Linkin Park on Drink Champs

[LPLStaff]

 

"#LinkinPark joins N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN for a legendary episode of #DrinkChamps, diving into their long career. They discuss their hip hop roots and how those beginnings shaped their sound, brining on iconic collaborations, including the legendary project with #JayZ. The band reflects on their evolution throughout the years, working with legendary producer Rick Rubin, and their experiences touring globally, noting their huge fanbases in Germany and China. Mike and Joe also open up about continuing after Chester Bennington's passing, introducing new band members, and their world tour in support of their new album "From Zero" with vocalist Emily Armstrong. Get ready for some untold stories from one of music's most influential groups and don't forget to grab From Zero's Deluxe Edition and some tickets to their world tour."

[NimaLP]

Nothing newsworthy really, but this was such a fun interview to watch.

[Chris]

Fantastic interview. One of my favorites the band has done recently. We rarely get to hear from Joe this much, much less in a format dedicated to his hip hop influences.

 

Talking about the craziness of working with the legend that is Rakim. Convincing Jay-Z to do the Grammy's mashup after he had gone all in on heading up Def Jam. And they talked about the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, who Joe loves, which makes perfect sense since his early sample choices are so clearly influenced by their battle records or those released by the individual DJ members like Qbert.

 

There's a ton of good stuff here. Comments are great too, seeing the band getting the credit they deserve from hip hop heads.

Edited Tuesday at 11:55 AM by Chris

[Trumtram]

Wild interview, haha.

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

That interview is so chaotic that I had to stop at times lol

[Trumtram]

48 minutes ago, KeysToTheLinkinPark said:

That interview is so chaotic that I had to stop at times lol

It didn't help that the host got progressively more stoned

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

52 minutes ago, Trumtram said:

It didn't help that the host got progressively more stoned

Dude almost cried at the end 😂 dude looked into 10 dimensions at the same time

 

[Trumtram]

There were some interesting tidbits. Like Jay-Z not wanting to collab with them at the Grammy's or Rakim driving from New York to LA. But man, the host got so hammered, I laughed my ass off. And Mike had a buzz going for sure in the end, you could sense it.

[JerseyShore]

This was fun to watch. Did not expect to watch the whole thing at once, but really like this kind of loose interview. 

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

its cool to read some comments from hip hop fans who recognize Mike as a great rapper.

[NimaLP]

I like black people

[RYG4R]

LP's hiphop sound nowadays are nowhere near to the quality of their early days sound. 

[NimaLP]

The rhythms and beats are more rock than hip-hop now. Maybe Colin replacing Rob might have something to do with it, even though Mike is the one that writes almost everything.

[ScottiePippo]

Yeah it's not about quality. It's about the focus. The focus so far has  definitely not been on hip hop. There's no real hip-hop first song yet from the new lineup. 

[silverwing]

Which one was the the last hip-hop based song LP released?

[KeysToTheLinkinPark]

48 minutes ago, silverwing said:

Which one was the the last hip-hop based song LP released?

Good Goodbye 

 

PS: Excluding anniversary releases like Fighting Myself etc.

Edited Wednesday at 12:13 PM by KeysToTheLinkinPark

[YRQRM0]

1 hour ago, ScottiePippo said:

Yeah it's not about quality. It's about the focus. The focus so far has  definitely not been on hip hop. There's no real hip-hop first song yet from the new lineup. 

I felt a little awkward about this at the beginning of the interview lol. No doubt Mike’s a legend, but his rhymes are pretty simple and poppy on FZ, with the only big Hip Hop type moments imo being the verses of Two Faced and GTG 

 

I hope the hosts peeped Ziggurats, that thing is so underrated

Knowing Mike he was probably sitting there thinking “damn yeah I need to go make something for these guys to show I’m still connected to this side” and wrote 10 new hip hop demos in the hotel 

[Trumtram]

13 minutes ago, YRQRM0 said:

I felt a little awkward about this at the beginning of the interview lol. No doubt Mike’s a legend, but his rhymes are pretty simple and poppy on FZ, with the only big Hip Hop type moments imo being the verses of Two Faced and GTG 

 

I hope the hosts peeped Ziggurats, that thing is so underrated

Knowing Mike he was probably sitting there thinking “damn yeah I need to go make something for these guys to show I’m still connected to this side” and wrote 10 new hip hop demos in the hotel 

Mike is recognized because he carried the Hip-Hop aspect with the utmost respect since day 1. I think people with a strong Hip-Hop background can acknowledge him because he always showed that he knows what Hip-Hop is about. Unlike many other "rappers" in rock bands back then, he "lived" and respected the culture (plus, you know, wrote some killer rap parts and produced a LOT of amazing beats).

 

I doubt many people from the genre would call him one of the best to ever do it, but they most certainly respect him for being "real" in a way. At least that's my feeling.

[ScottiePippo]

7 minutes ago, Trumtram said:

Mike is recognized because he carried the Hip-Hop aspect with the utmost respect since day 1. I think people with a strong Hip-Hop background can acknowledge him because he always showed that he knows what Hip-Hop is about. Unlike many other "rappers" in rock bands back then, he "lived" and respected the culture (plus, you know, wrote some killer rap parts and produced a LOT of amazing beats).

 

I doubt many people from the genre would call him one of the best to ever do it, but they most certainly respect him for being "real" in a way. At least that's my feeling.

Agreed. Very well said

[Qwerty18]

Given how rock orientated From Zero has been, I've had a feeling for a while the next LP could venture much more into alternative and Hip Hop territories.

 

Compared to other possible roads (metal, electronic, pop), it somehow seems a bit more likely to me. Hip Hop is Mike biggest inspiration, yet there has never been a Hip-Hop focused record from LP. I guess Reanimation could count as  the closest it got, but still.

[YRQRM0]

1 hour ago, Trumtram said:

Mike is recognized because he carried the Hip-Hop aspect with the utmost respect since day 1. I think people with a strong Hip-Hop background can acknowledge him because he always showed that he knows what Hip-Hop is about. Unlike many other "rappers" in rock bands back then, he "lived" and respected the culture (plus, you know, wrote some killer rap parts and produced a LOT of amazing beats).

 

I doubt many people from the genre would call him one of the best to ever do it, but they most certainly respect him for being "real" in a way. At least that's my feeling.

oh I agree, I just think it’s a little funny to hear them praise him in this light when the big comeback album feels pretty far from hip hop compared to a lot of the other albums. Like the opening would have felt a lot more natural to me if he had a Wretches and Kings type track on FZ rather than the reality of there not being a ton of hip hop beats on the album 

[Trumtram]

4 minutes ago, YRQRM0 said:

oh I agree, I just think it’s a little funny to hear them praise him in this light when the big comeback album feels pretty far from hip hop compared to a lot of the other albums. Like the opening would have felt a lot more natural to me if he had a Wretches and Kings type track on FZ rather than the reality of there not being a ton of hip hop beats on the album 

My post wasn't intended to provide a counterpoint to your post. It rather got me thinking on why he gets the respect that he is getting (aside from being a super successful musician/artist), haha. 

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

2 hours ago, Trumtram said:

Mike is recognized because he carried the Hip-Hop aspect with the utmost respect since day 1. I think people with a strong Hip-Hop background can acknowledge him because he always showed that he knows what Hip-Hop is about. Unlike many other "rappers" in rock bands back then, he "lived" and respected the culture (plus, you know, wrote some killer rap parts and produced a LOT of amazing beats).

 

I doubt many people from the genre would call him one of the best to ever do it, but they most certainly respect him for being "real" in a way. At least that's my feeling.

Because of Mike many rock fans became interested in hip hop music.

 

hes a freaking legend on his own.

[JZLP-Benningstrong]

On 5/19/2025 at 11:08 PM, NimaLP said:

Nothing newsworthy really, but this was such a fun interview to watch.

There's some bits of uknown info for sure

 

Linkin Park were the ones who got the idea to do the grammy performance they asked Paul and Jay.

Not sure why i always thought that it was Jay's idea.

[RYG4R]

It would be a challenge for Colin for the next record if Mike dive more into the hip-hop side of LINKIN PARK. It's interesting where could things may go when it comes to the future of LP.