A true champion of heavy metal, Ian's band Anthrax is among the "Big Four" of thrash (along with Slayer, Megadeth and Hall of Famers Metallica). His band also has a serious jones for classic rock: their new EP, Anthems, sees them covering classic rock songs by Boston, Journey, Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and Rush. But Ian doesn't have the bias against hip-hop that perhaps some of his peers might.

"Hip-hop for me � or let's call it 'rap,' that's what I called it � from, say, 1981 to 1993, I was into that as I was into any other kind of music," he tells Radio.com.

Indeed, Anthrax experimented with rap on their 1987 track "I'm The Man," which was something of a novelty. A few years later, in 1991, they collaborated with Public Enemy on a thrash metal update of PE's "Bring The Noise." And while some cross-genre collaborations reek of marketing department experiments, this was a collaboration that was prompted by Ian.