Nu-metal helped usher me into extreme music, as Hip-Hop influence was one of it’s key elements. Of course, Hip-Hop and Metal collided many years before, though mainly in experimental collaborations. Nu-metal front-men sought to cement this fusion with…varying degrees of success, but the movement ultimately died. Why? Because they were shit rappers. And because they were white.
Rap Metal is a fascinating concept, but the reason it can’t work is because Black People will never accept it. But what if black people created it for themselves?? Maybe. Such experiments were in fact tried, but they still ultimately fell off. Lets take a look at a few examples, and in doing so ask ourselves: Why can’t this take off?
MOP is a legendary underground rap duo who managed a classic breakthrough single. They made a true Rap Metal album, which was basically a remix record of various songs from their catalog rapped with a backing band nobody ever heard of. This to me is the definitive Real Rap Metal sound. Real Niggas. Real Instruments. Real club/headbangers. If you aint feeling this song, you are bitch made.
When I first caught this Bionic Jive joint, I couldnt believe what I was hearing. Straight up emcees with a band conjuring up a lethal track. And dat contemporary political commentary! I never knew much about the band, but painstaking journalistic research has revealed that they broke up a while back but recently reformed. Here’s hoping they can churn out more hotness like this.
The foremost tenant of Real Rap Metal is that its by black rappers. Every rule has the exception though, and SOAD certainly warrants the OTB pass because (1) They create the perfect approximation/evolution of a hip-hop beat made by drums and strings (2) In an abstract way essentially kill the RZA on his own track and (3) Serj is the only OTB artist (aside from Zach DeLaRocha) who can say the word Nigga, mean it, and get away with it because he has such a tight lingustic/rhyme skills. To think what might have been/alternate Fringe universe!
Branching further off my own arbitrary rules, Skindred are more “Reggae Metal” than Rap Metal, but as long as Sean Paul CDs are in the Urban Music section of FYE, I’ll allow it (and I’m scraping the barrel for examples). This is another key tenant to Real Rap Metal: Modular interchangeability- you could just as easily bang this out your speakers rolling down Flatbush as you could clotheslining white kids in a mosh pit, and no one can say shit to you.
I now open the floor on this subject to you Bros. Are their other seminal Real Rap Metal bands that I left out? Was/Is there a Real Rap Metal underground scene with artists who should have by all rights blown up? Keep in mind, there are many bands that bend these rules or touch upon this ideal that I purposely excluded (RATM, Cypress hill, Ice-T/Bodycount) and straight metal bands with black frontmen do not fucking count (Killswitch, Sevendust, Candiria, God Forbid). That said, please let me know who you would consider Real Rap Metal pioneers, and who is still keeping the torch lit. Peace.
Do U think Rap Metal has a future?? Is there a White Rap Metal band that can gain black acceptance?? Which is a better smash: socially alienated mosh pit sistas or booty clappin dance-hall white girls???
onyx x biohazard
http://youtu.be/-248604Kaac
Anything on Judgement night ruled!
BACKED. shit goes hard
this shit is corny as fuck
This is the most constructive writing criticism I ‘ve ever received, dead srs. Thank you.
Did you ever listen to the Cold World/Sean Price collab track, “How The Gods Chill”? I think its pretty tight, but then again, I don’t really listen to rap and I really like Cold World.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7VRBglsoU4
Solid, Thanks!
Downset?!!?? these cats got down around the same time as ratm but were an actual HC band (first 2 albums) instead of shitty funk-rock. alpha try-hards/surburbanfag pussies try to label this band NFC, but they’re a legit “empowering the urban youth/we fucking really fucking hate cops & authority figures” band with a legit otw hood rapper/singer/screamer with real beef.
saw them w/ EC & merauder in the mid 90s… quite a show!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6IQxhkVIEw
and video really pops off at about 1:02
Latino not black… Downset ‘Check Your People’ 10/10
excellent categorization– downset were definitely not NFC by any stretch of the imagination. i did a big post about them for metal sucks that i will repost on here! i love that band
that would b a sweet repost.
not sure of the race of the singer other than otw. guess it only matters for the purposes of this article anyway.
would love to see this band again!
he’s Latin of some variety, I assume Mexican but who knows
“SGT.D”! Good blog you got homie! I had no clue I’ d be laughing this hard! Can’t wait to see the dset repost! .. as For Rey, yeah, Mexican along with Roy, James and I are white, and Ares is half white and half brown. So, I guess we’re a ‘whitesican’ band?! LOL!! Glad people still appreciate what we did a long ass time ago!
Chris d-set ’11
downset was amazing! first album is incredible!
I do like Skindred (and Sean Paul is ttl awsm!) These just sound like metal bands fronted by rappers, though, not really rap metal. To me real rap metal would be Sutter Kain. That’s more of a hybrid of rap and metal musically. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBSuwibURn0
I’m pretty sure metalheads hate him, though.
Thanks Martin, I was actually gonna give you a shout out for namedropping Kain in the previous Big L post. I had not heard of him, which was even more surprising when I found out he’s from my home turf. I really dug that track with the “counterweight” loop from Heaven Shall burn cuz that’s one of my favorite songs. I ultimately left him off because one of my made up tenets of Rap Metal is that you must use live instruments. He’s still sick though.
Thanks everyone, keep up with the sugestions, this is fascinating stuff.
So you want real instruments and I want loops, haha. But I guess I don’t care if the metal elements are real metal or not.
It might be best to have real guitars and maybe even real bass, but modern-sounding programmed drums. Real drums tend to make things sound like they’re from 1995…
Stuck Mojo too metal an not rap enough? Depends on the track, imo, but deserve a mention up in here.
A lot of rap metal doesn’t age well.
What’s with the Body Count pic? Not really rap/metal…
In saying that I love nothing more than heavy music with rap vocals/beats… Judgement Night and/or Spawn S/T ruled!!
Heh, The pic wasn’t my Idea. Hearing those S/Ts now, kids might think that shit is lame (and rightly so), but they really were kinda revolutionary in a way.
sorry, i put that in there since i always like to include a header image– forgot to ask if you wanted to change it, apologies!
Hold on. Why aren’t BODY COUNT rap/metal?
ICE-T raps. Ernie C plays metal.
Not “rap-metal” per se, but P.O.S.’s music has a significant hardcore influence. He sampled Underoath’s “It’s Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door” on the song “P.O.S. is Ruining my Life” from the album “Audition”. He’s played in a number of punk bands too. He’s black. “Never Better”, his third album, is one of my favourite hip-hop records.
Saul Williams incorporate elements of industrial rock/metal. He samples Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine on his first album “Amethyst Rock Star”, and Trent Reznor produced his third album, “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!”. He’s black.
Also, Death Grips (features beats by Zach Hill of Hella) and Dälek (signed to Mike Patton’s Ipecac label) are seriously abrasive hip-hop groups. Check out “Full Moon (Death Classic)” and “Distorted Prose” respectively to get an idea of what I mean. They both have black members.
Hope that helps!
During the first minute of the POS youtube clip I searched, I was thinking “Is this gonna be more artsy fggt rap….” 3 minutes later I was legit feeling that song. It’s great to still be surprised by music you’ve never heard, and that’s what this is really all about. Thanks bro!
I rep E. Town pretty hard even thought the singer is only half nog
Agreed.
I non-ironically 100% love “One Life 2 Live”
syndrome of a down ?!
gtfo
Hed(pe) ‘s self titled debut is pretty much the landmark album for rap metal. I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned as it fits the description perfectly (frontman who is black and can rap). It contains some nice punk and speed metal influence as well. Overall, it’s one of the genre’s best.
http://www.amazon.com/hed-P-Planet-Earth/dp/B00000054T/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319198659&sr=8-2
However the band went through several line-up changes and never really captured lightning in a bottle again.
Can I write a post for Rap/Metal part 2?
Mos Def had a rap metal project called Black Jack Johnson I think??? lineup was sick, had dudes from Bad Brains, Living Colour. probably on youtube somewhere.
that said, it was still pretty fucking bad.
Totally agree on not including Metal Bands With Black Singers, but Candiria have quite a few songs that are pure rap as well as several that are definitely “metal with rap vocals.” I personally only like their metal songs, but I think they deserve a little more credit for their hip hop elements!
Hmm, I see your point. In all honesty I’m really not familiar with their works. From what I’ve read and heard about though, their real claim to fame/artistic cred comes from their brazen fusion of jazz into hardcore and metal in a totally non-ironic way (before non-ironic was even a thing=tr00 cred)
yes, that’s definitely correct– and they were VERY legit. I used to talk to those guys a lot, they are true students of both metal and jazz. check out their demo “inverted kindgom” which basically sounds like suffocation and compare to later songs like “observing highways” that sound like Chick Corea, pretty impressive contrast!
saw candiria in DET in 99 or 2000 with skarhead and vod. only did their metal stuff when i saw them.
used to really dig the rap tracks too but they sound super dated now; off-beat underground 90s “backpack rap” feel. decent MCs, though
Yeah, thankfully Candiria usually left the rap tracks off their setlist.
Fucking great live band.
carley was a great frontman, and i could seriously just watch Ken play drums for hours
Candiria were a great, great band. Especially live.
i saw them on that tour too, so good!
totally agree w/ your assessment of their rap tracks- not my thing at all, but i feel like they did a surprisingly good job of executing that style considering they started as a death metal band haha
other brilliance:
best SOAD collab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Izc8hBi9Q
Puffy incorporating Dave Grohl & Rob Zombie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyazBCmXlPE
also, no care Blade is white (or from UK, but so are Skindred), this is proper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odbfKeIdh-s (ok, Rap Rock, rather than Metal)
lol, wiki says Blade is Armenian Iranian? OTW+Overseas= Allow it!
(…Ive been waiting forever to say that since I saw Attack the Block)
Great article – personally not really into this style of music, but I ‘get it’ from the vids.
sincere thanks! #PeerValidation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKrrbAN4a58 this kills
damn, i just schooled on rap metal! *the more you know*
i feel like sharing this with you guys. not black, but defineatly OTW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgfU6zNy-Gk
That Skindred track is hard as fuck, and the dubstep elements serve to remind me of how stoked I am for the new KoRn.
Fuck yeah, I srsly wish teenage metalcore bands would suddenly decide that ripping off the new Skindred album is the cool thing to do in 2012.
Yeah love Skindred, the Babylon album is a lot of fun, but DUB WAR was tremendously enjoyable funk metal!!
ken from candiria might be one of my favorite drummers ever. dude plays such a small kit but his technique is incredible. just a very tasty drummer
check out Blaxmyth.
Hyro da hero
Ice
Curse of The Golden Vampire
Techno Animal
The Blood of Heroes
Ice and Techno Animal were pretty much super heavy distorted dub with guest rappers but they were both fucking awesome. The Blood of Heroes is more straigh Broadrick-y. Not exactly Rap Metal, but a much more organic sounding fusion of hip-hop and metal elements.
Also, the Entombedcore post was fucking excellent and dead to rights. Why can’t these bands get better vocalists? If hardcore bros are supposed to be so fucking tough, why do Repulsion, early Entombed, Dismember and Repugnant sound like they could tear Trap Them, Black Breath, Nails and Early Graves’ heads off?
Need for Speed soundtrack
This post reminds me of my sophomore year in high school. I was WAY too white to enjoy rap, but I rocked this song all the time. Still holds up, IMO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaMTh8mXcGI
“…We bring rock to the game like the Flintstones,
But this ain’t Hannah-Barbara or Nickelodeon, nigga,
You mothafuckas softer than Pooh and Tigga.”
Not gonna front, those lyrics are amazing.
What’s funny is that Skindred is from the UK, yet the singer pulls off a pretty realistic Jamaican accent when he’s singing. Another rap metal band that’s new is Scare Don’t Fear. They’re more like metalcore + rap. They’re pretty terrible rap-wise, but yeah they’re technically still rap metal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVPjXP3rsJ4
Damn Son!! The top comment summed it up perfectly: “A bunch of Potheads with 1 trophy black friend decided to make an emmure cover band.” Every thing about this video is so lulzy I cant help but like em.
This is the future right here. An ideal blend of whack rapping and phenomenally ignorant slams! BACKED.
That was DOPE
I just found this euro (ouch!) rap/metal track in the depths of my itunes: http://youtu.be/d0iiglOhVDY
There’s one kinda legit metal/hardcore band (l’esprit du clan) and one legit rapper (lino), the others are kinda meh nu metal bands plus a lulzy early 2000′s rap/metal band (enhancer, http://youtu.be/pXoiddLxrJk).
On a side note, not really rap metal but i feel the need to hare this: http://youtu.be/JRLl2yVrJzE
I mean Max Cavalera shouting the chorus on an Ill Bill track with Immortal Technique = pretty fucking awesome. plus Ill Bill made a song about slayer, namedrops hardcore and metal bands and even had a featuring with HR and Darryl Jennifer.
Skindred do an amazing live show. Seen them about a half-dozen times (via being a filthy godless socialist euro).
Also, the singer’s about 45. THAT must be an embarrassing job to admit to with people his own age who have actual careers.
Don’t see what’s embarrasing about making such fantastic quality music. Most people never get that far.
You’re so on point with M.O.P. it isn’t even funny. DJ PREMIER said when the first time he heard M.O.P. he said it reminded him of heavy metal because Billy and Fame yell all of the time.
The first actual rap/rock band, produced by Jam Master Jay, The HARD CORPS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6haxiiDOg
I always thought E Town Concrete was pretty solid.
What about that track that American Me did with that guy from reign of terror. It was the intro to one of their songs with the guy from reign of terror rapping over it…. it was terrible haha.
Judgment Day soundtrack. Shit movie, awesome sound. Groundbraking. Should’we been on the list. Regrads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL80-mGXz1s
Aussie rap-metal/nu-metal. So lulzy.
The Spindle Sect
http://www.thespindlesect.com
Lets open this back up?Forsure Hacktivist but theyre like djent rap
Same difference. Wrote my review of their EP in No Clean Singing, but Im always on the lookout for more bands touting the Real Rap Metal banner.