In an age where music fans have access to more varied sounds than ever, it’s easy to take the cross-pollinaton of metal and hip hop culture for granted. Back in the summer of 1991, however, such genre-mashing was practically unheard of.

Almost a decade before nu metal’s commercial peak, and a good year before before Rage Against The Machine’s funk metal assault, the roots of rap metal were being sown by two bands raised in the streets of New York, from scenes that, on the face of it, couldn’t have been more different.

While Run-DMC and Aerosmith may have got the rap-rock ball rolling five years earlier with Walk This Way, it was when thrash linchpins Anthrax hooked up with hip hop pioneers Public Enemy that history was truly made. Producing a fresh, take on PE’s 1988 single Bring The Noise, the collaboration spawned a hit single, a tour and a sound that would change heavy music.

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