pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

i think once they wrote something like 'there wasn't as much music released back then!' to semi-explain why all their selections were chart hits and/or from predictable artists for one of these things, which, lol, i don't think is even true??

Yeah it would be better to say 80s and 90s lists can be more hit-filled because there were far more hits then than before or after and that means there were more unusual-sounding (however you interpret it) hits too.

Maybe they could explain it as "we would have included these more obscure songs but it turns out Apple Music didn't have them in their library"

But yeah the hitmachines of the 80s and part of the 90s were pretty forward-thinking compared to the past decades. Can you imagine a song like 'O Superman' being pushed as a single and actually becoming a hit in this day and age?

Naw the Run-DMC pick should have been "Sucker MCs" because it completely changed what hip-hop sounded like instead of just convincing white people to listen to it.

^ this

The Walk This Way collab did more for Aerosmith's rep than it did for Run DMC's.

We can have both. Run DMC is way more deserving of two spots than NWA.

According to wikipedia 'walk this way' is credited as the song that helped break hiphop into mainstream pop music and catapulted run dmc into mainstream stardom. Yeah it also helped resurrect Aerosmith's career but RUN DMC are probably one of the most popular 'old school' bands thanks to it.

And Run DMC were actually popular because they wrote great hits and not because of all the crew drama like NWA.

Nah, in 1986 Run DMC were well on their way to crossing over anyway. If it wasn't Walk This Way, it would've been something else. Raising Hell is an atomic bomb of a record and another single from it would have crossed them over.

Aerosmith were desperate relics in 1986.

Can we agree it's a better song than 'straight outta compton' or at least the two gnr singles?

not really - it's a novelty cover prob more worthy of being in a Best Videos Of The 80s countdown

i do like that tyler made the chorus less shrill

now if they'd replaced straight outta compton and one of the gnr hits with "king of rock" and "rag doll" i'd give that a thumbs up

Yeah, no. No agreement there. xps

But you could make the argument that rap-rock crossovers are still a thing and esp remix songs feat. guest stars also a huge thing. In a lot of ways it was ahead of its time.

Like how many pop songs nowadays have a rap guest verse? Pretty much all of those are indebted to "Walk This Way".

walk this way doesn't have a guest rap verse, it's two rap guys covering aerosmith

how many rap acts straight-up do rock covers now? if anything it's very uninfluential

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36hLtWglrhM

seriously name five songs where rappers and stars unite to...do the old song word-for-word with some scratching

Name five of any hit songs that were covered word for word. It's kind of a thing that is not done much anymore.

The Roots? Mos Def?

those aren't songs or even collaborations, those are the names of acts with question marks next to them

Ok:

the roots - seed 2.0 which covers cody chesnutt

And Mos def has a live band nowadays and they cover hendrix i think.

seed 2.0 is a word for word cover?

Not sure why "Walk This Way" needs to have a modern rock hit covered word for word by rap star (and word for word only, no samples, no remixes, etc) to be influential. It seems like a needlessly specific criteria.

well that's a matter of perspective - it's treated as "highly influential" but actually the "influence" isn't so much the song but the music video - way more people have done "YOU? ME? TOGETHER? WOW!" than actually ape the track

and wtf a breakthrough in mtv gimmickry has to do with Best Songs Of the 80s i dunno

Yes it is, all the cody chesnutt chorus are reprised from his other one minute song. At least that's what I remember.

At any rate you're missing the point it wasn't influential because it prompted hiphop artists to do rock covers but because it made them aware of the versatility of hip hop and how it could reach to out to other genres outside the then-limited hip hop culture.

wtf gimmickry is probably bigger than ever.

moka if we were taking "chorus is interpolated from original song" to mean "word-for-word cover of that song" we'd have a lot more examples

Have you even heard the cody chesnutt song? The same three chorus on the Roots song is all there is. Word for word.

And yet again: "walk this way" influence wasn't that it prompted hiphop artists to do rock covers I don't understand where you're getting that from.

if you're trying to argue that "walk this way" was A Big Deal, sure fine great, no debate, I said it probably belongs in a Best Videos Of The 80s list just for Tyler busting through the wall and Run-DMC not having it. I'm just pointing out that the cultural influence really outshines its musical influence (there are plenty of other 80s def jam songs that have been more blatantly jacked aesthetically) and that this is a list of Best Songs not Most Important Moments Of The 80s

opening lyrics to "the seed" by cody chestnutt

I don't ask, for much these days
And I don't sit, and whine, if I don't get my way
I only wanna fertilize another behind my lover's back
I sit and watch it grow standin' where I'm at
Fertilize another behind my lover's back
And I'm keepin' my secrets mine
I push my seed in her bush for life
Its gonna work because I'm pushin' it right
If Mary drops my baby girl tonight
I would name her Rock-N-Roll

opening lyrics to "the seed 2.0" by the roots:

Knocked up 9 months ago
And what she finna have? She don't know
She want neo-soul, this hip-hop is old
She don't want no Rock n' Roll
She want platinum or ice or gold
She want a whole lot of something to fold
If you a obstacle she just drop you cold
Cause one monkey don't stop the show
Little Mary is bad
In these streets she done ran
Ever since when the heat began
I told the girl: "look here
Calm down, I'mma hold your hand
To enable you to peep the plan
Cause you is quick to learn
And we can make money to burn
If you allow me to lay this game"
I don't ask for much but enough room to spread my wings
And the world finna know my name

The influence of walk this way was that it set a pop precedent to incorporate elements from rock or to do crossovers to other genres and every "pop song feat. Hiphop act" owes a little to run dmc even if they're not aware of it. Of course, if they didn't do it first someone else might have done it eventually is true but that can be said about everything under the sun.

It wasnt even the first time rap + [insert other genre] was used as a formula for a hit tho.

Such as....?

It was the first big hit that did it, though, and that's what matters when talking about influence. You think all the acts of the 80s that followed suit were thinking about the underground song that made it first or the big hit that they heard last summer?

Rockit, Planet Rock...

it's true, the fat boys were probably thinking about "walk this way" when they did "the twist" and "wipeout". i don't think anyone would deny that.

I guess if you want to say Kraftwerk is a rock band, and in the same genre as Aerosmith, you would technically be right. Technically.

Like how many pop songs nowadays have a rap guest verse? Pretty much all of those are indebted to "Walk This Way".

This is an argument for "I Feel For You", not "Walk This Way".

seriously! this song means zip when it comes to "hey let's have somebody rap after the second chorus"

Ok whatever you stubborn son of a blunt you're right Walk this Way was in no way influential to anything. You win.

if you're trying to argue that "walk this way" was A Big Deal, sure fine great, no debate, I said it probably belongs in a Best Videos Of The 80s list just for Tyler busting through the wall and Run-DMC not having it. I'm just pointing out that the cultural influence really outshines its musical influence (there are plenty of other 80s def jam songs that have been more blatantly jacked aesthetically) and that this is a list of Best Songs not Most Important Moments Of The 80s

don't be a baby

Whatever kraftwerk were, they were not a rap act. Neither was herbie hancock. Or chic for that matter.

But all those counter examples are dance music meeting dance music. The genres already kind of shared common reference points, sounds, beats, etc. As far as predicting weird mashup culture and genre hybrids "Walk This Way" is a more extreme example.

Hip hop was founded on sampling. They were snatching from disco and funk way before 'walk this way' but were the other genres using hip hop raps as guest verses before?

THEY DIDNT DO THAT ON WALK THIS WAY