RELEASE DATE: February 2026
PUBLISHER: Backbeat Books
PAGES: 328
DIMENSIONS: 6″ H x 1″ L x 9″ W Inches
FORMAT: Softcover
AUTHOR(S): Steven Blush

One of the most important events in modern music remains the late 80s cross-collision of rock and hip hop.

Aerosmith/Run DMC, Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique, Public Enemy and Anthrax, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, De La Soul and Third Bass, and the 318 hip hop records that sampled Billy Squier’s The Big Beat exemplify the era. Rap records sampled rock bands, elevating sampling into an art form, while influencing all other forms of popular music. One of the themes this book will explore is the way the fusion of rap and rock gave hope to a sense of interracial harmony.

In keeping with When Rock Met Disco and When Rock Met Reggae, this title relates the musical cross collision, and cultural fallout that changed music for the better, and remains an influence through today.