Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and more

Hip-Rock: Growing fast and furious

August 11, 2000
Web posted at: 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253 GMT)

(CNN) — Hip-Rock, one of the biggest crazes wherever young people and stereos gather, is the next step in popular music’s evolution.

Fusing hip-hop with the aggressive, funk- and metal-driven guitar riffs that have been around since the 1970s, hip-rock’s practitioners are gaining notice.

With artists such as Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine and Korn leading the way, the hip-rock trend is growing in leaps and bounds — something it didn’t do in the beginning, according to hip-rock forerunners the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“The world was deaf to what we were doing,” said lead singer Anthony Keidis. “Hip-Hop hadn’t been around long enough for people to be comfortable with it, let alone a hybrid of that and something else.”

But now, music fans are more than comfortable with merging it with other genres. As Kid Rock contends, they crave it — and the rabble-rousing lifestyle with which hip-rock is associated.

“People are ready to see some rock ‘n’ roll again,” he said. “They want somebody up there like me. ‘Girls: love ‘em. Liquor: like to drink it. Rock-n-Roll: like to play it hard.’”