The Stories Behind 5 Big Rock Covers of Rap + Hip Hop Songs

A rock band, or even a country band for that matter, covering a rap song is nothing new these days.

There have been entire albums made out of the concept. We've also been served package tours in recent years that paired rock bands with rap and hip hop acts.

Later this year, modern hardcore heroes Drain will be hitting the road to open for hip hop duo $uicideboy$. Both Cypress Hill and Tech N9ne are listed right after Disturbed and Papa Roach for the first day of the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival in Mansfield, Ohio on July 17.

While all of this may be commonplace today, the blending of the two music worlds wasn't always this seamless. Here is a look back at some of the more notable times rock bands covered rap and hip hop songs, including those that maybe should have never made it onto tape.

Anthrax, 'Bring The Noise' (1991)

Original artist: Public Enemy (1987)

What you should know: It all started with Public Enemy name-dropping Anthrax in the original version. Anthrax then ended up playing it on tour before adding it to their B-side compilation album, Attack of the Killer B's.

Anthrax was part of a Clash of the Titans tour in 1991 along with Megadeth, Slayer and Alice in Chains. As part of a surprise for their hometown crowd at Madison Square Garden on June 28, 1991, Anthrax welcomed Chuck D and Flava Flav onstage for the first live joint performance of "Bring The Noise."

The partnership eventually culminated in a co-headlining tour with Anthrax and Public Enemy later that same year.

Chuck D said in a 2021 conversation with Anthrax that the thrash band deserves all of the credit for coming up with the idea of a collaboration in the first place.

"It was on their blueprint. It was on their drafting table back before we even met."

It took seeing Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian wearing a Public Enemy shirt on the Monsters of Rock Tour to convince Chuck D that maybe he should consider a partnership with an act outside of his genre.

"They had like six million people behind them and I was like 'what the fuck?' And that's what made me want to put Anthrax in the original 'Bring the Noise.' We're all the same people. We're the same New Yorkers. We're the same musicians."

Dynamite Hack, 'Boyz-n-the Hood' (2000)

Original artist: Eazy-E (1987)

What you should know: At the turn of the century, alternative rock act Dynamite Hack shot up the rock charts with their acoustic cover of Eazy-E's "Boyz-n-the Hood." The song and Dynamite Hack were ubiquitous that summer, only for the band to disappear into relative obscurity.

Acoustic covers of rap songs at that time were still mostly a novelty. That alone called for attention.

Those who fell in love with Dynamite Hack's take after first hearing the radio edit version later heard something much different when putting on 2000's Superfast album, where the band made the questionable choice of leaving in the derogatory lyrics from Eazy-E's original.

Dynamite Hack's Mark Morris later told Seattle Weekly that he wanted to change the lyrics but was outvoted by his bandmates, who didn't want to "disrupt the integrity of the song."

"I don't feel strongly about keeping the integrity of the song intact. I just really don't want to offend anybody."

Rage Against The Machine, 'How I Could Just Kill a Man' (2000)

Original artist: Cypress Hill (1991)

What you should know: Rage Against the Machine's fourth and final album, Renegades, arrived in 2000 as a collection of cover songs, or "reconstructions" as guitarist Tom Morello calls them.

One of those was RATM's take on early Cypress Hill hit "How I Could Just Kill a Man." In a 2025 social media post, Morello hailed the official music video for his band's version of the song as one of his all-time favorites due to its compilation of "crazy live footage."

One shot from the video that immediately stood out to viewers was of a nude man holding a mic while standing next to singer Zack de la Rocha on stage. Even after a bunch of sleuthing from curious fans, the naked man's identity remained a mystery.

Nearly 13 years later, Morello finally revealed the clip was the byproduct of a dare involving an associate of the band.

"It was a friend of ours who toured with us named MJ Plenty and at the time on that particular tour, we were doing this grim, I wouldn't call it hazing, but we had this outstanding $250 per diem money that was always sitting on the desk. And then someone in the band or someone in the crew would come up with a different task, and if you did the task, you got the $250."

Ben Folds, 'Bitches Ain't Shit' (2005)

Original artist: Dr. Dre (1992)

What you should know: As with Dynamite Hack's cover mentioned earlier, Ben Folds also chose to keep all of Dr. Dre's original lyrics, including those that would be deemed as being derogatory when delivered by a white male singer.

Folds' cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit" was a longtime staple during his live shows with different band members, who were also white, taking turns singing the verses. Setlist.fm shows the song being performed by Folds a total of 208 times, with its final time appearing on a setlist in 2017.

Folds later expressed regret for the cover and not changing any of Dr. Dre's original lyrics.

"I think Dr. Dre is a music genius and I'm proud of my melody, but nevertheless, I would like to apologize for putting it out and readjust course," Folds said in a 2020 Facebook post announcing the cover would be removed from all streaming platforms.

"Looking ahead, I've got a lot more learning, teaching and maybe even a bit more rocking to do."

Five Finger Death Punch (featuring Tech N9ne), 'Mama Said Knock You Out' (2013)

Original artist: LL Cool J (1990)

What you should know: Five Finger Death Punch's cover of "Mama Said Knock You Out" mostly started as an act of rebellion when it was recorded alongside rapper Tech N9ne in 2013.

"Today, it's not okay to collaborate with anybody in hip hop," FFDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory said in a 2013 interview with Metal Covenant. "Ten to 15 years ago, that was the norm and then we wouldn't have done it. Now, when it's not okay, when it's taboo, I wanna do it."

Bathory described the cover as a "middle finger" toward those who look down on rock bands for collaborating with rap and hip hop artists.

"You don't touch hip hop, but fuck that, we're gonna and we did it."

Now that we've got that out of the way, it's time to look back at some of the all-time best cover songs from 50 big rock bands.