Linkin Park

Released: November 17, 1998

Songwriter: Brad Delson Mr. Hahn Mike Shinoda

[Intro: Mike Shinoda]
Yo

[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda]
Watch as the room rocks, mentally moonwalk
Mixed Media slang bangin' in your boombox
Verbal violence, lyrical stylist
In a time when rock hip-hop rhymes are childish

You can't tempt me with rhymes that are empty
Rappin' to a beat doesn't make you an MC
With your lack of skill and facility, you're killin' me
And a DJ in the group just for credibility

I heard that some of you are gettin' help with your rhymes
You're not an MC if someone else writes your lines
Rappin' over rock doesn't make you a pioneer
'Cause rock and hip-hop have collaborated for yеars

But now, they're getting randomly mixеd and matched up
All after a fast buck, and all the tracks suck
So how does it stack up? None of it's real
You wanna be an MC? You've gotta study the skill

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up! Step, step up!

[Verse 2: Mike Shinoda, Mark Wakefield]
So, you pick up a pen and write yourself a new identity
But mentally, you don't have the hip-hop energy
With a tendency to make up stories (Bullshit)
Sounding like the only hip hop you've heard is top 40 (Top 40)

And your record company is completely missin' it
All the kids are dissin' it for not bein' legitimate
So in a battle, you can't hack it, react with wack shit
And get smacked with verbal backflips

Get your ass kicked by fabulous battle catalysts
It's taken decades for MC's to establish this
You're new to hip-hop, and welcome if you're serious
But not on the mic, leave that to the experienced

[Break: Mike Shinoda]
Using the waves of sound
The true master paralyzes his opponents
Leaving him vulnerable to attack

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up! Step, step up!
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up! Step, step up! Step up!

[Bridge: Mike Shinoda]
After years of pain-staking research by the world's leading sound scientists
We here at the Sound Institute have invented a reliable audio weapons system
Actual movement of musical sound in space used to carefully attack and neutralize the cellular structure of the human body
And the question must be asked…

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up! Step, step up!
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up! Step, step up!

[Outro]
Mix Media
Step up the microphone
And you do it like this
And you do it like…
Step up the microphone
Mix Media
And you do it like this
Mix Media
Step up the microphone
And you do it like this
Mix Media
Step Up the microphone
And you do it like this

Hybrid Theory isn’t just the title of Linkin Park’s chart-topping debut album, but a career mission statement.

From day one, the same six players (lead vocalist Chester Bennington, drummer/percussionist Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell, DJ/Programmer Joe Hahn, and keyboardist, guitarist, and co-lead vocals Mike Shinoda) built the band by fusing all their favorite styles of music into one unmistakable signature sound. With each album, Linkin Park defiantly challenges themselves and their fans by blasting into new musical territory. After setting the template for rock that incorporated hip-hop influences with Hybrid Theory and Meteora, they shifted gears completely and defied expectations with the polychromatic Minutes to Midnight, and again with the esoteric A Thousand Suns, before melding a piece of them all into 2012’s LIVING THINGS. With their 2014 release and heaviest offering in years, The Hunting Party, Linkin Park manage to capture their ever-innovative spirit with a hunger seldom seen in bands on their seventh album. One More Light (2017) is an interesting personal album, filled with a lot of emotion.

Unfortunately, on July 20, 2017, Chester unexpectedly died by suicide, shocking and saddening both fans and his own band members alike.

more tracks from the album

Xero Demo CD

From the album

Xero Demo CD (1998)

Linkin Park popular songs

Step Up (Xero Demo) [Unreleased 1998 Demo]Linkin Park

Linkin Park

Xero Demo CD