5 Hip-Hop and Rock Collaborations That Don’t Suck!

Aaron Lefkove | 07.02.2008

Rap and rock collaborations are generally a bad idea. In the ’90s every band on the radio seemed to have a DJ scratching in the background with what amounted to a lot of white noise but very little substance. There are a few notable exceptions. Below is a list of five times when these two forces of musical nature collided … and actually worked.



Aerosmith/Run DMC “Walk This Way” – This video relies on the very implausible scenario that rock gods Aerosmith and hip-hop originators Run DMC practiced in adjacent rehearsal spaces. Suspending disbelief for a moment, Jam Master Jay’s turntable skills and Joe Perry’s meat-and-potatoes riffage mesh nice on this version of “Walk This Way.”



Blondie/Fab 5 Freddy “Rapture” – This was the original collaboration birthed from the fertile early-’80s downtown New York scene–when rap was still in its infancy. The track was loosely based on Chic’s “Good Times” and includes lyrical references to Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, and Jean-Michel Basquiat who appear in the video. Flash even remixed the song on his own album.



Public Enemy/Anthrax “Bring the Noise” – No one will ever forget Flava Flav and Scott Ian kickin’ this one side by side. The original version on Public Enemy’s seminal It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is powerful enough with hard as nails Bomb Squad production. As legend has it Chuck D was flattered to hear that the thrash icons were rocking Public Enemy shirts on stage. When the band approached Chuck and Flava about re-recording the track they obliged. Check out the video below for the results:



Onyx/Biohazard “Slam” – Taking a page from the Public Enemy/Anthrax school, rap group Onyx teamed up with these NYHC thugs for a remake of their then hit “Slam.” The two groups first met up for a track on the Judgment Night soundtrack (more about that below) and apparently the working relationship had some chemistry. Brutal, mosh-worthy heavy riffage ensues:



De La Soul/Teenage Fanclub “Fallin” – Off of 1994’s Judgment Night soundtrack, that Emilio Estevez/Cuba Gooding Jr. vehicle that pitted rock and rap stalwarts against each other. This particular one features enlightened hip-hoppers De La Soul against the British Big Star-worshiping Teenage Fanclub. The chorus includes a sample of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.” De La Soul were at the height of their lyrical prowess when this downtempo track that talks of the perils of fame dropped in ’94.