A Rap Fan's Guide to Punk Rock

Though some of you may think punk rock is only for pasty little white boys with Mohawks and bad tattoos, you'd be surprised by just how similar it is to rap once you do a little digging. For starters, they both found their footing in 1970s New York City, one uptown in a Bronx recreation center, and the other downtown on the streets of the East Village. Secondly, they were both originally centered on a DIY work ethic that became the source of a tremendous amount of creativity and inspiration.

In the early days, punk rock and rap went hand in hand. This is why the Beastie Boys were able to make a smooth transition from hardcore punk outfit to hip-hop trio, why rappers like Fab Five Freddy got name checked on Blondie songs, and why Chuck D collaborated with Sonic Youth. Even though the two scenes emerged separately in New York City, they had a mutual respect for one another, one that doesn't really exist today, and it totally should.

There are signs that rap music is on its way towards embracing its original kinship with punk rock. Whether it's Tyler, The Creator calling OFWGKTA a punk band, Kanye West becoming a self-professed "new wave" artist, or Lil Wayne infusing his tracks with subtle punk influences, rap culture is experiencing a renewed interest in punk, and therefore it's time for all of you rap geniuses to get learnt.

What follows is a primer for any rap fan interested in learning a thing or two about the genre's old-school NYC counterpart. Rap and punk may seem to inhabit opposite sides of the musical spectrum, but hopefully this piece will convince a few skeptics that you can, and should, in fact love both. At the very least, it's a history lesson worth taking. Here is A Rap Fan's Guide to Punk Rock.

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Essential Album #1: Bad Brains, "Bad Brains"

Listening to the self-titled debut album from this four-piece band is a rite of passage for any punk fan. Bad Brains was founded in 1978 by four black dudes in D.C. and are now are considered the godfathers of hardcore, the type of punk rock characterized by aggressive percussion, screaming vocals, and a total need for speed. Just how fast? This record has 15 songs and is just 36 minutes long. Its blistering guitar solos, unforgettable riffs, and unapologetic lyrics are a perfect distillation of punk rock's anti-establishment ethos. What's more, Bad Brains peppered the record with hints of reggae and dub, two influences shared by many other punk bands and mastered by ska bands such as Operation Ivy. The stand out tracks on this Bad Brains record are "Banned in D.C.," "I," "Pay To Cum," and "Jah Calling." Other notable hardcore bands include Minor Threat, Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits, Suicidal Tendencies and the Dead Kennedys.

Essential Album #2: The Stooges, "S/T"

Technically, The Stooges are a protopunk band, but you wouldn't have punk rock without them so they absolutely deserve to be on this list. In the late 1960s, Michigan bands like The Stooges, the MC5, and Death were channeling their anti-establishment attitudes and turning it into high-energy, angsty music long before misunderstood suburban kids started to spike their hair and wear weird clothing in the name of punk rock. The Stooges' debut album is oozing with disillusionment and a burning desire to reject political and social norms. Lead singer Iggy Pop screams into the microphone "come on" and you can't help but follow. It turns out, he's leading you to the other punk bands that would later be defined by the same youthful defiance and anger.

Idol: Lou Reed

Lou Reed (1942 - 2013) was a tai chi master and gave infamously crotchety interviews. More importantly, he was a founding member of The Velvet Underground, the 1960s art rock group that helped pave the way for the punk scene in New York City. Reed's influence is hard to measure because he's the nexus between so many different genres. He was born to connect different communities through music. His close friends included Andy Warhol and David Bowie, he recorded a horrible album with the metal band Metallica, and he also wrote a glowing review of Yeezus. While there are more obvious choices for the title of punk rock icon, no one deserves it more than Lou Reed. It can be argued that punk rock is just as much an attitude and a way of life as it is a musical genre. If that's the case, Reed would be the physical embodiment of what it means to be punk—unapologetic, free, bad ass, and dedicated to telling stories about living life on fringes of society.

Essential Artist #1: The Clash

There are many differences between the way punk developed in the UK and the way it developed in America. For one thing, many punk fans in England were associated with right-wing nationalists and Neo-Nazi groups that promoted racism. Those punk bands are horrible. Luckily, though, all English punk bands are not horrible. Wire, The Buzzcocks, Crass, and the Sex Pistols are just a few of the greats. The greatest UK punk band, however, is The Clash. They were prolific, deeply invested in the political and social tenets that defined most punk rock scenes around the world, and they really helped the genre garner global attention. Like Bad Brains, The Clash wasn't afraid to experiment with different genres including dub, reggae, funk, and pop. Some of the must-hear songs from The Clash include their stellar cover of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves," "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." and "White Riot."

Essential Artist #2: The Ramones

Four weird-looking dudes from Forest Hills, Queens with very little talent decided to form a band in the mid-1970s. They went on to become the Ramones, one of the most successful groups in American musical history. The Ramones are pretty much synonymous with punk rock, but it doesn't take a skilled listener to pick up on the fact that Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and Tommy Ramone (no relation), weren't real musicians. That doesn't matter. What matters is that The Ramones were not hippies. They became the quintessential anti-hippies when America's youth was desperately trying to break away from the 1960s flower power movement. The Ramones gave punk its look. They became the poster boys. As a result, songs such as "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Beat On The Brat," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," became indisputable anthems of punk rock.

The Hangout: CBGB

Punk rock wasn't confined to New York. Various cities across different continents developed their own scenes. That said, if you were a punk band touring before 2006, CBGB was where you wanted to get booked. The list of artists who have performed there reads like a who's who of punk rock history. Patti Smith, the Talking Heads, Television, The Misfits, and Suicide are just a few of the numerous bands that made a home on the venue's filthy, beer-stained stage. CBGB was the official stomping ground for the disaffected youth of New York City and became hugely instrumental in turning a subculture full of unruly misfits who barely knew how to play instruments into a fully-fledged musical movement.

Essential Clothing Item: Buttons

Historian Jon Savage is said to have described punk rock as a "bricolage of almost every previous youth culture in the Western world since World War II stuck together with safety pins." This is a fitting quote because the one accessory that all young punks have and cherish are buttons attached to leather jackets with flimsy safety pins. Punk rock was ultimately a working-class genre. Kids at punk shows didn't have a lot of money, but they went to shows religiously and proudly displayed their favorite band's logo on their label or shirt pocket. It's like earning a ribbon in the military. The pins punk rockers wear are a reflection of the kind of punk you are, and how many mosh pits you've survived.

Overrated: Rancid

At some point, punk rock became a lesser version of its former self. While no one band can be held responsible for breaking punk rock, there are a few bands that helped speed the process along. Rancid is one of them. They do a good job of combining the multiple sounds that had come to characterize punk rock by the time they released their first album in 1993, but that's also sort of the problem. Rancid is completely derivative, and made a career doing things everyone else had already done—many times before and also better. Again, Rancid isn't the only band responsible for doing this (there's also Blink-182, Green Day, and Limp Bizkit), but they have managed to stake a claim in the annals of punk rock history as though they were responsible for creating something new, as though they were original. They're not. They're just overrated.

Festival: All Tomorrow's Parties

When CBGB closed in 2006, it was the end of an era and the future of punk seemed to be in limbo. Sure there were other famous venues around the country (most notably the 9:30 Club in D.C.), but none of them had the same allure as CBGB, a place people were willing to travel far and wide to experience. There is no punk rock mecca. As the music business continues to devour itself, there are fewer opportunities for small, intimate clubs—the ones in which punk music was able to thrive—to survive. So where do you go if you want to see live punk music? There is no easy answer. There are new bands such as Perfect Pussy and Death Grips that are recording music that remains loyal to the original punk rock ethos, but those bands are few and far between. Otherwise, it's always good to hit up festivals such as ATP, SXSW, and the CMJ. Unlike the massive, hyper-commercialized festivals that are pretty much the antithesis of punk rock, these festivals still cater to audiences and musicians who value the intense connection that can be created in an intimate space. That's the best way to see a punk show.

Essential Underrated Artist: Minutemen

The Minutemen are the punk's band punk band. This criminally underrated trio from San Pedro, California featured a jolly, heavyset D. Boon on guitar and vocals, Mike Watt on bass, and George Hurley on drums. Their seminal record Double Nickels on the Dime isn't your typical punk record, and that's what makes it so amazing. It has crazy time signatures, gorgeous acoustic instrumentals, and spoken word. It challenged what was already thought to be a radical movement in music to be even more forward thinking. Sadly, D. Boon died way too young at the age of 27 and, as a result, the band's career was very short-lived. If you're curious, We Jam Econo, a documentary about the Minutemen and how they helped changed the face of punk rock as we know it, is definitely worth watching.