The days of rap-rock collaborations on wax haven’t been the same since their peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Jay-Z could be found mashing up entire albums with Linkin Park and Nappy Roots wouldn’t think twice about remixing a track with P.O.D. The rap-rock genre is an endangered species in the 2010s (even though rock is still frequently sampled for rap beats), but there is still a fire track to be heard here and there, providing an important reminder when it comes to the transfusion of two music genres that, on the surface, seem like a poor mixed drink: always do so in moderation. From Coldplay and Jay-Z to Rage Against the Machine and Cypress Hill, here's our list of the best rap-rock songs over the years.
LL Cool J, Flea, Dave Navarro and Chad Smith “I Make My Own Rules” (1997)
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Year: 1997
Album: Private Parts: The Album
This all-star lineup is basically the underrated One Hot Minute Chili Peppers lineup from the late ’90s, with Double L replacing Anthony Keidis l on lead vocals. While Keidis didn’t exactly have to worry about L taking his day job, the track features one of the hottest three-man bands in the world laying down a funky, if slightly awkward, Chili Peppers-style groove that landed a spot on the soundtrack to Howard Stern’s movie Private Parts.
Rage Against the Machine & Cypress Hill "How I Could Just Kill a Man" (Live) (1991)
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Year: 2000
Album: Renegades
Rage’s 2000 album Renegades consisted entirely of covers, including brilliantly re-worked versions of early electrofunk groundbreaker “Renegades of Funk” by pioneers Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force, “Microphone Fiend” by Eric B & Rakim, and EPMD’s “I’m Housin’.” Not lost among them was a more straightforward adaptation of their East L.A. homies’ breakthrough track, which appears as a studio version on Renegades, featuring some freaky turntable-replicating axework by Tom Morello. Later pressings of Renegades include this live version, recorded at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in their hometown with B-Real and Sen rocking their original vocals.
Run-DMC & Living Colour "Me, Myself & My Microphone" (1993); M.O.P. ft. Butch Vig “How About Some Hardcore” (1993)
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Year: 1993
Album: Judgment Night (Soundtrack)
Pairing Run-DMC with NYC rockers Living Colour worked on a number of levels for this earth-shaker from the Judgment Night soundtrack. It’s a surprise LC frontman Corey Glover didn’t lose his bandmates for good, as Vernon Reid and the crew lay down a track that could've been straight off of Raising Hell or King of Rock.
Gorillaz ft. Del the Funky Homosapien "Rock the House" (2000)
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Year: 2000
Album: Gorillaz
Gorillaz, the world’s first virtual band, are the alt-universe creation of Damon Albarn of U.K. rock outfit Blur (“Woo-hoo!”). Del was all but left for dead by American rap audiences, which often discarded quality MCs with the quickness in the ’90s. But recycled by Albarn, he sounded like new on “Clint Eastwood,” the first single off the G’z debut, Celebrity Takedown. Still, we prefer the less dreary follow-up, “Rock the House,” which features horns, a pumping bassline and a hot Biz Markie vocal sample and delivers on the title’s promise. House sufficiently rocked.
Arctic Monkeys ft. Dizzee Rascal “Temptation Greets You Like a Naughty Friend” (2007)
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Year: 2007
Album: Brainstorm
The Arctic Monkeys were only two albums deep in 2007, but they dropped one of the best rock-rap combos when they linked up with UK spitter Dizzee Rascal for a verse on the track “Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend.” Rascal’s dizzying flow fits perfectly over the frantic guitar riff; the whole track is a certified jam.
Big Pun & Incubus "Still Not a Player" (1998)
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Year: 2000
Album: Loud Rocks
The epic 2000 Loud Rocks never cracked the Billboard 100 and kinda slid below the critics' radar, but it was a rock-rap All-Star collection nevertheless. The album contained rock covers of Loud Records rap classics—featuring the original tracks’ rappers—including Wu-Tang and Ozzy Osborne’s “For Heaven's Sake 2000,” Big Pun and NYC ’90s rock-rap originators Shooty’z Groove’s “Caribbean Connection," and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, and the Wu’s "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothing ta Fuck Wit." But the highlight was Incubus' scintillating version of this Pun classic. The Cali quintet made the song completely their own while preserving the punch of the original, riffing harmonies on Pun’s trademark lines (“Who’s down to crush toniiiiiight…”), which the Bronx MC re-cut brand spankin’ new for this unlikely stunner.
Snoop Dogg & Rage Against the Machine "Snoop Bounce" (1997)
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Year: 1996
Album: N/A
This unreleased gem seems like a bit of a mismatch on paper: one of the most earsplitting bands in history backing one of the most blazed, laid-back-in-the-cut vocalists of all time. But on this remake of a lost Z-funk jam from Snoop’s ’96 LP, The Doggfather, Rage guitarist Tom Morello flanges up an appropriately straightforward groove that doesn’t overpower the Long Beach legend’s flow—saving the sonic boom for the chorus (“Bounce ta this!”). Too bad you can’t get it anywhere.
Limp Bizkit ft. Method Man "N 2 Gether Now" (1999)
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Year: 1999
Album: Significant Other
MCs dropping cameos don’t often bring their A-game, typically saving their hottest verses for their own stuff. But Tical just destroys this track off Limp’s ’99 breakthrough album, Significant Other. It’s also not often a metal band—even these nu-metal pioneers—completely changes its style to make not only a legitimate hip-hop record, but a real good one. Limp scraps Wes Borland’s Ibanez seven-string on this original, making room for producer-for-hire DJ Premier to put together a chill, harpsichord-laden beat that gives Meth the perfect jump-off for some vintage verbals that you’d never expect to grace a rock album.
Coldplay ft. Jay-Z “Lost+” (2008)
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Year: 2008
Album: Prospekt's March
In 2008, Coldplay was at the apex of its popularity, and when the band dropped its fourth studio album, Viva La Vida, that June, the record’s success was as enormous as it was unsurprising. It was the best-selling album of the year and took home Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammys when the Grammys still (sort of) mattered. But it wasn’t until a few months later—when Chris Martin and co. re-released a deluxe version of the album that included a seven-song EP called Prospekt’s March—that the most fire song of the whole project appeared.
Chris Martin and Jay-Z had linked up before to mixed results, with Martin providing the hook for Jay’s “Beach Chair” in 2006, but now it was time for Jay to return the favor. The result was “Lost+,” a remix of sorts of a song that appeared on the original release of Viva La Vida. Over thundering drums and organ-like keys, Hov offers up one of his more underrated verses on the price of fame, spitting flames right from his opening line (“With the same sword they knight you/they gon’ good-night you with”). Two giants at the peak of their craft.
Kid Rock, Run-DMC & Aerosmith "King of Rock/Rock Box/Bawitdaba/Walk This Way" (Live) (1999)
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Year: 1999
The 1999 MTV VMAs were held in the Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center, and they nearly tore it down with this medley, which inducted Kid into the pantheon of rock-rap greats. It started with Run-DMC’s “King of Rock” (sung by Kid) and “Rock Box” performed live by Run-DMC with Kid’s band, and then segued into “Bawitdaba”—Kid’s breakthrough single off 1998’s Devil Without a Cause (itself a rock-rap masterpiece)—before concluding with a bring-the-house-down rendition of “Walk This Way,” with Kid and Steven Tyler famously tossing mikes back and forth during the break (Kid barely hangs on). But the smoking “Rock Box” throwdown steals the show—you just don’t hear that every day.
Biohazard & Onyx “Slam (Bionyx Remix)” (1999)
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Year: 1996
Album: N/A
This unreleased gem seems like a bit of a mismatch on paper: one of the most earsplitting bands in history backing one of the most blazed, laid-back-in-the-cut vocalists of all time. But on this remake of a lost Z-funk jam from Snoop’s ’96 LP, The Doggfather, Rage guitarist Tom Morello flanges up an appropriately straightforward groove that doesn’t overpower the Long Beach legend’s flow—saving the sonic boom for the chorus (“Bounce ta this!”). Too bad you can’t get it anywhere.
Sir Mix-a-Lot & Mudhoney "Freak Momma"
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Year: 1993
Album: Judgment Night (Soundtrack)
Baby got…grunge? The epic multiplatinum soundtrack to the 1993 semi-thriller Judgment Night remains a cornerstone of the rock-rap foundation. All 11 tracks are original collabos between rappers and rockers: Slayer and Ice-T, Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill, and De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub with Tom Petty and Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne, among others, got together for a whole album of memorable mashups highlighted by this least-likely-to-succeed Seattle-meets-Seattle spanker. Mudhoney never achieved the breakthrough commercial success of some of their old Pacific Northwest homies, but this was their time to shine. Mix announces on the track that he “just lost my street credibility,” but it’s a worthy sacrifice. Bangin’.
Duran Duran ft. Melle Mel "White Lines" (1995)
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Year: 1995
Album: Thank You
Double-D musta loved themselves some blow—and we’re not talking Kurtis. Because they throw everything they ever had into this one, and the result is one of the hottest tracks they ever churned out. A scorching cover of the early Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five cocaine-inspired hip-hop classic, the song even digs up the Five’s fitness buff Melle Mel for the, uh…icing? More Power Station than “Rio,” John Taylor gets one of the hottest basslines ever just right and the rest of the boys add their classic MTV harmonies. Few would have expected such hotness from the left-for-dead ’80s new wavers and Mel, who hadn’t been heard on record in a decade. Freeze…rock!
Body Count “Body Count” (1992)
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Year: 1991
Album: O.G. (Original Gangster)
Ice put together his own group of South Central rockers for this critically acclaimed project. He’s a big TV star and all now, so it’s a distant memory, but 20 years ago Body Count’s “Cop Killer” caused Ice to (sort of) get dropped from Warner Bros. amid massive public outcry from the PMRC (remember them?), Tipper Gore, and the FBI. Even George Bush had something to say. Now the ex-safecracker makes a living playing a cop on TV. Lost amid all the controversy was that the punk-flavored “Cop Killer” was pretty overrated—unlike this eponymous thrasher, which introduced the group on Ice’s 1991 double LP, O.G. Original Gangster and features Ice breaking it down: “I don’t think about it as rock, R&B or all of that, I just think of it as music. And I feel sorry for anyone who only listens to one form of music… And anyone who thinks I sold out can basically suck my dick ’cause I really don’t give a fuck about all that…” Word.
X-Ecutioners ft. Linkin Park "It's Goin' Down" (2002)
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Year: 2002
Album: Built From Scratch
While the X-Ecutioners aren’t rappers, they are a legendary NYC DJ crew who, like any authentic hip-hop outfit, draw their musical influences from everywhere—classical, jazz, disco, funk, superhero soundtracks, and, of course, rock. Nu-metal pioneers Linkin Park, for their part, are all over this list, in this case lending guitars and Mike Shinoda’s raps to turntablist wizardry by Rob Swift, Roc Raida and crew, who go all Slice-o-matic on the original Brad Delson powerchords.
It’s one special moment (among many) on the X-ecutioners’ memorable 2002 LP, Built from Scratch, which also contains the cranker “Let It Bang,” featuring M.O.P. going nuts (as M.O.P. does) on a banging rock track created out of samples—including, seemingly, the guitar from AC/DC’s “Flick of the Switch” that Rick Rubin and LL immortalized on “Rock the Bells."
Cypress Hill & Slash "Rock Superstar" (Live) (2003)
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Year: 2003
B-Real, Muggs, and Sen Dog appeared genre-conflicted in the 2000s, frequently dabbling in rock—particularly on their fifth LP, Skull & Bones, a double disc, the first of which consisted of rap tracks and the second rock. They released both “Rap Superstar” and “Rock Superstar” as singles off the album, but the L.A. potheads’ live 2003 version of the latter with fellow L.A. legend Slash and bandmates on (of all places) Jimmy Kimmel Live shined the brightest, highlighted by the G'n'R guitarist (look ma, no hat!) delivering a scorching solo to close out this memorable rock-rap performance.
Francis and the Lights ft. Chance the Rapper “May I Have This Dance (Remix)” (2017)
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Year: 2017
When it comes to the spectrum of rock, Francis and the Lights probably sits at the very edge of the “light” category. Still, the Canadian crooner’s music is rooted in hip-hop, from multiple production credits and guest vocals for Drake to an ability to nab Kanye West for a feature verse. But his best rap collab comes from Chance the Rapper on the remix to “May I Have This Dance.” The Chicago MC not only engages in an uplifting, sing-songy flow on the song—he dances for the entirety of the accompanying four-minute video. That’s true greatness.
Puff Daddy & The Family ft. Fuzzbubble, Rob Zombie & Dave Grohl "All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (1998)
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Year: 1998
Album: No Way Out
It’s not clear how this motley crew was assembled—and who’s that white guy yelling in the background? But “Benjamins” was just a natural fit for a rock re-cut. When Lil' Kim cuts in with her signature verse over Grohl muscling it out on the drum kit (“Wanna rumble with the Bee? Ha!”), it’s fierce. Plus it’s a rare treat to hear Biggie’s legendary lines set to an alt-rock supergroup throwing it down. Problem is, only a radio edit was released, so segments of BIG’s classic verse simply disappear. Still, Diddy and his all-star cast laid this joint out.
KRS-One ft. Debbie Harry “Step Into a World (Rapture's Delight)” (1997)
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Year: 1997
Album: I Got Next
This song is an early blueprint for today’s blazin’ hip-hop-and-R&B formula of hardcore rap verses mixed with hot-chick-sounding choruses, but it’s somehow still shocking to find out that it was produced by the artist formerly known as…Puffy? Sounding like liquid candy on the intro and chorus, new wave legend Harry interpolates her ‘80s hit “Rapture” (“…for emceeeeeees and deee-jaaaaays…”)—itself one of the first Top 40 hits to throw shine to hip-hop. But this cut is really all about the Blastmaster in vintage form ripping the hottest track off his bestselling solo LP, I Got Next (Double Up), which also included the hard-rock collabo “Just to Prove a Point” with Peter Mengede of metal punkers Helmet.
Nappy Roots ft. P.O.D. "Awnaw" (2002)
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Year: 2002
Album: Watermelon, Chicken, & Gritz
Nappy Roots’ all-up-in-it vocals mesh something lovely with Marcos Curiel’s crack-a-lacking power chords on the coda (as these things often are) to 2002’s top-selling hip-hop album, Nappy’s Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz, an otherwise gritty, stripped-down rap record. The Kentucky kids bang out unapologetic Southern-fried rootah-to-the-tootah-style verses set to fat P.O.D. riffs, including a smoking solo by Marcos over some turntable ballistics that closes out this Madden 3 soundtrack MVP.
Jay-Z & Linkin Park "99 Problems vs. Points of Authority/One Step Closer" (Live) (2004)
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Year: 2004
Jigga and the Cali nu-metal rockers took it to the next level on 2004’s one-of-a-kind platinum mash-up EP Collision Course. The crown jewel of the project was a puree of two of their greatest hits, Hov’s Black Album all-star “99 Problems” and Linkin Park’s breakthrough single “One Step Closer,” off their 2000 major-label debut Hybrid Theory.
But they change it up for the live version, doing “Points” for the first half, as LP’s Mike Shinoda plays the perfect bad cop to Jay on the verses, while the rock-out climax splices the choruses of “99” and “Closer” to blistering effect. Played at the 2004 MTV Mash-Up Show at the Roxy in West Hollywood, it’s the hottest live mash-up on record.
Public Enemy ft. Anthrax “Bring Tha Noize” (1987)
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Year: 1991
Album: Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Hardcore PE fans Scott Ian & Co. had to be crapping their pants when Chuck D actually greenlit this metal remake of the classic from PE’s breakthrough album Nation of Millions—especially since they’re (oddly) mentioned on the original track. PE’s core fan base bristled understandably—come on, white guys rapping on a PE album? But the thrash rockers, who grew up in NYC during hip-hop’s genesis, made Chuck an offer he couldn’t refuse. The result—featured on Anthrax's Attack of the Killer B's and PE's Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black—exploded onto Sony Walkmans everywhere, a mix of hard rock and hardcore rap made in headbanging heaven that provided Chuck with the platform to school a whole new audience.
Run-DMC ft. Aerosmith “Walk This Way” (1986)
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Year: 1986
Album: Raising Hell
Pioneer beatmaker and Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin broke the sound barrier with this epic track, which unleashed an era in which kids who wanted to rock didn’t care about stupid stuff like genres. Rubin, producing Run-DMC’s classic-to-be 1986’s Raising Hell, wanted to drive home the point that Run-DMC was already making kick-ass rock (“Rock Box,” “King of Rock”). And whether the rock establishment liked it or not, they were gonna kick down the door to the rock museum. But Run-DMC didn’t use a lot of samples, so Rick tapped flagging ’70s rockers Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Classic-rock fans considered it blasphemy when the Hollis crew jacked the track, but it blasted Run, D and Jay into the stratosphere, bringing hip-hop to the masses—and resurrecting Aerosmith’s career in the process.
