap-metal was Anthrax's comic 1987 single "I'm the Man," which combined a heavy guitar riff (actually the melody of "Hava Nagila") with full-fledged, surprisingly competent rapping. Funk-metal outfits like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More dabbled in the style, but the intense hardcore tone commonly associated with '90s rap-metal was established by another Anthrax record, a 1991 remake of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" that featured members of PE itself. Some metal bands had come to associate hardcore rap with the street-tough urban attitude they wanted to project, and after "Bring the Noise," they suddenly found it possible to experiment with fusing the two. Many of these efforts focused not on the linguistic and rhythmic complexity of rap, but on the cathartic intensity that could be achieved by sort of shout-rapping the lyrics instead of singing them. In spite of projects like 1993's much-hyped Judgment Night soundtrack -- which featured all-star teamings of artists from the rap and rock worlds -- crossover collaborations faded as the '90s wore on. At the same time, rap-metal began to draw influences from alternative metal -- specifically, bands like Helmet, White Zombie, and Tool, who relied on crushingly heavy sonic textures more than catchy songwriting or immediately memorable riffs. The thick sound and the lack of melodic emphasis fit rap-metal's concerns perfectly. With the exception of Rage Against the Machine's angry left-wing politics, 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; the vocalists drew from hip-hop MC traditions in varying degrees. Some alt-metal bands, spearheaded by Korn, incorporated hip-hop beats into their music, but full-fledged rap-metal always featured a rapper as frontman. Limp Bizkit became rap-metal's most popular band during the late '90s.
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