The much loved, multi-platinum metal legend Ozzy “the Prince of Darkness” Osbourne and the much loved, multi-platinum rapper, musical-genre blender Post Malone collaborating? As unlikely as it may seem, it recently happened, and the resulting track, “Take What You Want,” is already a runaway, YouTube-trending success. Can you say, “viral”?
Now, rap/hip-hop merging with rock and melding with metal is hardly a new thing. “Walk This Way,” the game-changing, chart-topping amalgamation of Run-DMC with Aerosmith happened a staggering 33 years ago, in 1986. A year later, rap/rock/punk/hip-hop pioneers the Beastie Boys released their multi-million-selling debut album, Licensed to Ill, and one of the many hit singles on it, “No Sleep till Brooklyn” (reportedly a spoof on Motorhead’s classic live LP, No Sleep ’til Hammersmith) featured a guitar solo from Kerry King of thrash metal titans Slayer.
Then, in 1991, another member of thrash metal’s “Big Four,” Anthrax, collaborated with hip-hop icons Public Enemy. The result? A successful merger of metal with rap on a blistering version of P.E.’s song “Bring the Noise.”
Like I say, nothing new about this kinda fusion.
That said, sadly it’s inevitable that a slew of folk will flood social media with an indignant torrent of self-righteous, negative nonsense about Messrs. Osbourne and Malone working together. And then, of course, you’ll get the other side of the coin from young Post Malone fans who have absolutely no clue who Ozzy Osbourne is, even though he’s sold over 100 million albums in his lengthy career. Here’s a pair of perfect examples of this from recent Twitter posts:
When you look at Malone’s impressive track record of successfully blending musical genres together with his rapping style, it’s hardly surprising that he approached Ozzy — especially when you take into account Post’s eclectic musical journey thus far. On his way to superstardom, he played in “a bunch of bands” — from hardcore to indie. He even scored a gig playing country in an Italian restaurant. In fact, if you disappear down the YouTube and Google rabbit hole, in addition to his many hit vocal performances, you can find footage of him playing acoustic and even live footage of him throwing down on electric guitar in a metalcore band during his high school years. How good is he on guitar? I’ll let someone much more qualified, and way more respected than me, answer that.
A Quick Word from Rudy
To many 6-string aficionados, Rudy Pensa needs no introduction. He’s the much loved and respected owner of the legendary New York guitar store, Rudy’s Music. Here’s what this music industry icon had to say about Mr. Malone after hearing him play guitar in his store. “I’ve seen them all — Stevie Ray, Eric Johnson, Clapton, Knopfler,” Rudy stated. “It’s not a question of being a virtuoso. It’s just to play the right notes at the right time, you know. It hasn’t got to be fast. It hasn’t got to be slow. It’s just taste — taste is what it is. This kid has taste! If you didn’t tell me what he was doing, I’d think he played guitar, not a rapper.”
Ozzy’s unmistakable, emotive vocal style fits “Take What You Want” perfectly, and the complementary chemistry his voice has with both Malone and rapper Travis Scott, the other guest on the track, is, to my ears, undeniable. But wait, there’s more — the song closes with something that many “experts” have been declaring dead, a guitar solo!!! It’s not cut short either and is spiced with a rich singing tone, tapped string bends, tasty wah work, and some good ol’ fashioned shredding in places.
Despite the obvious differences in both age and musical style, Osbourne and Malone share a slew of key commonalities:
- They’re both incredibly driven and, as a result, have both deservedly achieved global success doing something they love.
- They’ve both earned the respect of not only the music-loving public but also their peers.
- They’ve both given joy to massive numbers of people via their music — sales, stream, views, and concert ticket numbers don’t lie, folks.
- They’ve both lived their lives the exact same way they’ve earned their success — on their own terms.
- They both value and respect their fans.
And last, but certainly not least:
- Clearly neither considers music’s ever-increasing myriad of genres as feuding fiefdoms. Instead they consider all other musicians, regardless of genre, as family members — friends, not foes, if you will. That’s why they not only willingly worked together but did so well — very well. I rest my case.
Conclusion
I genuinely like both the song and the performances — and, as already mentioned, being a guitarist, I love that the last bit contains a cool lead break! More importantly, according to Malone, Ozzy loves it. And IMHO, that says it all.
Of course, certain naysayers will cry “sacrilege” and accuse one or both artists of heinous heresy. As for Sweetwater’s stance? We’re the exact opposite of said folk. We respect, embrace, and enthusiastically encourage every form of music — plus applaud and support all participating players. After all, music is a truly global language, and it not only has no barriers, but it also often helps break existing ones down.
To this end, the only thing I might vaguely consider “sacrilegious” about this exciting collaboration is if someone writes it off without even listening to “Take What You Want” or giving it a chance. Listen without prejudice is my motto — by doing so, it’s amazing how many cool songs, musicians, and musical ideas you can discover, enjoy, and assimilate into your own style.