10 Best Hard Rock & Rap Cross-Over Songs
4. Sabotage - The Beastie Boys
In the first instances of genre colliding, most of the collaborations between hip hop and rock seemed to be centered around a rock band looking for a boost from a hip hop act. It wasn't until the Beastie Boys that we officially heard what it was like to hear rock on rap's terms.
There was always a weird collaborative spirit with some of the first rap rock songs, but the idea of the Beastie Boys doing a rock song made so much sense given their history of being a punk outfit before switching up their styles. Out of all the rockers in their catalog, "Sabotage" is the one that has just the right amount of bravado to wow both sides of the music spectrum. The performance from Ad-Rock is one of his most ferocious, as he seems on the verge of a breakdown as he talks about the oncoming disaster ahead.
The rockers may be disappointed that the song consisted of just one guitar chord, but the idea of getting the most out of a minimal foundation is something that has been a part of rock's playbook since the very beginning. The music of the Beastie Boys may seem a bit infantile now, but I challenge you to listen to MCA's opening bass riff on this song and not get pumped every single time.