Rage Against “The Machine”: The City is the Stage for the World

In the brief moment of the present time, a city riot can appear to be chaotic violence bleeding through the streets, a riot is a riot. All the same things that make it….Los Angeles 1992, the largest riot the West Coast had ever seen sparked from the Rodney King beating. After footage of an African-american man being beaten by the LAPD for no apparent reason, the public let the establishment know what injustice had been done. The city went up in flames, literally. Rival gangs united to make a singular statement.

Other than the violent riots, another movement began. The era of Nu Metal was beginning to take shape on the national music scene and a local band of LA used the revolution to make a statement to the world. Rage Against the Machine, with their unrelenting lyrics, heavy rhythms, and LOUD sound, the band painted the emotion of the city on a 53 minute self-titled album. Unifying the people to stand and fight against the institution that holds them back, bringing social injustices to light, and breaking records of “Most F Bombs dropped in a single song.” I can’t help but imagine that this band would not have become the metal legends that they would eventually become had it not been for the riots. This city’s stage was the perfect moment for a radical form of artistic expression to take root and make a strong statement to the world.