Analysis of "Walk This Way" By Aerosmith and Run-DMC

Textual analysis

The song with Run DMC is a cover version of the original track by Aerosmith (1975). The song incorporates both hip hop and rock, and largely helped in making rap a mainstream genre.

The music video shows both bands practising separately, and getting frustrated with disruption of the other. The wall inbetween shows the barrier between the different genres, and how they clash. The artists then begin to perform over each other competitively. On stage the bands come together, representing  the joining of rap and rock.

Genre

The song has a mixed genre of both classic rock, and hip hop.

Audience

The mix of musical genres which had established different audiences, meant that the song had a wide audience. It was generally aimed at young people, particularly working class. This is shown through the artists and the lyrical content.

Context

The song was majorly successful, and was the first hip hop song to reach to chart in the pop Top Ten, or to go platinum.

This long shot shows the artists dancing together, showing the coming together of the two genres. Whilst they mixed the two genres, the artists were still able to demonstrate their different styles.