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Rap metal
Stylistic origins Rap rock, Hip-Hop, heavy metal, alternative metal
Cultural origins Mid-to-late 1980s, United States
Typical instruments Rapping, vocals, electric guitar, bass, drums, turntables, sampler, keyboard
Mainstream popularity
Fusion genres Nu metal
Other topics Rapcore, funk metal

Rap metal is a sub-genre of rap rock music which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with heavy metal.

History[]

Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock. The genre's roots are based both in hip hop acts who sampled heavy metal songs, such as Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Esham and Run–D.M.C., as well as rock bands who fused heavy metal and hip hop influences, such as 24-7 Spyz and Faith No More.

In 1987, New York thrash metal band Anthrax fused hip hop with heavy metal for their extended play I'm the Man, and then were teamed up with Public Enemy for a remake of the latter's "Bring the Noise" that fused hip hop with thrash metal. The next year rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot teamed up with Metal Church for his 1988 single "Iron Man", loosely based upon the Black Sabbath song of the same name. Stuck Mojo, a metal band whose vocalist rapped, is considered to be another pioneer of the genre. In 1993, Biohazard and Onyx would collaborate on a metal "remix" of the Onyx track Slam; they would team up again for the soundtrack for the film Judgment Night, which featured 11 pairings of hip-hop and metal artists.

A Florida hip hop and rap metal-influenced nu metal band, Limp Bizkit's 1999 album Significant Other climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 643,874 copies in its first week of release. In its second week of release, the album sold an additional 335,000 copies. The band's follow-up album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, set a record for highest week-one sales of a rock album with over one million copies sold in the U.S. in its first week of release, with 400,000 of those sales coming on its first day, making it the fastest-selling rock album ever, breaking the record held for 7 years by Pearl Jam's Vs.

Cypress Hill incorporated direct heavy metal influences into their 2000 album Skull & Bones, which featured six tracks in which rappers B-Real and Sen Dog were backed by a band including Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers and Dino Cazares and Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk. B-Real also formed a rap metal group, Kush, with Wolbers, Fear Factory drummer Raymond Herrera and Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter. According to B-Real, Kush is more aggressive than other bands in the genre. SX-10, formed in 1996 by Sen Dog, also performs rap rock and rap metal.


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See Also[]


Hip-Hop
The Four Core Elements Breaking | DJing | Graffiti | MCing
Hip-Hop culture Dance | Fashion | Music | Production | Theater | Beatboxing
History History | Golden age | Old school | New school
Subgenres Acid rap – Alternative hip-hop – Bit-HopBounce musicChicano rapChopped and screwedChristian hip-hopConscious hip-hopEast Coast hip-hopFreestyle rapGangsta rapHardcore hip-hopHorrorcoreIndie hip-hopInstrumental hip-hopMafioso rapMidwest hip-hopNative American hip-hopNerdcore hip-hopUnderground hip-hopPolitical hip-hopPop rapSnap musicTurntablismWest Coast hip-hop - Trap (music genre)
Fusion genres Abstract hip-hop - Baltimore clubCountry rapCrunkCrunkcoreCumbia rapElectro hopG-funkGhetto houseGhettotechGlitch hopHip-Hop soulHip houseHiplifeHyphyIndustrial hip-hopJazz rapMerenrapNeo soul - Rap metalRap operaRap rockRapcoreDigital Hardcore - Wonky (music)
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Other Turntablism | 1520 Sedgwick Avenue | Master of Ceremonies | Hip-Hop music | Hip-Hop culture | Hip-Hop Timeline: 1925 - Present | Scratching | Hook (music) | Break (music) | Sampling (music) | Synthesizer | Hip-Hop rivalry | Misogyny in hip hop culture | Rap Genius
Lists & Categories Genres | Models


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