Fred Durst-ing It

That’s what Matt from “Two Best Friends Play” refers to rolling as…a reference that goes completely over “Super Best Friend” Liam’s head every time. I can’t say exactly how old the “Best Friends” are, but from what I can gather 3 of the 4 members (Matt, Pat, and Woolie) are around my age. Liam is several years younger, and is thus referred to as the baby. Part of the reason that telling someone to just Fred Durst over or around an object in a video game is funny to the 3 elder Friends is the same reason it’s funny to me: because there is an entire generation of Liams (people younger than me, but not that much younger really) that will have no idea what that means.

Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'.

Aside from Rage Against The Machine and a select few other artists, rap-rock/rap-metal bands worth a listen back in the day were few and far between. Thank God that the era of such groups was mercifully short. However, it’s possible that the genre was at least partially responsible for the death of the alternative rock movement that I grew up listening to. By the mid-90’s, rap and hip-hop weren’t just quantities for urban black kids. DMX and Jay-Z albums were seen in just about every 13 year old white kids’ zipper-up CD case that I knew as well. Unfortunately, it seemed like every band that started up around that time had a lead singer that thought he could rap as well…those bands would probably have become alternative rock or grunge rock groups otherwise.

Enter Mr. Durst and Limp Bizkit.

One of the great things about satellite radio is listening to stations that have a devoted genre and time period. SiriusXM’s “Lithium” gives you the general goodness of Nirvana, Rage, and Sublime, but it also allows you to reminisce. I’ve heard the Bizkit twice in the past week on Lithium…“Nookie” and “Break Stuff.” Not once since I’ve been a satellite radio subscriber have 2 songs brought on such confusing feelings. As a 13 year old, both songs would have incited mosh pits among my friends and I (even before I really understand what a nookie was). Now, the old man emotions of F***, I can’t believe I ever used to listen to this garbage juice surface as well. (I did it all for the nookie, so you can take that cookie, and stick it up your ass…now that’s some quality writing.)

If it’s not obvious already, Limp Bizkit was never meant to stand the test of time. For many years, I even held on to Durst’s collab effort with Method Man, “N2gether Now,” including it on every mix CD or playlist I created. After a while, I would skip through Durst’s verses to get to Method. Before long, I would just hit the skip button and move on to the next song until finally I stopped including the song on my iPhone completely. So, while Limp Bizkit may forever by emblematic of that poser era where white kids got home from school, jumped out of their mom’s minivan, went upstairs to their room, put on a backwards hat, and started blasting Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water through their Walkman, at least they will have a soft spot in my heart for nostalgia’s sake. And life will just keep Fred Durst-ing along.