Linkin Park History and Development
World Music Tyler Remsen
Music 109 April 25, 2004
Research Paper #2 - World Music Group
LINKIN PARK:
The Next Evolution in International
NU Metal/Alternative Rock
INTRODUCTION Although music has always personified the culture from which it originated, it has also been the most freely shared mediums between cultures. As new instruments and techniques are embraced by musicians; they are synthesized with the artist’s own styles and music genres then form or evolve with each generation. Musical globalization has been evolving for centuries. The process has just more rapidly developed over the last 50 years with the advent of modern transportation and electronic communications.
‘Nowadays it’s perfectly natural to hear DJs and Tabla drums onstage together, in a club or on a track, just as Arabic melodies can be found on the French charts. Cuba’s major exports include the young hip-hoppers as well as the old Soneros. And one of the biggest revolutions in British dance-floor culture came from musicians with Indian or Pakistani roots. Maghreb musicians such as Khaled and Rachid Taha have long since become a part of the French pop world, while turntables and talking drums are among the most popular instruments in African hip-hop.’ 5
This report showcases one group, Linkin Park, which is in the forefront of the newest generation of NU Metal/Alternative Rock musicians. The unique music of Southern California’s Linkin Park, is best described by their guitarist Brad Delson: “We think our music is a cross-section of many genres; a hybrid of what the six of us have grown up on.1” This six-piece band’s artistic approach to making music by blending musical styles and electronic samplings, along with powerful, organic songwriting, has set them in the forefront of today’s techno-pop music culture. MTV describes their music style as “a highly eclectic fusion of metal, hip-hop, industrial and pop styles which is striking even by the standards
Music 109 April 25, 2004
Research Paper #2 - World Music Group
LINKIN PARK:
The Next Evolution in International
NU Metal/Alternative Rock
INTRODUCTION Although music has always personified the culture from which it originated, it has also been the most freely shared mediums between cultures. As new instruments and techniques are embraced by musicians; they are synthesized with the artist’s own styles and music genres then form or evolve with each generation. Musical globalization has been evolving for centuries. The process has just more rapidly developed over the last 50 years with the advent of modern transportation and electronic communications.
‘Nowadays it’s perfectly natural to hear DJs and Tabla drums onstage together, in a club or on a track, just as Arabic melodies can be found on the French charts. Cuba’s major exports include the young hip-hoppers as well as the old Soneros. And one of the biggest revolutions in British dance-floor culture came from musicians with Indian or Pakistani roots. Maghreb musicians such as Khaled and Rachid Taha have long since become a part of the French pop world, while turntables and talking drums are among the most popular instruments in African hip-hop.’ 5
This report showcases one group, Linkin Park, which is in the forefront of the newest generation of NU Metal/Alternative Rock musicians. The unique music of Southern California’s Linkin Park, is best described by their guitarist Brad Delson: “We think our music is a cross-section of many genres; a hybrid of what the six of us have grown up on.1” This six-piece band’s artistic approach to making music by blending musical styles and electronic samplings, along with powerful, organic songwriting, has set them in the forefront of today’s techno-pop music culture. MTV describes their music style as “a highly eclectic fusion of metal, hip-hop, industrial and pop styles which is striking even by the standards
Cited: 1. Linkin Park Biography, Linkin Park Association, www.lpassociation.com 2. Linkin Park Biography, Launch - Music on Yahoo, http://launch.yahoo.com/artistFocus.asp?artistID=1053507 3. Linkin Park: Bio, MTV, www.mtv.com/bands/az/linkin_park/bio.jhtml 4. Band Biography, Linkin Park website, http://www.linkinpark.com/home.php 5. POPDEUROPE: migrating sounds in and out of Europe, Björn Döring, hkw.de | The House of World Cultures | popdeurope, 03.05.2002, www.hkw.de/en/virtuelles_hkw/dossiers/ popdeurope/c_index.html 6. Summit of the Superlatives, GEMA News, Issue 165, www.gema.de/engl/communication/news/n165/echo-pop2002.shtml