it seemed interested, but faded quickly for me
My immediate question was, "To whom?"
I did not read the article. Though, I do remember Axl Rose attempting to rap. It's called "Get In The Ring" and was on one of the Use Your Illusion CDs, as I recall. I didn't like it enough to go look that up either. It does have an amusement value and Axl does better than I'd have expected, doubly so given that point in his career. It's still horrible, however.
If you're unfamiliar, he goes on quite a rampage in the song. Let's just say he burns more than a few bridges.
I think you might be thinking of One In A Million, which is probably one of the greatest songs to have ever been written.
I sometimes judge people by how they answer the following question, it's surprisingly effective:
"What is your favorite GnR song, and why?"
I disagree.
It was a popular genre in the mid-90s but never seem like anything more than a fun joint exercise. Rock Opera was never expected to take over the music world, nor was Dr. Demento.