By: Kevin Dyson
There is nothing like a rollicking tune to get the blood pumping. Imbue that with some pugilistic polemic and you have musical nirvana.
Here are five of the best paeans to the art of the fight.
Pantera – Mouth for War
“Bones in traction
Hands break to hone raw energy”
Pantera frontman Philip H Anselmo is one of the most well known boxing fans out there and counted legendary trainer Emanuel Steward as a friend. This, the opening track off Vulgar Display of Power harnesses all of the energy, power and discipline required of fighters. The album cover is also pretty unambiguous – a straight right to the face….
LL Cool J – Mama Said To Knock You Out
I’m gonna knock you out
Mama said knock you out
The title track to the 1990 album of the same name was a forceful retort to those who were dismissing the relevance of L’s hip hop as gangsta rap was racing into the mainstream. A video shot in the squared circle gave it all the more boxing credo.
Eric B and Rakim – Juice (Know The Ledge)
Switch to southpaw, split your right jaw
Cause I don’t like y’all, I’m hype when night fall
Smooth but I move like an army.
If Pantera bulldozed like heavyweight champ, Rocky Marciano, then Eric B and Rakim encapsulated the smoothness of Sugar Ray Robinson. This track from the film Juice, featuring Tupac Shakur demonstrates the heft of the music and the impeccable wordsmithery and delivery of Rakim.
Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face
Brutality now becomes my appetite
Violence is now a way of life
The sledge my tool to torture
As it pounds down on your forehead
Aye, it is a hammer and not a fist. Have you seen CC frontman George Fisher. His neck is twice the width of his head and his fist is pretty much a hammer…
Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man
Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy
I reckon Jagger would be more like a Brian Sutherland type boxer than anything. Keef, on the other hand, exhibits the wee wirey hardman characteristics that would stand him in good stead in the ring. At least to survive anyway. Actually, he is pretty much unkillable anyway, so I would put money on him in a war of attrition.
