(Credits: Far Out / Alamy / YouTube Still / Parlophone Records)
Arguably, one of the most pivotal moments in hip-hop was when Run DMC released ‘Rock Box’. Despite the genre’s increasing popularity, hip-hop was still something that many people turned their noses to.
However, the electric guitar solos and big beat drums on Run DMC’s single showed listeners the genre’s potential as they noticed just how versatile hip-hop could be. This incorporation of rap and rock music swept America and led to ‘Rock Box’ being the first rap video to be broadcast on MTV – a title often confused with another song on the list below.
With the rock-rap crossover proven successful and as hip-hop only gained more and more traction worldwide, it was only natural that some rock stars would give rapping a go themselves.
There was (and in some aspects still is) a common misconception that rapping is easy. People believe it is just saying words so that anybody can do it. This isn’t the case, of course, and professional rappers work tirelessly to perfect their craft, something that can take years to truly master, and even then, they still might not get it right. However, that didn’t stop a lot of rock artists from giving it a go anyway.
Here are some of the most famous classic rock artists that have attempted rapping. Some are better than others, granted, but all of them are probably better at sticking to what they know.
Five classic rock artists attempts at rap:
Blondie (Debbie Harry)
When MTV originally premiered, black artists were widely neglected. Granted, the likes of Rick James, Donna Summer and Michael Jackson eventually propelled the channel to new heights, but during this period, rap never got a look in. Debbie Harry of Blondie developed a love for hip-hop after attending an event in South Bronx, which ultimately led to the creation of ‘Rapture’.
‘Rapture’ is often called the first rap song to ever appear on MTV, but it is ambitious to call what Debbie Harry does on the song rapping. She delivers an off-beat, deadpan spoken word verse, which might be rap-adjacent but is tough to call a rap definitively. To take the mantle of the first rap song on MTV away from Run DMC and replace it with ‘Rapture’ seems, to put it lightly, unfair.
Bob Dylan
As a result of Blondie’s ‘Rapture’, hip-hop found its way into the living rooms of people worldwide, whether they wanted to listen to it or not. Hip-hop grew increasingly popular and was beginning to be incorporated into the sound of many artists. Influence can be easily picked up in the face of pop culture, but Bob Dylan’s unlikely love of rap was something which took a lot of people by surprise.
Spending time with Kurtis Blow, Dylan decided that the dizzying heights of stardom would next be achieved by a rapper. He praises the likes of Ice T, Public Enemy and NWA in his memoir, saying they “weren’t bullshitting” and were “poets who knew what was going on”. Interestingly, Dylan met Kurtis Blow because he wanted to borrow a couple of backup singers for Empire Burlesque. In exchange, Dylan provided Blow with an acapella verse on ‘Street Rock Duet’.
David Bowie
Widely considered an artist who could do everything, and as someone with a style so eclectic that no genre would really seem out of place, it’s still hard to believe that David Bowie once tried his hand at rapping (alongside the actor Mickey Rourke no doubt). The song in question is ‘Shining Star (Makin’ My Love)’; to most Bowie fans’ relief, it sits in a shadow cast by the rest of his discography.
His voice is deep during his verse, 21 Savage-esque, as if he forgot how to rap for 30 seconds. There is a clear lack of natural ability that comes through as cuts can be heard clearly throughout, presumably where he had to catch his breath and take a sip of water. In short, Bowie’s verse on this track does anything but shine.
Brian Wilson
Possibly the best entry on this list is the acid trip hip-hop entry put forward by Brian Wilson with the song ‘Smart Girls’. Hip-hop has a history of being a misogynistic genre, with slang terms and degrading lyrics forming a large part of what a lot of rappers speak about. That being said, there are a number of moments throughout hip-hop history where steps forward for women in the genre were made. This is heard in Yo Yo’s confrontation of the genre in Ice Cube’s ‘It’s A Man’s World’, Queen Latifah’s song of unity in ‘Ladies First’ and the expressionism displayed by many women in modern rap music. In that sense, maybe Brian Wilson’s song isn’t bad; it’s just ahead of its time.
No, it’s bad – arguably one of the worst songs ever written, and the fact it came from what is undoubtedly one of the greatest musical minds to ever take to the stage is too perplexing to truly put into words. ‘Smart Girls’ sounds like if you put together a playlist of Beach Boys songs and Christian rap, fell asleep as it played, and kept waking up at different moments. Various Beach Boys samples, cheesy lyrics and horrible delivery dominate throughout. It is a must-listen.
Mick Jagger
With Mick Jaggers’s varying tastes and endless phonebook, it’s hardly a surprise that he has tried rapping at some point in his career. This came from the song ‘Miracle Worker’ which was released under a supergroup he formed called SuperHeavy. The song is strangely addictive; it’s not particularly good but has an intriguing quality that makes it impossible to turn off. Featured on the track is Damian Marley, who Jagger said taught him to rap.
“Toasting, we call it,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press, “But it is the same thing [as rap]. Damian was doing this really good toasting, West Indian rapping, so I thought, ‘I could do that. It can’t be that difficult.’ It actually was quite difficult. With a bit of practice, it is all right.” No, it’s not Mick.
