Who first combined hip-hop and alternative rock?
Hip-hop and alternative rock are two sounds that plainly sit at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum, so amalgamating them would always be a bit of a gamble. They’re also genres with highly devoted fanbases who lap up all the stuff they know and love but can sometimes be a little more precious when it comes to stirring the pot. All in all, the idea of combining hip-hop and rock was in many ways set to be a baptism of fire – but somehow, it managed to give birth to greatness instead.
The 1980s were pivotal for both genres separately. Rock had already been well-established for some 20 to 30 years and was dominated by bands like The Clash and Blondie at that point. Meanwhile, hip-hop and rap were slowly beginning to make waves, although initially dismissed from mainstream appeal due to their links to the African American population. It didn’t seem likely that the two would ever meet.
Up until that point, early hip-hop DJs had flaunted the idea of rock by sampling various songs in their sets alongside rap music, but the reception to this was generally critically mixed. Some rock bands, including The Clash, even mocked the notion and denied that it was ever going to work. However, by the mid-1980s, the tides of the genres began to turn.
This came in the form of Run-DMC bursting onto the scene and taking the bold leap of faith to collaborate with rockers Aerosmith on the now classic version of ‘Walk This Way’, released in 1986. The song helped to develop the idea of rap-rock from a baptism of fire into a fully bonafide and popular genre across the charts and, crucially, to mainstream white audiences.
From there, the first defined rap-rock album swiftly followed in the form of the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, released later in the same year. With tracks like ‘Rhymin’ and Stealin’’ – which took sonic influence and samples from the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin – and ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’ – on which thrash metal band Slayer’s guitarist Kerry King played – the record was a huge commercial success and roundly regarded, alongside predecessors like ‘Walk This Way’ as inventing the genre of rap-rock as a whole.
Licensed to Ill made history as the first rap record to top the charts in America and has since sold over ten million copies in the country alone. This proved a lot, in both a musical and political sense – not only to the naysayers that rap-rock would indeed be successful as a genre but that it also went a long way in breaking down sonic biases and segregation in America with respect to the popular listening habits of various racial demographics. Moguls like Rick Rubin, who produced Licensed to III, also became significant beacons of its reception in the industry, with his work often spanning both genres from that point.
There’s a lot to be said for having an idea and taking a punt on it because, in the case of rap-rock, although no one thought it would work, it propelled music into a whole new era.
