New jack metallers Korn and ghoul rocker Rob Zombie kicked off their Rock Is Dead tour over the weekend with a southwestern trek through Tucson, Albuquerque, and El Paso.

Things hit a small snag early on as a truck carrying some of the bands' stage gear broke down and failed to make it to Albuquerque for the second night of the tour. Of course, such a minimal setback didn't keep the bands from going on, and Korn and Zombie were reunited with their missing gear for the third night of the tour in El Paso (You'll be able to catch footage from both shows on this weekend's edition of "MTV News 1515").

As the bands blaze across the U.S. waving the hard rock flag high, Korn is finding itself strengthening its ties to the hip-hop world as well. On each of its three albums, the band has brought a rap touch to the mix, having most recently snagged Ice Cube for a cameo on their "Follow The Leader" album. The band recently returned the favor by appearing

in Cube's upcoming video "F*** Dyin'.

[article id="1443901"]"It's kind of weird we're getting embraced by hip-hop now,"[/article] Korn frontman Jonathan Davis told MTV News' John Norris in Albuquerque over the weekend. [article id="1443901"]"We're gonna' do a song with Outkast. We were supposed to do it before we came on tour, but things didn't work out so when we get off the road we're gonna do some songs with Outkast for their record. It might be a soundtrack or something. We've had all these hip-hop guys wantin' to work with us, do a remix...Naughty By Nature, I heard Wu-Tang Clan wanted us to do some stuff for them. It seems like we've opened up that gap between hip-hop and rock now. I mean it's always been there but now we're starting to throw our flavor into it." [28.8 RealVideo][/article]

No word yet on when any Korn/Outkast projects might pop up, but we'll keep you posted.

If you'd like to see Korn and Rob Zombie in the flesh, here's where

to look:

• 3/2 - San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
• 3/3 - Dallas, TX @ Reunion Arena
• 3/5 - Biloxi, MS @ Miss. Coast Coliseum
• 3/6 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Coliseum
• 3/7 - Tampa, FL @ Ice Palace
• 3/9 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ National Car Rental Center
• 3/11 - Dayton, OH @ Ervin J. Nutter Center
• 3/12 - Moline, IL @ Mark Of The Quad Cities
• 3/13 - Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace Of Auburn Hills
• 3/15 - Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum
• 3/16 - Toledo, OH @ Toledo Sports Arena
• 3/18 - Binghamton, NY @ Broome County Arena
• 3/19 - Worcester, MA @ Centrum
• 3/20 - Providence, RI @ Providence Civic Center
• 3/22 - State College, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center
• 3/23 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Union Center
• 3/25 - Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
• 3/26 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen Co. Mem. Coliseum
• 3/27 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
• 3/29 - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
• 3/30 - Greenville, SC @ Bi-Lo Center
• 4/1 - Louisville,

KY @ Louisville Gardens