When thinking of Aerosmith I am sure the hip hop genre doesn't come to mind. After all the American rock band is about the farthest thing from a hip hop group. However, it was a crossover with that genre that really helped get their name out there. Find out the surprising hip hop crossover that helped put Aerosmith on the map.
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The Hip Hop Crossover That No One Expected From Aerosmith
Aerosmith started up their band in the 1970s. However, they did not experience instant success. Instead, it took several years for them to get the ball rolling. Although they did pick up steam in the mid-1980s, it wasn't until they commercialized their sound that they really took off.
While they started off as a blues-influence hard rock band, they soon began to expand their horizons. In the 80s they had some incredible hit tracks such as 'Dude Looks Like a Lady' and 'Love in an Elevator'. However it was their surprise hip hop crossover that truly put them on the map and opened up the doors to their success.
In 1975, Aerosmith had released a single called 'Walk This Way'. Although it didn't initially perform well, when it was re-released in 1976 it performed much better. However, experts in the music industry thought that the song could be even bigger. Around this time, American record producer Rick Rubin had just finished a project with Run-DMC. During that time he stumbled upon Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' and thought that the background beats were similar to that of a hip hop song.
Then a crazy idea was born. Far Out Magazine shares the thoughts of the record producer. He said, "I was just listening through my record collection, and the fact that the breakbeat of 'Walk This Way' was already a familiar staple in the live hip-hop world just added to that message." From there the idea of a collaboration between Aerosmith and Run-DMC was born. Rubin continued, "We could take something that was familiar and not change it so much, just through the rappers' delivery, reframe the song. And unbelievably, it happened. It's amazing."
Crossover Results In Immense Success
Although Rubin admitted that Aerosmith was immediately onboard, it took Run-DMC longer to warm up to the idea of a collaboration. According to Rubin, "They were really against it," mainly because they felt "It didn't relate to their mentality." Luckily, they chose to ignore those feelings and they went ahead with the collaboration.
The hip-hop crossover was released in 1986 and was an immense success. Not only did this crossover version chart higher than the original but it peaked at number four on the top 100. Additionally, it turned out to be one of Run-DMC's biggest hits. Certainly a collaboration worth doing if you ask me.
Here are some of the internet's thoughts on the collaboration.
"One of the best collaborations of all time. They made each other's music more relevant."
"Great song and great collab but the best part is the video showing how rock and rap felt about each other. They despised each other. Then it was suddenly, "Hey, they sound pretty cool together. Maybe both could roll together." Instead of hate maybe they could work together to build something epic. To bad we seem to be missing this today."
"A masterpiece. Rap and Rock by two of the greatest bands of all time -- erasing all stereotypes for this song."
