Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)

If you're trying to identify the apex of nu metal, look to October 17, 2000, when Limp Bizkit released their third album, Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water. Their 1999 album Significant Other had sold about 7 million copies, they were regulars on MTV, and they they had a song in the new Mission: Impossible movie ("Take A Look Around"). Filled with adrenaline and testosterone, they were the counterbalance to boy bands and teen pop that was also huge. And it wasn't just Limp: Korn, Papa Roach and Deftones were also big. "Rollin'" was the lead single from the album (not counting "Take A Look Around," released months earlier as a single and on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack). A defiant middle finger to Limp Bizkit's detractors, it worked their fans into a frenzy and impelled album sales to over a million in the first week to easily claim the #1 spot on the chart. They kept on rollin'. But this was the peak: the band's fortunes, along with the nu metal sound, soon declined, just not before Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water sold 6 million copies.

Two versions of this song appear on the album: "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" and "Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)." The "Air Raid" version is just the band, but "Urban Assault Vehicle" is a remix featuring hip-hop artists DMX, Redman and Method Man, and produced by Swizz Beatz. This hip-hop version is how the song was conceived. "Rollin' was originally going to be just a straight hip-hop song," Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland told Songfacts. "But after we heard it, we were like, 'No, man, we've got to turn this into a rock song.' 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."

"Rollin'" was the biggest chart hit for Limp Bizkit, reaching #65 in America and #1 in the UK. In America, the "Urban Assault Vehicle" remix was the charting version, but in the UK it was the "Air Raid Vehicle" version. Limp Bizkit never charted well on the Hot 100 because pop radio didn't play them and because most fans bought the albums, not the singles. The had more impressive pop chart showings in Europe, especially the UK. This song stayed at #1 there for three weeks.