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Cheat Sheet: Rapcore and Nu-Metal

by Chuck Eddy

So, which is the dorkier genre name? "Nu-metal," what with that German umlaut, really only makes sense if you're talking Rammstein (which you're not), and the whole idea of singling out metal that's "nu" makes even less sense, since if you take it literally it should include any metal that isn't old (which it doesn't). "Rapcore," for its part, is probably less deceptive than most genre names ending with the suffix "core," if only because in this case there probably is at least something post-hardcore about how these lyrics are barked. But who cares, really? For music like this, having a dumb name is rather appropriate.

Rap and metal have been swapping spit, officially, since the mid-'80s -- Run-D.M.C.'s epochal "Rock Box" in 1984, to be exact, and then their next two album, plus the first Beastie Boys one and assorted Public Enemy sides (not to mention Anthrax's remake of "Bring the Noise" with Chuck D), not to mention "Babylon" on the first Faster Pussycat album -- though actually, if you want to be a total know-it-all, you could even cite "Doriella Du Fontaine," which Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles recorded with sometime Last Poet Lightnin' Rod way back in 1969. (More useless trivia: Some wacko calling himself The Lone Rager [allegedly Jon Z, founder of Megaforce Records] put out a 12-inch called "Metal Rap" in 1984, but good luck finding that one.)

Anyway, by the '90s, Ice-T was yelling about killing cops in Body Count, metal bands like Mordred and Riot (on The Privilege of Power, featuring Grand Mixer D.ST. on turntables!) were incorporating hip-hip-style cut/mix techniques, and eventually Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More ensured that this was gonna be an honest-to-Beelzebub genre. Korn, who debuted in 1994, are of course true nu-metal's obvious big boom. But Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause (1998) is still too good to count.

Eventually -- maybe because Jonathan Davis' Tasmanian devil yapping was a new vocal species in its own right -- "rapping" per se wasn't even necessarily mandatory for a band to be considered nu-metal or rapcore. (Weird how that works, huh?) Yet as reviews of the two most critically approved albums below illustrate, when bands got too thoughtful and idiosyncratic, they were sometimes said to be "moving beyond nu-metal" -- or maybe critics just don't want to admit to liking any of the stuff. For our purposes, though, once you're part of the club, you stay in the club.

The Privilege Of Power

Riot

In retrospect, this reissued 1990 album has to count as one of metal history's stranger keep-up-with-the-times moves: Veteran stadium-boogie screechers see the future of music, so they hire the Tower of Power horns, harmolodic jazz axeman Blood Ulmer and, most significantly, turntable-scratch "Rockit" scientist Grandmixer D.ST. They subject their power thrash to hip-hop pastiche techniques, slipping in interstitial opera arias and Asian woodwinds and populist movie dialogue and news bites from Tiananmen Square. And they cover an Al Di Meola number -- whew!

Devil Without A Cause

Kid Rock

Highlighted by "Bawitdaba" and the revelatory (in 1998) "Cowboy," this is the album that made Kid Rock an MTV, tabloid and even Rolling Stone megastar after eight years of obscurity. No matter how you slice the overdose of white trash posturing, chugging guitars and metal beats just made for the stripper pole, "Cowboy"'s fast food appeal and redneck aesthetic marked a decided first for the mainstream. The title cut proves why Rock, regardless of his massive popularity, has a certain irrefutable cache. For better or for worse, "I Am the Bullgod" combines hip-hop and, um, grunge.

Toxicity

System of a Down

System Of A Down's 2001 sophomore release demonstrates that nu metal can be far more than a generic tag. With angular songs awash in buzzsaw guitars, tempo changes and a strong melodic sense, System Of A Down give metal back to the freaks.

White Pony

Deftones

Whether opening with "Back to School" or closing with it, the various versions of Deftones' third full-length get the same point across: this is an artistic masterpiece. Breaking the California quintet out of the nu-metal association, eerily urgent yet tender slow-burners "Change (In the House of Flies)," "RX Queen" and "Digital Bath" are the engaging valleys to crushing peaks like "Feiticeira," "Street Carp" and "Passenger" (featuring Tool's Maynard James Keenan). With gorgeous atmospherics throughout ("Pink Maggit" is a must), Deftones' finest hour is both eclectic and compelling.

Slipknot

GOOD rap-metal? Who knew? Slipknot's debut is a genuinely heavy perversion of the two genres, with chaotic noise, grindcore extremity and electronic experimentalism all thrown in. The kids ate this up when it came out in 1999, maybe thanks to the masks, but years later Slipknot is as immediate and exciting as ever. Maybe the kids aren't so dumb after all.

Make Yourself

Incubus

The band's second album, Make Yourself, finds Incubus settling more comfortably into their skin. The often abrupt segues from monstrous Metal into fuzzy Funk have been softened for a more cohesive sound. Songs such as "Stellar," "Pardon Me" and "Drive" prove the band has a knack for writing a solid pop hook. Without doubt, Make Yourself is the place to start.

The Gift Of Game

Crazy Town

Most of the million-plus fans who bought it back then might not admit it now, but these tattooed L.A. loveboys' 1999 debut stands as one of history's funner nü-metal attempts. Being only slightly more metal than Sublime definitely helps -- ridiculous singles "Butterfly" and "Revolving Door" are bubblegum-sticky. "Only When I'm Drunk" beefs up a Sugarhill funk groove while interpolating "Iko Iko"; Fat Boys, Digital Underground and Fleetwood Mac get quoted elsewhere. And Shifty Shellshock raps his boy-slut shtick with such fluid warmth you just wanna pat his hair-gelled head.

Hybrid Theory

Linkin Park

Considered an alt-metal classic, Linkin Park’s debut album does a fine job introducing fans to the band’s singular fusion of hip-hop, post-grunge and arena bombast. Boasting an orgy of well-produced noise, the album is all about violently chunky breakdowns and angst-ridden choruses that are barked, shouted and screamed. Needless to say, Hybrid Theory became an instant smash, receiving three Grammy nominations in the process. Though the group walked away with Best Hard Rock Performance for the single “Crawling,” it’s the record’s lead single, “One Step Closer,” that rocks the hardest.

Wisconsin Death Trip

Static-X

When Static-X emerged in 1999 and this album immediately went gold, they looked like just another of the zillions of MTV-metal bands with a goofy-haired singer. The mix of techno, metal and industrial music may not be for everyone, but that shouldn't stop those of us gearing up for a steel cage death match somewhere in the post-apocalyptic future.

Greatest Hits '93 - '03

311

In 1995, 311 took over with the rap-metal hits "Down" and "All Mixed Up." As they've incorporated more reggae and other world styles into their sound, they've evolved into one of the more interesting metal/hip-hop hybrids out there. This collection contains all the best songs from that transformation.

Satellite

P.O.D.

This 2001 release from the Christian Rap/Rock band proved immensely successful on the basis of singles like "Alive" and "Youth Of The Nation." The group manages to wrap their grinding pop in themes of empowerment and spirituality. Guest appearances from legends such as Eek-A-Mouse and Bad Brain's HR don't hurt, either.

American Capitalist

Five Finger Death Punch

These rock-radio successes split their third album between pleading sensitivity about mean girlfriends and klutzy but not humorless rap-metal bullying. The former occasionally recalls System of a Down; the latter occasionally recalls Anthrax circa "I'm The Man," though "The Pride" (which namedrops NASCAR, PBR, Bill Gates, MySpace, JFK and the NFL) sounds like the only rapcore ever inspired by Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." "Back for More" is some passingly melodic jock-rock trash talk; "American Capitalist" possibly a protest song. Much of the rest is directed at people they hate.

Jugganauts - The Best Of ICP

Insane Clown Posse

Although the four Forgotten Freshness compilations stitched together wide ranging tracks from throughout the band's history, this 18-track collection is ICP's first proper effort at a greatest hits collection, culling rowdy hits from their unexpectedly enduring career. If you've never experienced the face-painting, potty-mouthing, Eminem-hating, Faygo-spraying essence of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, tunes like the utterly fetid "The Neden Game" make a good introduction to the most bizarre musical ambassadors the Detroit suburbs have ever produced.

Significant Other

Limp Bizkit

Recorded in the midst of a breakup suffered by frontman Fred Durst and his girlfriend, Limp Bizkit adds a dimension of emotional depth to their usual smart-ass Rap-Metal on this, their second record. Contains the track "Break Stuff" which incited the infamous riots at Woodstock '99.

American Tragedy

Hollywood Undead

The masked rap-rock crew's second outing, American Tragedy is a consciously heavier offering than their 2008 debut, Swan Songs. Kicking down the walls with "Been to Hell" -- a warning to folks looking for fame in L.A., built on a punk-simple, unstoppably anthemic riff -- the group may have serious intentions but there's plenty of party-bringing amid the yelled raps. (They even get away with referencing Grey Goose vodka: "We drink so much Goose we're becoming geese.") Hollywood Undead may be hated by a portion of the supposed "discerning" public, but the group really doesn't care.

Infest

Papa Roach

Infest was a completely unexpected hit in the early part of 2000. When the Alt Metal/Rapcore single "Last Resort" went straight to the top of the charts, no one was more surprised than the band members themselves. The record is a solid debut, focusing on the trendier aspects of the new metal scene that Korn seems to have created almost single-handedly.