Whatever Happened To Rap-Rock?

Back when I was in high school "rap-rock" was all the rage, but it seems like it all but disappeared with exception of a few.

I don't think I am the only one that feels this way, but I kind of miss the rap-rock genre.  I mean we still play those classic Kid Rock, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Rage songs on Q103 but the artists aren't really doing it anymore.  I can't understand why because it was almost the perfect kind of music.  Maybe it's the fact that some of them are getting older and expanding their horizons but I wish they would still take a crack at now and then.

I use to love Limp Bizkit.  Sure Fred Durst may be a douche bag but man they knew how to pump up a crowd with their tunes.  Plus Wes Borland was always cool to watch because you never knew what kind of crazy get up he was getting into.  The latest single we heard from Limp Bizkit had Fred Durst singing.  Singing Fred?  Come one dude, just lay down some lyrics and let DJ Lethal and Borland make it angry, and boom done.  Linkin Park use to have a really good formula too.  Shinoda could rap while Chester sang and their DJ Mr. Hahn would put cool effects into it.  I loved that stuff!  Come on you know that "Faint" is one of the coolest songs still to this day.

It even seems strange live.  Paparoach will still perform "Last Resort"  but they don't rap it.  I love the new sound of Paparoach but the old sound was good too.  So all these bands are exploring new sounds, and their album sales are suffering for it.  If they ever eliminated the old material from their performances I feel like they would totally fizzle out, more so than they have now.

Thank goodness for bands like Hollywood Undead because they are still doing the rap-rock thing.  These guys are awesome.  The are still kind of underground but their latest album American Tragedy is starting to get a lot of attention.  It premiered on the Billboard 200 chart at #4.  Pretty impressive for a band that does such aggressive songs.

POD (payable on death) was a fairly big band back in the early 2000's but since leaving their record label they have kept a low profile. They still do the rap-rock thing too, but in a different style.  Their music is much angrier, so they are taking after the Hollywood Undead sound.