Legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen recently confounded some of his longtime fans by tweeting a photo of himself sitting at the board of a recording studio with rapper LL Cool J, accompanied by a single cryptic line of text that read, "Authentic 4.30.13." When the rapper posted the same picture, it touched off fevered speculation about a collaboration between the two performers. Now that cross-genre alliance has been confirmed, as the first audio clip of a track they recorded together has leaked online.

Our friends at Van Halen News Desk have uncovered a 90-second audio clip of 'We're the Greatest,' one of two songs from LL Cool J's forthcoming album 'Authentic' to feature the groundbreaking guitarist. And while this clip doesn't showcase Eddie ripping into any of his famous rapid-fire soloing, it does have a very cool guitar rhythm/melody line that is the underlying basis for the entire track, as well as some interesting, effects-laden lines weaving in and out.

Listen closely and you'll hear LL Cool J make a couple of tongue-in-cheek references to his legendary collaborator. "I got Van Halen, I don't need a bass line," he raps, followed by, "Eddie got Frankenstein aimed at your jaw!"

Of course, this isn't the first time the Van Halen guitarist has crossed genre lines for a guest appearance; he played the now-historic solo on Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' -- which he reportedly did for free. His riff from 'Jamie's Cryin'' was also sampled for Tone-Loc's 1988 hit 'Wild Thing.'

Hear Eddie Van Halen on LL Cool J's 'We're the Greatest'

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