Alternative rock bands are diverse and wide-ranging, but they all share a common trait: blending genres. Many grunge bands, for example, combined heavy metal riffs with a punk ethos. Some of the best-known alternative rock songs also incorporated rap elements with guitars.
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Rick Rubin had already made history by mashing rap and rock on groundbreaking albums by Run-DMC and Beastie Boys, breaking down barriers between genres and cultures. Bands like Rage Against The Machine rapped as forcefully as they rocked, while Beck and Weezer introduced slacker rap to the lexicon.
Rock bands were also introducing their audiences to hip-hop legends like Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, and A Tribe Called Quest as rap artists informed rock hits.
I focus here on alternative rock songs with rapping verses and sung choruses. The mixture of hip-hop and rock was crucial to each group discussed below. And the combination of staccato verses and melodic choruses continues to be a reliable recipe for hit songwriting.
“Dani California” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Few bands have had more success with rapping verses than Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Funky Monks didn’t embrace traditional songwriting until John Frusciante joined on Mother’s Milk, with “Knock Me Down” creating the blueprint for the band’s colossal hits like “Under The Bridge” and “Scar Tissue”. Though when Anthony Kiedis crams L.A. poetry into RHCP verses, it sets up the stadium-size hook you hear on “Dani California”, leading to an epic finale with Frusciante’s own “Purple Haze”.
“Epic” by Faith No More
If you had MTV in 1989, you couldn’t escape this video. Mike Patton led Faith No More to mainstream success after he replaced Chuck Mosley. And “Epic” remains the band’s defining track, inspiring countless artists for different reasons. Krist Novoselic said Faith No More (and Jane’s Addiction) paved the way for Nirvana and other alternative rock bands. Meanwhile, by blending Black Sabbath riffs with hip-hop, Faith No More also helped pioneer what became known as nu metal. You can often trace the sound of early 2000s heavy metal back to “Epic”.
“What I Got” by Sublime
Sublime released “What I Got” following the death of its singer, Bradley Nowell. Borrowing a hook from Half Pint’s “Loving”, Nowell raps about finding peace in the mundane. The track bounces between altruism, addiction, and lazy-day passivity. You can imagine Nowell having this conversation with friends on a beach. There might be a bonfire, an acoustic guitar, and turntables. It was one of the biggest hits of the summer in 1996 as alternative rock continued to embrace hip-hop.
Photo by Pavel Suslov
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