Rocking, Rapping Acts Mix It Up ; Linkin Park, Cypress Hill Sold Out
By: Bill Ellis ellis@gomemphis.com - The Commercial Appeal Memphis, TN
February 15th 2002 8:32pm
Rockers who rap. Rappers who rock. The deluge of metal-rap acts remains unabated in rock's latest
commercial upswing. From Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock to Papa Roach and
Memphis's own Saliva, the sound of the new decade is but the latest
response to urban culture's cast over pop music. Whether it's Elvis Presley reinventing Arthur `Big Boy' Crudup,
Led Zeppelin shouting the levee blues of Memphis Minnie, Faith No
More getting ironic all over the Commodores or Anthrax bringing (and
bridging) the noise with Public Enemy, rock has appropriated,
borrowed, embraced, and refigured its black sources. The '90s alt-
rock/rap axis of Rage Against the Machine/Red Hot Chili Peppers/311
pushed the bar even further. The current trend is no different. More than any other time,
however - those Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith, Public Enemy/Anthrax
collaborations and godfather acts from Funkadelic to Living Colour
notwithstanding - the egalitarianism extends both ways. What's good
for the metalheads is good for the gangstas. Case in point are the two stars of Saturday's sold-out show at Mid-
South Coliseum: Linkin Park and Cypress Hill. As one of rock's biggest-selling acts, Linkin Park took a
hackneyed formula and gave it enough twists on their 2000 debut,
"[Hybrid Theory]," to send sales into the 7 million figure. That
includes a preference for punkish brevity over bombast (the album
clocks in under 38 minutes) and the use of two vocalists, one the
emphatic MC, one the anthemic singer - and likening them as the nu-
metal version of Sam & Dave doesn't seem that farfetched. Sure, angsty aphorisms like "Shut up when I'm talking to you" -
from the single One Step Closer - are about as enlightening as a
bludgeoning Godsmack number. But the music holds and subsequent hits
Crawling and In the End (which has more than a bit of Faith No More
in its catchy melancholy) confirm the act's deserved Grammy nod for
Best New Artist. As for Cypress Hill, the Los Angeles rap legends - B-Real, Sen Dog
DJ Muggs and Eric Bobo (son of salsa great Willie Bobo) - have been
mixing the colors, including their Latino heritage, since their
eponymous 1991 debut. Though their philosophy is perhaps best summed up by the song
Stoned Is the Way of the Walk, these high-lovin' hip-hoppers have
always had more on their agenda than Cheech & Chong odes to the bong
(though their crossover appeal is largely tied to a blunted
perspective). It's tied as well to the group's penchant for making a rock
spectacle out of rap like few before or since. Their second album,
"Black Sunday," used Black Sabbath - and Dusty Springfield! - samples
to dizzying effect, while duets with Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth on
1993's seminal Judgment Night soundtrack sealed their status as rock-
rap pioneers. And on recent records - including "Skull & Bones" and
its hit (Rock) Superstar - they've incorporated a live rock band into
the programming soul stew by DJ Muggs better than Ice-T ever did in
his Body Count days. New album "Stoned Raiders" makes the latest case for the group's
rock credentials, from the opening bell dirge a la AC/DC to the
Metallica-like riff of Trouble to the Aerosmith revamp on
Catastrophe. For a while, it was rumored that B-Real would join Rage
Against the Machine after Zack de la Rocha quit. He didn't need to -
Cypress Hill rocks the house. And they pull it off on stage as few rap acts can. Percussionist
Bobo, formerly of the Beastie Boys, grounds the band live as does
their insistence on the big rock statement in hits such as Insane in
the Brain (one of many Hill tunes that samples the Stax catalog, that
one being Grab This Thing by the Mar-Keys). That rock and rap are so intrinsically hitched may not mean much
given the often cliched results. But rock was born on a hybrid theory
and continues to flourish because of it. What ultimately sticks is
that the genre remains a melting pot ideal. The quality, as always,
depends on who's doing the cooking.
 (C) 2002 The Commercial Appeal Memphis, TN. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
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