"Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" is a song by the American
rap rock
Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...
band
Limp Bizkit from their album ''
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
''Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water'' is the third studio album by American nu metal band Limp Bizkit, released on October 17, 2000, by Flip and Interscope Records.
Title
The first part of the title is a slang term for the ...
''. It was released as the second and third single simultaneously, along with "
My Generation
"My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...
",
on September 5, 2000. The song peaked at number 65 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remained in the chart for 17 weeks. To date, it is their highest-charting single in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" topped the charts in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom and peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.
"Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)", was the original version of the song, although sometimes it is referred to as a hip-hop remix of "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)". It features hip-hop artists
DMX,
Method Man
Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of t ...
and
Redman, and was produced by
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...
. It is included as the second-to-last track on the ''Chocolate Starfish'' album. This version is also featured on the soundtrack to the 2001 film ''
The Fast and the Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
''.
Writing and recording
Rollin was created through a collaborative effort with hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz. Although sometimes referred to as a hip-hop remix, the Urban Assault Vehicle version of the song was actually the first version that was created. Fred and Swizz Beatz worked together to create this version and when it was presented to the band there was some initial frustration. The band felt the song might work better as a rock song, which led to the creation of the Air Raid Vehicle version of the song. Wes Borland would later state "we liked both versions so much that that's what it ended up being, two versions: a hip-hop version of the song and a rock version of the song."
Music video
The music video was filmed in September 2000 atop the
South Tower of the
original World Trade Center
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion ...
in New York City. The introduction features
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
and
Stephen Dorff
Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...
mistaking
Fred Durst
William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums.
He ap ...
for the valet and giving him the keys to their
Bentley Azure
The Bentley Azure is a four-seater convertible grand tourer produced by British automobile manufacturer Bentley Motors. The first version debuted in 1995 on the Bentley Continental R platform and was made until 2003. After a three-year break, ...
, out front of The Roxy Hotel. Also making a cameo is break dancer
Mr. Wiggles
Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente is a street dancer, noted for his popping skills. He is a member of the Rock Steady Crew, The Electric Boogaloos, Tribal Click, Zulu Nation, and TC5, also known as The Cool Five or The Crazy Five. Wiggles has bee ...
. The rest of the video has several cuts to Durst and his bandmates hanging out of the Bentley as they drive about Manhattan. The song Ben Stiller is playing at the beginning is "
My Generation
"My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...
" from the same album. The video also features scenes of Fred Durst with five girls dancing in a room. The video was filmed around the same time as the film ''
Zoolander
''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...
'', which explains Stiller and Dorff's appearance. Fred Durst has a small cameo in that film.
The "Rollin'" video received the award for Best Rock Video at the
2001 MTV Video Music Awards. On September 10, 2001 (the day before the Twin Towers were
destroyed
Destroyed may refer to:
* ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds
* ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby
See also
* Destruction (disambiguation)
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a ...
in the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
), Limp Bizkit received a letter and a fruit basket from the
Port Authority of New York City, thanking them for featuring the twin towers in the video and congratulating the band after the video had won the VMA for video of the year at the VMAs on September 6th.
About the music video, Durst said: "It felt like we just started to poke fun at what people thought we were and embrace that. That’s why we made the ''Rollin’'' video. There were red caps everywhere, and look at Wes at the beginning of the video with his grills in. How the hell did people not realize we weren’t being serious? We thought it was hilarious."
Reception
In 2022, ''
Louder Sound
''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...
'' and ''
Kerrang
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-of ...
'' ranked the song number eight and number nine, respectively, on their lists of Limp Bizkit's greatest songs.
Track listings
The song was released in three versions, each with a different cover color and track listing. There was also a DVD that was only released in the United Kingdom.
CD1
# "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)"
# "I Would for You (Live)"
# "Take a Look Around (Instrumental)"
# "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" (music video)
CD2
# "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)"
# "Show Me What You Got"
# "Rollin' (Instrumental)"
# Video Snippets
DVD
# Video Snippets
# "My Generation" – 0:30
# "N 2 Gether Now" – 0:30
# "Break Stuff" – 0:30
# "Re-Arranged" – 0:30
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
In popular culture
The song was parodied as "Posin'" on the television series ''
MADtv
''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...
'', and the "Air Raid Vehicle" version was listed on
VH1's list of the 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs.
Former MLB player
Scott Rolen
Scott Bruce Rolen (born April 4, 1975) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. He was an eight-t ...
used the song as his walk-up song before he batted.
"Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" was well known among
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
fans as the entrance theme for professional wrestler
The Undertaker
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...
from December 2000 to May 2002, and again for
WrestleMania XIX
WrestleMania XIX was the 19th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took pl ...
in 2003 where it was performed live.
The song is featured as a selectable track on the
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a steel roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. With a height of , a length of , and a top speed of , it is the largest X-Coaster ever built by German manufacturer Maurer Söhne. Announce ...
roller coaster at
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...
.
A short section of the song plays before the nighttime drag race in the first ''
The Fast and the Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
'' film. It is also the song in the intro video of ''
NHL Hitz 20-02'', and is heard in the menus and gameplay as well. The song was also the goal song for the
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
of the NHL from 2005 to 2007.
It was featured in ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
''s episode "Next of Pin".
The song was used in an Intro Performance Trailer
by
K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
group
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...
in 2015.
References
{{Authority control
2000 singles
2000 songs
Flip Records (1994) singles
Interscope Records singles
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Limp Bizkit songs
Music videos directed by Fred Durst
Number-one singles in Scotland
Songs written by Fred Durst
Songs written by John Otto (drummer)
Songs written by Sam Rivers (bassist)
Songs written by Wes Borland
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
World Trade Center