Genre story · Metal
Rap Metal
Rap vocals and hip-hop rhythms joining heavy guitars in a crossover that never had one fixed balance.
Rap Metal developed across late-1980s and early-1990s exchanges between Hip-Hop, hard rock, hardcore and metal. Anthrax and Public Enemy's 1991 version of Bring the Noise became a highly visible collaboration, while Rage Against the Machine's 1992 debut established a different full-band approach. Biohazard and other musicians brought a more explicitly hardcore-rooted attack. The recordings do not share one founding city, and neither the rap nor the metal side should be treated as a decorative accessory.
The instruments answer the words
Heavy guitar riffs can repeat beneath tightly rhythmic verses, while bass and drums lock to a groove informed by hip-hop. Vocals may alternate between rapping, shouting and singing. Some bands use samplers or turntables, while others work through a conventional four-piece rock arrangement. The mixture varies across each recording.
Several nearby names
Rapcore, Rap Rock and Nu Metal often overlap with Rap Metal. The term is most useful when the metal-derived riffing is central. A rapper sampling a metal guitar is not necessarily making Rap Metal, just as a metal band with one spoken passage does not automatically enter this category.
Listening landmarks
- 1991Anthrax and Public EnemyBring the Noise1991 single. A direct collaboration between two existing musical cultures.
- 1992Rage Against the MachineRage Against the MachineA major full-band rap/rock-heavy crossover.
- 1992BiohazardUrban DisciplineMetallic hardcore borrowing vocal and rhythmic ideas from hip-hop.