Combining hip-hop and metal: a way to create unique sounds which utilize the strength of both, or a way to dumb down each art form about which we should’ve learned our lesson the first time? The hip-hop and metal communities have always had begrudging respect for one another, appreciative of each genre’s respective love of partying, dedication to their MO, and distaste for authority. And yet the nu-metal movement of the late ’90s and early 2000s left such a bad taste in the mouths of both scenes that the combination of the two worlds has since become a taboo. This raises the question: can hip-hop and metal ever coexist well together, or are they cultures that should respect one another from afar?
On our latest episode of our heavy metal talk show Last Words, hosts hosts Katy Irizarry (Season Of Mist), Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves/Ex Man Podcast), and Zeena Koda (Everything’s Political Podcast) decide to open up the conversation about heavy metal’s intersectionality with hip-hop, especially in the context of modern-day acts like Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly.
“Being born in 1989, this is kind of the metal that I grew up on,” says Katy. “When I was first a young, burgeoning metalhead in the 7th and 8th Grade, the bands that were popular were Linkin Park and Korn and Rage Against The Machine and the Beastie Boys. So this was always a big part of me coming up as a metalhead.”
“The hardcore scene I cam up in, it was interesting because I was a fan of metal — Metallica, Machine Head, Megadeth, all these bands — but I didn’t see those people. The environment I grew up in was an urban environment, and hip-hop permeated everything.”
Check out the full episode below:
And if you want the full, uncensored audio glory of this episode, make sure to listen to the Last Words podcast for all the real talk we couldn’t put on YouTube:
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Words by Chris Krovatin
