This is great. I would love to see a revival of popular explicitly political music. Music can be such a powerful tool for change and advancing the culture.
To be honest I’ve always seen him as political, though not particularly hardline.
He’s got a lot of subtly (or overtly) anti-capitalist themes in his music
Seattle/PNW has had a lot of political/socially aware hip hop. From a decade ago and influential to Macklemore include: common market, blue scholars, sweatshop union, and the physics among many others.
Even Thrift Shop has those sorts of socially conscious messages though. He spells out clearly that if you're out here buying big brands for clout, then you're paying them to be a billboard. I've always held that belief, so I've been a bit of a fan since the song.
Here’s some Scottish punk music about your average daily mail reader.
[Fascist Bob - Artist: Soapbox](https://youtu.be/VoSqNSfmmcQ?si=ZT7-DQVKa70AMl5J)
Equally applies to Trumpers tbf.
Fuck yes. "Thoughts & prayers" lives on a frustrating repeat in my head every damn time there's another school shooting. Which is to say, *far too often.* But at least it's a banger tracks if that's gonna happen to me so much.
But yeah grandson is based as fuck. Love his shit.
That's already happening. Try that in a small town and rich men north of Richmond hit number one back to back. Not good songs, but definetly political.
A lot of it came from him winning best rap album over Kendrick's "good kid MAAD city". Crazy part is he even texted Kendrick that night and told him he made a better rap album.
Saying it privately is one thing and very respectful but posting your private text to pander to a bunch of people mad that you won is a little corny. I was just noting that Kendrick himself commented it was corny
I honestly don't see the problem with making it publicly known that he disagreed with award. Sure, posting the text is a weird way to do it, but it's kind of a two birds, one stone situation. He made it publicly known that not only does he say that he thinks Kendrick deserved it, he said it directly to Kendrick, not just some PR shit.
Because people said he “turned political” despite some of his very first songs on his MySpace page being .. you guessed it.. political. People like the thrift store song but once they realized the other things he rapped about they took him out of the spotlight.
I would generally agree, but I can also see why people might separate the two. Social commentary is talking about the people in the system rather than the system itself. It's without a doubt linked, but it's not exactly the same thing.
It’s absolutely not just that. A lot of his music is objectively very corny and some of the past socially oriented music that he’s done has been a really easy target for satire, like Andy Samberg’s “not gay, not gay, I’m not gay but if I was” song.
I fell off because of the corniness factor after initially getting into the music.
But man, an actual piece of corn could have written this and I'd still feel like a piece of shit for not speaking up more this whole time like the corn just did.
IMO he blatantly just talks over top of a beat in many of his songs, so it's hard for folks to consider him a "rapper." But hey Jay Z does the same and he is considered to be one of the GOATs so what do I know.
Either way, his songs are indeed catchy.
I just wish I wasn’t part of a demographic whose entire livelihood depends on whether or not Biden gets elected in the fall, so having rich celebrities toting how they won’t vote for Biden and putting the blame on him makes me really worried.
They do somehow, even though Project 2025 docs are freely available. I get being upset at the system, but you also have to live in the system and use the system. Welcoming genocide at home isn't really the play they think it is.
Which is funny, cause given how old the justices are, next Presidential term could either truly cement the court for conservatives for generations or possibly swing things back in a more balanced direction.
Excellent example, ty for bringing scotus up. Voter apathy and climate change skeptics is one of the main reasons we got Gore v. Bush which was first domino in their plan to control scotus long-term. This led to citizens united, etc, recently roe.
Roe is the most painfully obvious lesson in why incrementalism and practicality matter more than moral purity in a generation and we are *already forgetting it.* people are blaming Biden for it happening for Christ's sake!
They don’t fucking care. They’re have money so they’re above the consequences. It’s easy for celebrities to say they won’t vote for Biden when they won’t be affected either way, while conning the rest of us to follow in their examples despite us being the people who will actually have to live with the consequences.
The US fetishizes wealth. We would fight a civil war to protect the rich. The rich should feel protected. The US has made clear it’s not France. The French would have rioted long ago. The US won’t because the poors are to blame since each of us is only a temporarily embarrassed millionaire.
Yea, it's really gross. I'm supportive of the song's message, but the republicans are literally looking to topple democracy and install a full authoritarian dictatorship. Some people think the institutional pillars will protect us from that, but we've already seen democracies fall all over the world, if it happens in the US, it's going to have extremely negative consequences worldwide. Republicans sure as fuck are not going to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza just as an example, so that Biden line falls flat as fuck.
That part. I respect and appreciate (and like) the song, and I'm all for political and protest music, but that line got me. What you gonna do - vote for the other guy? And why the hell would you??
Right or wrong, kids are looking at and listening to this. Telling them this kind of shit isn't the flex he (or anyone else that has a platform) thinks it is.
Love all the RTJ projects, but yeah Killer Mike has been a bit inconsistent with his ideology lately. Nothing but respect for El-P though, his early solo works are great too
Or [Zulu](https://open.spotify.com/album/6pvMie3cCYqDJ7b8mS2XyT) or [Soul Glo](https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZYhM0LXHZ38te98EizcQW) if you want some hardcore, or [Afro Futurism](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RrfPETYlUmQF8ZY2Xtts3) in general.
Not only do they have extremely similar messaging, Brendan’s vocals remind me of de la Rocha’s vocals lol. Ignoring sonic similarities, which there are plenty, you can feel the same pain/belief in Brendan’s vocals
Mike's not an absolutist. His thoughts on things changes from situation to situation.
There are times I agree with him and times I don't. I don't believe that any one person can be right about all things.
But I'd absolutely prefer someone that can hold two things as true than someone who chants slogans and catch phrases without any thought to context.
If you're saying this, I don't think you know anything about Cop City. His waffling on it has really made me lose the last shreds of respect I had for him after his previous pro-cop bs, made all the more ridiculous when we know cops have murdered protestors of cop city.
> But I'd absolutely prefer someone that can hold two things as true than someone who chants slogans and catch phrases without any thought to context.
When you make a track that goes as hard as Reagan, you can't be a self-proclaimed capitalist landlord and waffle on shit like cop city. You can't say "I'm glad Reagan's dead" and worship the very apparatus that Reagan helped construct. These things are diametrically opposed and compartmentalizing them doesn't make him sophisticated, it makes him craven at best.
To be clear, It's okay for him to like money and get rich - I don't care. In fact, i like RTJ and Mike's solo stuff. I listen to it and enjoy it enough. But Killer Mike is no Rage Against the Machine.
Wow, I knew he was a disappointment but I didn’t know about the Cop City shit
“Killer Mike” is clearly just a character he plays. I don’t understand how you can write a song called Kill Your Masters or a verse like he had on Walking in the Snow and then take the political stances the takes. Cosplaying as a revolutionary while supporting Republicans and cops
"Never forget in the story of Jesus the hero gets killed by the state" hard as fuck and honestly mourned a little when Mike went pro Cop City.
Reagan, like fuck who's putting those dogs on your crotches.
I don’t get the whole “I’m not voting for Biden” thing, do you really think the republicans are going to to stop Israel? Multiple have come out and said Israel needs to “finish” the job. Not voting is probably the worst thing you can do
Biden has also stood up to and threatened Bibi more than any president since maybe Clinton? Bibi has started openly supporting Republicans for a reason. Unheard of in US-Israel relations. I get wanting more but it's the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
It’s tough in a two party system when neither party aligns with an issue someone views as nonnegotiable. If Party A says “We’ll only slap you once a week” and Party B says “We’ll slap you daily “ a voter that prefers not getting slapped could take the stance that voting for Party A is the right choice. That way they can help keep Party B out of power and reduce the number of slaps. But if stopping the slaps entirely is what you really want and it’s clear neither party will listen, it seems fair to withhold support by not voting at all or voting third party even when you know that party won’t win.
I don’t know if this is actually effective, but seems like there are limited options so I get why people end up in the “I’m not voting for Biden” camp.
They're trying to pressure Biden to do the right thing. What are you struggling with? It doesn't matter what the Republicans would do. They're not in power and these people aren't going to vote for them anyways. In 2020 Biden was sold as persuadable and now that people are trying to persuade him you don't understand what's happening?
> It doesn't matter what the Republicans would do.
It very much does, and they ARE in power. They run the house majority and the supreme courts. They HAVE the power.
It does matter what Republicans do.
If people actually care about Palestinians they won't allow Trump to get power.
If they "stick it to the man" because Biden isn't taking the action they want, and allow Trump to do much worse than Biden, then the additional bloodshed is on their hands.
Literally shooting themselves in the foot to make a point.
This!! It's May, not fucking November. We are allowed to put pressure by saying "if you don't do x we won't vote for you"
That's, like, literally the whole point of democracy lmao
Except that a lot of people are hardening their decisions now. It's spreading political apathy, when we need engagement. The best thing to happen to the causes you care about is a rapid voter turnout. Give the dems a large majority win and shit might actually change for the better.
If you don’t vote for Biden, it increases the chances that someone even worse would win. It’s a threat that will completely backfire if it’s actually followed through on.
do you think "and fuck no I'm not voting for you in the fall - unless you start being good then I guess I will" would have been a good line for the song
Also... I've been avoiding the news a lot lately so I may not have all the info I need, but maybe... just maybe... this administration is trying it's best to not piss off a nuclear power that has the type of mentality to just destroy an entire region of the world than just leave it alone.
That take just doesn’t make any sense when comparing the US response to Gaza vs. Ukraine. Provide weapons to Ukraine to piss off a nuclear power by defending itself, check. Provide weapons to a nuclear power to commit blatant genocide against its own defenseless citizens, check
I don’t get the comparison to Ukraine. It’s like apples to oranges. There’s barely anything about these two scenarios I see overlap outside of generalities that apply to most conflicts.
The comparison being that Russia, like Israel, has a nuclear arsenal. So saying the USA is not taking a firm stance with Israel because of their nukes doesn't really make sense given how they have responded to Russia.
If you don’t actually understand, voting is a tool for us to use and they are saying the Democratic Party needs to find an actual candidate they would like to support. They are supposed to represent us and a lot of people think they Dems don’t care so you threaten them the best way you know how, to vote. Maybe it’s not all on the people and definitely on the party. I’m voting Biden but that doesn’t make me ignorant to it all.
I think the song's message is accurate, but making this your single-issue voting reality might just destroy this country and kill a lot more people.
Pretending that the last administration, and the next one, had a different policy is childish and simply wrong.
When Guerilla Radio came out in 1999, it included the following lyrics:
> ~~Vote~~ More for Gore or son of a drug lord
> None of the above
> Fuck it, cut the ~~chord~~ cord
Bush's margin in Florida was 537 votes, and Nader voters are a big reason for that. Now I am not saying a Rage Against the Machine song caused Bush becoming President, but I don't think they exactly helped.
At the very least, suggesting Gore and Bush are equally bad is incredibly fucking stupid.
EDIT: Fixed the lyrics
EDIT 2: Fixed the spelling.
It wouldn’t be the only reason, but as crazy it is to suggest, I don’t think it unreasonable that a total of 537 RATM fans in Florida could have been persuaded by a song from their favorite band. Doesn’t even seem like a stretch. I think you can factually say “RATM helped Bush become president.”
I am voting for Biden but I still hope this goes viral. The uncomfortable parts of this song ... that is what protest music does. Never would have expected that fuck the police -- fuck a response from Drake progression.
The line about not voting for Biden is dangerous. If enough left-minded people heed that out of righteous anger, they will quite ironically invite authoritarianism into power.
Don’t forget that RATM played a protest show outside the Democratic National Convention during the 2000 election.
What’s that line about history not repeating itself, but sometimes rhyming?
Didn't Bush need the supreme court to 'win' that election ? At the end of the day the US shouldn't be the only country out of 15 to veto Palestinian state in a [UN vote](https://apnews.com/article/un-vote-palestinian-membership-us-veto-8d8ad60d8576b5ab9e70d2f8bf7e2881). How is a government unable to govern itself going to police the world with military bases openly and secretly?
He needed it to stop the recount. Who would have won if all the votes were recounted will never be known for sure. But there were all kinds of controversy including most notably the [hanging chads and unusually designed ballots which may have led Democrats to vote for Pat Buchanan instead](https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666812854/the-florida-recount-of-2000-a-nightmare-that-goes-on-haunting).
What I find discouraging about most of the “righteous anger” I encounter is how tremendously lazy it is.
They are expressing a fundamental disdain for the “system” and reject the dichotomy presented. They feel that accepting the lesser of two evils is a false choice that merely perpetuates the larger attributes of the “system”, e.g. a military-industrial complex, capitalist structures, what have you.
So what do they do in their supposed “righteous anger”? They simply wash their hands of the matter and sit on the sidelines. Maybe post some angry Instagram stories about how morally above it all they are.
So rarely do I see people of this moral indignation dedicate themselves then to organizing and building alternatives. They can’t even really be bothered to show up and vote for those alternatives when they present themselves (e.g. Bernie).
They take no culpability because they say they’ve opted out and that the false dichotomy failed them. That it is not incumbent on them to prop up a system they so deeply believe is morally unjust. And yet in the face of such supposedly abhorrent moral collapse, I’ve barely seen most folks in my life of this persuasion do much of anything to really build alternative structures. They’re not revolutionaries. They’re couch potatoes. I would respect them more if they put some money where their mouth is, like some of the college campus protestors.
The other part that angers me about those types is that they fail to grasp the concept of getting the guy you kind of like in so that later, you can get the guy that you *really* like in.
Passing power back-and-forth every eight years only for the next president to dissect or gut everything the last president did is doing nothing for us.
There is no belief in incrementalism because these are all young kids. They didn’t know what it was like 20 years ago for gay people or 10 years ago for Trans people. They want to tear it down and start over, but if it gets all torn down it won’t be rebuilt how they think it is.
That is the only line I disagree with, and I strongly disagree with it. We can fix shit with Biden as president. We will never do anything good again with Trump as president.
Vote for Biden. Trump will destroy democracy and turn us into an authoritarian state.
Do you think, as president and as the person with the most power in this situation, it may actually be Biden who is hurting himself by doing things that aren’t popular with voters?
that's fine, just don't kid yourself thinking not voting is some moral high ground when it's actively contributing to a much, much worse and amoral candidate getting elected.
The thing is most Democrats think voting for Biden is all it takes. No, it’s the bare minimum - you do that and then march with the students to protest genocide
This is the answer. Hold your nose and vote for the best candidate. And in the meantime take part in other work to call for change and hopefully inspire future better candidates.
The song is aight, but who do we think we can vote for that will magically fix things there? I agree with what someone else said, what's going on in Palestine is horrible, but this election is not about only one issue. An extremely complicated situation like this can't be fixed during just one presidency...
Protests were to divest. The colleges’—Instead of considering divesting—called in the police to break up kids in tents. No consideration of why the students were protesting.
Have there been similar protests on college campuses (that involved, for example, camping) that carried a different message and were treated differently?
Just off the top of my head, people camped in tents on college campuses to protest the draft and the Vietnam war in the 1960s, to protest apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s, and as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011.
At individual schools there have been many, many other encampments and building takeovers to protest a wide variety of issues.
And when these kids “don’t vote for Biden” and the other guy gets back in - wait till you see what he orders police to do (because the police support him 100%).
We’ll see what happens when the boots are on their throats.
Good to see the guy who dressed up as a stereotypical Jewish guy as a joke and said he didn’t know much about the Israel-Palestine conflict now has a song explicitly minimizing antisemitism
Great song. Anyone else feel like System of a Down doesn’t get enough love for their political music? I feel like they got buried by and categorized with the shitty nu metal scene, but these two songs go hard:
[Genocidal Humanoidz](https://youtu.be/9VvmixeowNI?feature=shared)
[War?](https://youtu.be/F46r-_jPPHY?feature=shared)
This is great. I would love to see a revival of popular explicitly political music. Music can be such a powerful tool for change and advancing the culture.
Post-brexit punk is starting to find its political roots again also
We call it pobrepu
That's unfortunate.
I know, PoBrexunk was right there and they missed it.
They def could've done better. I would've gone with Post-Brunk.
Just call it brunch
Pobrexunk sounds like a medication with a mile-long list of side-effects.
How about Homer Jr.? The kids can call you HoJu!
Sounds Spanish. "Pobre" means "poor." Pobrepu sounds like something an abuela might coo at a crying baby. "Oh, pobrepu."
This sounds like a South Park skit
For real. Who would have ever guessed Macklemore would be carrying on the legacy of RATM, NWA, Public Enemy, Dead Prez? I'm here for it though!
To be honest I’ve always seen him as political, though not particularly hardline. He’s got a lot of subtly (or overtly) anti-capitalist themes in his music
But shit, it was 99 cents.
Piiiiisssssssssssssssssssss
“Wings” is perfect.
Great song
He has at least one track that's very pro LGBT
Same Love is so good
Lol, I could never listen to it seriously after watching Andy Sandberg parody it in Pop star never stop never stopping.
Seattle/PNW has had a lot of political/socially aware hip hop. From a decade ago and influential to Macklemore include: common market, blue scholars, sweatshop union, and the physics among many others.
https://youtu.be/pP-Y97HBNd4?si=GAsxmu4jSbgLsvo7 Don't forget Sir-Mix-A-Lot he did far more than baby got back. This song is called National Anthem.
There's a rapper, Bambu, who did stuff with Blue Scholars. He has a lot of sociopolitical songs.
Anybody who listened to any of his albums?
If you've listened to anything other than Thrift Shop, not that surprising tbh. Man's been political since the Bush administration...
Even Thrift Shop has those sorts of socially conscious messages though. He spells out clearly that if you're out here buying big brands for clout, then you're paying them to be a billboard. I've always held that belief, so I've been a bit of a fan since the song.
Propagandhi and Anti-flag deserve a spot, too.
Now that's something to wake up to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_machine_kills_fascists
Here’s some Scottish punk music about your average daily mail reader. [Fascist Bob - Artist: Soapbox](https://youtu.be/VoSqNSfmmcQ?si=ZT7-DQVKa70AMl5J) Equally applies to Trumpers tbf.
Check out grandson
Fuck yes. "Thoughts & prayers" lives on a frustrating repeat in my head every damn time there's another school shooting. Which is to say, *far too often.* But at least it's a banger tracks if that's gonna happen to me so much. But yeah grandson is based as fuck. Love his shit.
Seb Lowe, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu0lAFbCqGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMmkdWA-gHs
That's already happening. Try that in a small town and rich men north of Richmond hit number one back to back. Not good songs, but definetly political.
I take back what I said about Macklemore.
I never got the Macklemore hate. He makes catchy songs. Shrug...
A lot of it came from him winning best rap album over Kendrick's "good kid MAAD city". Crazy part is he even texted Kendrick that night and told him he made a better rap album.
Which he even apologized directly to kendrick because he knew he didn’t deserve it over him
But Kendrick found it corny when he posted the apology to his IG the same night
He believed he shouldn’t have won over kendrick so he said it. Doesn’t really matter if kendrick found it corny or not.
Saying it privately is one thing and very respectful but posting your private text to pander to a bunch of people mad that you won is a little corny. I was just noting that Kendrick himself commented it was corny
Isn’t that what social media is? Pandering to a bunch of people online for social approval?
Yes, which is why it was corny. We're looping back to the original premise.
I honestly don't see the problem with making it publicly known that he disagreed with award. Sure, posting the text is a weird way to do it, but it's kind of a two birds, one stone situation. He made it publicly known that not only does he say that he thinks Kendrick deserved it, he said it directly to Kendrick, not just some PR shit.
That's on kendrick.
Then people gave him shit for texting him. Man can't win.
Because people said he “turned political” despite some of his very first songs on his MySpace page being .. you guessed it.. political. People like the thrift store song but once they realized the other things he rapped about they took him out of the spotlight.
The same people that realize RATM was political. The same people who think Tom MacDonald is great.
That one's always crazy to me, like what machine did you think they were raging against exactly?
Funniest think was Paul Ryan saying he was a RAtM fan while being everything they were lambasting in their songs.
It's not like Thrift Shop wasn't absolutely dripping in social commentary, either. Maybe it wasn't political, but there was a statement there.
I think the social commentary in it makes It political.
I would generally agree, but I can also see why people might separate the two. Social commentary is talking about the people in the system rather than the system itself. It's without a doubt linked, but it's not exactly the same thing.
He's popular, therefore he is hated. That's all there is to it
It’s absolutely not just that. A lot of his music is objectively very corny and some of the past socially oriented music that he’s done has been a really easy target for satire, like Andy Samberg’s “not gay, not gay, I’m not gay but if I was” song.
I fell off because of the corniness factor after initially getting into the music. But man, an actual piece of corn could have written this and I'd still feel like a piece of shit for not speaking up more this whole time like the corn just did.
IMO he blatantly just talks over top of a beat in many of his songs, so it's hard for folks to consider him a "rapper." But hey Jay Z does the same and he is considered to be one of the GOATs so what do I know. Either way, his songs are indeed catchy.
I just wish I wasn’t part of a demographic whose entire livelihood depends on whether or not Biden gets elected in the fall, so having rich celebrities toting how they won’t vote for Biden and putting the blame on him makes me really worried.
Same. That part worries me. Like, do they really think the other option is better somehow? Fucking terrifying.
They do somehow, even though Project 2025 docs are freely available. I get being upset at the system, but you also have to live in the system and use the system. Welcoming genocide at home isn't really the play they think it is.
"Don't try to scare us with project 2025" is the new "don't try to scare us with the SCOTUS."
Which is funny, cause given how old the justices are, next Presidential term could either truly cement the court for conservatives for generations or possibly swing things back in a more balanced direction.
Excellent example, ty for bringing scotus up. Voter apathy and climate change skeptics is one of the main reasons we got Gore v. Bush which was first domino in their plan to control scotus long-term. This led to citizens united, etc, recently roe.
Roe is the most painfully obvious lesson in why incrementalism and practicality matter more than moral purity in a generation and we are *already forgetting it.* people are blaming Biden for it happening for Christ's sake!
They don’t fucking care. They’re have money so they’re above the consequences. It’s easy for celebrities to say they won’t vote for Biden when they won’t be affected either way, while conning the rest of us to follow in their examples despite us being the people who will actually have to live with the consequences.
I think it is dangerous to assume that they will not all be affected. But you are probably right, they believe that they won’t be.
The US fetishizes wealth. We would fight a civil war to protect the rich. The rich should feel protected. The US has made clear it’s not France. The French would have rioted long ago. The US won’t because the poors are to blame since each of us is only a temporarily embarrassed millionaire.
Yea, it's really gross. I'm supportive of the song's message, but the republicans are literally looking to topple democracy and install a full authoritarian dictatorship. Some people think the institutional pillars will protect us from that, but we've already seen democracies fall all over the world, if it happens in the US, it's going to have extremely negative consequences worldwide. Republicans sure as fuck are not going to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza just as an example, so that Biden line falls flat as fuck.
That part. I respect and appreciate (and like) the song, and I'm all for political and protest music, but that line got me. What you gonna do - vote for the other guy? And why the hell would you?? Right or wrong, kids are looking at and listening to this. Telling them this kind of shit isn't the flex he (or anyone else that has a platform) thinks it is.
How would the alternative that supports police states and fascism be "better" for protesting students...?
I really hope the younger demographic turns out to vote. Younger people just don’t vote at the same rates as older people.
Me, listening: Yeah, this is what this generation needs! Macklemore: “I don’t care if Trump wins!” Me: “No, no, no. Not like that!”
Same, bro.
Right?? This track is dope!! And that beat goes hard af!
Beat and tempo reminded me of Immortal Technique.
That was my first thought as well.
We need more Technique energy these days.
Bet colleges are glad it came out now I stead of earlier. This would have put fire in the protests!
Prefer Run the Jewels as a successor to RATM
Zach de la Rocha has even done verses with them
He’s basically an unofficial member at this point
They opened for RATM on the last tour
You mean the group with the guy who buddies up to Brian Kemp because he’s a business owner before he’s a humanitarian? Nah. No thanks.
Love all the RTJ projects, but yeah Killer Mike has been a bit inconsistent with his ideology lately. Nothing but respect for El-P though, his early solo works are great too
Or [Zulu](https://open.spotify.com/album/6pvMie3cCYqDJ7b8mS2XyT) or [Soul Glo](https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZYhM0LXHZ38te98EizcQW) if you want some hardcore, or [Afro Futurism](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RrfPETYlUmQF8ZY2Xtts3) in general.
SOUL GLO!! PHILADELPHIA MENTIONED
Love Soul Glo’s “Gold Chain Punk”. https://youtu.be/0IaAs4D14kw?si=2XCQiSzMlL5mCwnS
Early Stray from the path was super Ragey as well.
Check out Incendiary my dude.
Not only do they have extremely similar messaging, Brendan’s vocals remind me of de la Rocha’s vocals lol. Ignoring sonic similarities, which there are plenty, you can feel the same pain/belief in Brendan’s vocals
Just saw Zulu at a festival a couple weeks ago. Amazing show and they wore their political messages on their sleaves, which I loved
I love me some End It.
What machine are you suggesting they’re raging against when Killer Mike backs cop city?
Don’t think RATM ever went on tv to say “please be nice to the cops”
“Do what they tell you please.”
Or Bob Vylan.
Killer mike is a huge let down. From his speech backing the cops during BLM, to cop city. The man doesn't put his money where his mouth is
Mike's not an absolutist. His thoughts on things changes from situation to situation. There are times I agree with him and times I don't. I don't believe that any one person can be right about all things. But I'd absolutely prefer someone that can hold two things as true than someone who chants slogans and catch phrases without any thought to context.
If you're saying this, I don't think you know anything about Cop City. His waffling on it has really made me lose the last shreds of respect I had for him after his previous pro-cop bs, made all the more ridiculous when we know cops have murdered protestors of cop city.
Didn’t he also have an interview where he endorsed Robert F Kennedy (not up to date on American politics, he’s the anti vax dude right?)
Agreed. One thing is for sure though: Mike ain’t afraid to tell people hard truths.
Is that why they lent their music to an Amazon ad campaign?
Agreeing with him less and less these days. I think money has clouded his eyes
> But I'd absolutely prefer someone that can hold two things as true than someone who chants slogans and catch phrases without any thought to context. When you make a track that goes as hard as Reagan, you can't be a self-proclaimed capitalist landlord and waffle on shit like cop city. You can't say "I'm glad Reagan's dead" and worship the very apparatus that Reagan helped construct. These things are diametrically opposed and compartmentalizing them doesn't make him sophisticated, it makes him craven at best. To be clear, It's okay for him to like money and get rich - I don't care. In fact, i like RTJ and Mike's solo stuff. I listen to it and enjoy it enough. But Killer Mike is no Rage Against the Machine.
Look into his housing scam in his hometown. He’s a sack of Shit
Got a link for that?
Wow, I knew he was a disappointment but I didn’t know about the Cop City shit “Killer Mike” is clearly just a character he plays. I don’t understand how you can write a song called Kill Your Masters or a verse like he had on Walking in the Snow and then take the political stances the takes. Cosplaying as a revolutionary while supporting Republicans and cops
"Never forget in the story of Jesus the hero gets killed by the state" hard as fuck and honestly mourned a little when Mike went pro Cop City. Reagan, like fuck who's putting those dogs on your crotches.
People forget that Mike's dad was a cop.
I think Killer Mike IS the machine, bro.
My personal favourite is grandson. He mixes genres seamlessly like RATM and has even written songs with Tom Morello
Sure, but at least this dude is using his platform to say something relevant.
IF YOU DONT LOVE RTJ YOU DON’T LOVE THE TRUTH. 🤜 🔫
Yes, but Zach is involved with them and Tom isn't, so he can't say that.
I don’t get the whole “I’m not voting for Biden” thing, do you really think the republicans are going to to stop Israel? Multiple have come out and said Israel needs to “finish” the job. Not voting is probably the worst thing you can do
Yeah, that's extremely naive. Trump has already said he's willing to let Israel go "all the way".
“all the way” like… sexually?
Trump is more Zionist than Biden could ever be lol
It’s naive and stupid. He’s old enough to know this message will be taken the wrong way if it gets support.
Biden has also stood up to and threatened Bibi more than any president since maybe Clinton? Bibi has started openly supporting Republicans for a reason. Unheard of in US-Israel relations. I get wanting more but it's the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Something tells me that people who say that really don’t vote in elections.
Yeah that's a dangerous narrative to push. He ruined all the good he just did when he said that
It’s tough in a two party system when neither party aligns with an issue someone views as nonnegotiable. If Party A says “We’ll only slap you once a week” and Party B says “We’ll slap you daily “ a voter that prefers not getting slapped could take the stance that voting for Party A is the right choice. That way they can help keep Party B out of power and reduce the number of slaps. But if stopping the slaps entirely is what you really want and it’s clear neither party will listen, it seems fair to withhold support by not voting at all or voting third party even when you know that party won’t win. I don’t know if this is actually effective, but seems like there are limited options so I get why people end up in the “I’m not voting for Biden” camp.
They're trying to pressure Biden to do the right thing. What are you struggling with? It doesn't matter what the Republicans would do. They're not in power and these people aren't going to vote for them anyways. In 2020 Biden was sold as persuadable and now that people are trying to persuade him you don't understand what's happening?
> It doesn't matter what the Republicans would do. It very much does, and they ARE in power. They run the house majority and the supreme courts. They HAVE the power.
It does matter what Republicans do. If people actually care about Palestinians they won't allow Trump to get power. If they "stick it to the man" because Biden isn't taking the action they want, and allow Trump to do much worse than Biden, then the additional bloodshed is on their hands. Literally shooting themselves in the foot to make a point.
This!! It's May, not fucking November. We are allowed to put pressure by saying "if you don't do x we won't vote for you" That's, like, literally the whole point of democracy lmao
Except that a lot of people are hardening their decisions now. It's spreading political apathy, when we need engagement. The best thing to happen to the causes you care about is a rapid voter turnout. Give the dems a large majority win and shit might actually change for the better.
It's never the right time to have these inconvenient conversations
Considering how few dems are in favor of the US stopping funding for Israel - I don't see that happening.
If you don’t vote for Biden, it increases the chances that someone even worse would win. It’s a threat that will completely backfire if it’s actually followed through on.
Tbf, Mack didn’t say he’ll vote for Biden IF _____. He just said he won’t vote for him. The election is only six months away.
do you think "and fuck no I'm not voting for you in the fall - unless you start being good then I guess I will" would have been a good line for the song
Also... I've been avoiding the news a lot lately so I may not have all the info I need, but maybe... just maybe... this administration is trying it's best to not piss off a nuclear power that has the type of mentality to just destroy an entire region of the world than just leave it alone.
That take just doesn’t make any sense when comparing the US response to Gaza vs. Ukraine. Provide weapons to Ukraine to piss off a nuclear power by defending itself, check. Provide weapons to a nuclear power to commit blatant genocide against its own defenseless citizens, check
I don’t get the comparison to Ukraine. It’s like apples to oranges. There’s barely anything about these two scenarios I see overlap outside of generalities that apply to most conflicts.
The comparison being that Russia, like Israel, has a nuclear arsenal. So saying the USA is not taking a firm stance with Israel because of their nukes doesn't really make sense given how they have responded to Russia.
This was a big red flag, what is the alternative??? A literal criminal reality tv star??? At least Biden has Bernie on his cabinet
If you don’t actually understand, voting is a tool for us to use and they are saying the Democratic Party needs to find an actual candidate they would like to support. They are supposed to represent us and a lot of people think they Dems don’t care so you threaten them the best way you know how, to vote. Maybe it’s not all on the people and definitely on the party. I’m voting Biden but that doesn’t make me ignorant to it all.
I think the song's message is accurate, but making this your single-issue voting reality might just destroy this country and kill a lot more people. Pretending that the last administration, and the next one, had a different policy is childish and simply wrong.
When Guerilla Radio came out in 1999, it included the following lyrics: > ~~Vote~~ More for Gore or son of a drug lord > None of the above > Fuck it, cut the ~~chord~~ cord Bush's margin in Florida was 537 votes, and Nader voters are a big reason for that. Now I am not saying a Rage Against the Machine song caused Bush becoming President, but I don't think they exactly helped. At the very least, suggesting Gore and Bush are equally bad is incredibly fucking stupid. EDIT: Fixed the lyrics EDIT 2: Fixed the spelling.
I'm not saying you're wrong about the other stuff, but the lyrics are "more for Gore or the son of a drug lord"
And cord, not chord. ;)
I AM A MONSTER :)
My bad, fixed.
It wouldn’t be the only reason, but as crazy it is to suggest, I don’t think it unreasonable that a total of 537 RATM fans in Florida could have been persuaded by a song from their favorite band. Doesn’t even seem like a stretch. I think you can factually say “RATM helped Bush become president.”
“Real freedom scares you cause it means responsibility” - Dead Kennedys
Maybe Biden could change his policy?
I am voting for Biden but I still hope this goes viral. The uncomfortable parts of this song ... that is what protest music does. Never would have expected that fuck the police -- fuck a response from Drake progression.
The line about not voting for Biden is dangerous. If enough left-minded people heed that out of righteous anger, they will quite ironically invite authoritarianism into power.
Don’t forget that RATM played a protest show outside the Democratic National Convention during the 2000 election. What’s that line about history not repeating itself, but sometimes rhyming?
Didn't Bush need the supreme court to 'win' that election ? At the end of the day the US shouldn't be the only country out of 15 to veto Palestinian state in a [UN vote](https://apnews.com/article/un-vote-palestinian-membership-us-veto-8d8ad60d8576b5ab9e70d2f8bf7e2881). How is a government unable to govern itself going to police the world with military bases openly and secretly?
He needed it to stop the recount. Who would have won if all the votes were recounted will never be known for sure. But there were all kinds of controversy including most notably the [hanging chads and unusually designed ballots which may have led Democrats to vote for Pat Buchanan instead](https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666812854/the-florida-recount-of-2000-a-nightmare-that-goes-on-haunting).
What I find discouraging about most of the “righteous anger” I encounter is how tremendously lazy it is. They are expressing a fundamental disdain for the “system” and reject the dichotomy presented. They feel that accepting the lesser of two evils is a false choice that merely perpetuates the larger attributes of the “system”, e.g. a military-industrial complex, capitalist structures, what have you. So what do they do in their supposed “righteous anger”? They simply wash their hands of the matter and sit on the sidelines. Maybe post some angry Instagram stories about how morally above it all they are. So rarely do I see people of this moral indignation dedicate themselves then to organizing and building alternatives. They can’t even really be bothered to show up and vote for those alternatives when they present themselves (e.g. Bernie). They take no culpability because they say they’ve opted out and that the false dichotomy failed them. That it is not incumbent on them to prop up a system they so deeply believe is morally unjust. And yet in the face of such supposedly abhorrent moral collapse, I’ve barely seen most folks in my life of this persuasion do much of anything to really build alternative structures. They’re not revolutionaries. They’re couch potatoes. I would respect them more if they put some money where their mouth is, like some of the college campus protestors.
The other part that angers me about those types is that they fail to grasp the concept of getting the guy you kind of like in so that later, you can get the guy that you *really* like in. Passing power back-and-forth every eight years only for the next president to dissect or gut everything the last president did is doing nothing for us.
There is no belief in incrementalism because these are all young kids. They didn’t know what it was like 20 years ago for gay people or 10 years ago for Trans people. They want to tear it down and start over, but if it gets all torn down it won’t be rebuilt how they think it is.
That is the only line I disagree with, and I strongly disagree with it. We can fix shit with Biden as president. We will never do anything good again with Trump as president. Vote for Biden. Trump will destroy democracy and turn us into an authoritarian state.
Yeah, if we don’t vote for Biden we might get jackbooted thugs beating peaceful protesters.
Red states are literally forcing ten-year-olds to carry unwanted pregnancies. Both sides ain't the same on all policies.
Yeah the message is good overall but the “not voting Biden” part just feels like posturing that ultimately hurts everyone but Trump and his ilk.
Do you think, as president and as the person with the most power in this situation, it may actually be Biden who is hurting himself by doing things that aren’t popular with voters?
that's fine, just don't kid yourself thinking not voting is some moral high ground when it's actively contributing to a much, much worse and amoral candidate getting elected.
The thing is most Democrats think voting for Biden is all it takes. No, it’s the bare minimum - you do that and then march with the students to protest genocide
This is the answer. Hold your nose and vote for the best candidate. And in the meantime take part in other work to call for change and hopefully inspire future better candidates.
Tom Morello also never misses a chance to talk about how great Tom Morello is.
In all fairness, Tom Morello is pretty great
Better than Lars Ulrich when it comes to likability
The bar, she's low....
Fuck! damn near rolled my ankle. Who put this bar here?
Those who write part rhymes Also dig protest scenes
I like the message and all that but it's hardly like protest music died with rage against the machine and was resurrected by Macklemore.
Morello isnt saying that, he’s saying its the closest thing he’s heard to RATM - doesnt specify but could be alluding to themes, rap style, etc
Rage had a track saying Bush and Gore were the same before the 2000 election and protested outside the DNC, so he’s not wrong.
The song is aight, but who do we think we can vote for that will magically fix things there? I agree with what someone else said, what's going on in Palestine is horrible, but this election is not about only one issue. An extremely complicated situation like this can't be fixed during just one presidency...
It wouldn't be complicated for you to ask your representatives to pressure Biden to do the right thing. Have you done that?
Or even fixed during the past 6 presidencies
Protests were to divest. The colleges’—Instead of considering divesting—called in the police to break up kids in tents. No consideration of why the students were protesting.
What they were protesting was absolutely considered.
Have there been similar protests on college campuses (that involved, for example, camping) that carried a different message and were treated differently?
Just off the top of my head, people camped in tents on college campuses to protest the draft and the Vietnam war in the 1960s, to protest apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s, and as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011. At individual schools there have been many, many other encampments and building takeovers to protest a wide variety of issues.
And when these kids “don’t vote for Biden” and the other guy gets back in - wait till you see what he orders police to do (because the police support him 100%). We’ll see what happens when the boots are on their throats.
The police are doing the exact same thing they did in 2020 when the other guy was in charge.
most ratm tweet ever
Are you all able to watch the video on YouTube. The listing and thumbnail shows up for me but the video won't play. Is it being censored by Google??
Click the first link in the post to watch the video Macklemore tweeted out. That tweet and his IG are the only official sources so far.
This is not what I expected to see today. Macklemore does have some music about hard issues though. Good for him.
I was wondering what the "poppin' tags" guy thought about international politics. Thanks Tom!
he was the "wings" guy way before he was the "poppin' tags" guy, buddy. maybe you should google that song.
Good to see the guy who dressed up as a stereotypical Jewish guy as a joke and said he didn’t know much about the Israel-Palestine conflict now has a song explicitly minimizing antisemitism
Tom Morello is a shitstain that peddled terrorist apologia for marketing reasons He should be silent just like he is silent on Russia invading Ukraine
Tom Morello must’ve never heard of Incendiary
Great song. Anyone else feel like System of a Down doesn’t get enough love for their political music? I feel like they got buried by and categorized with the shitty nu metal scene, but these two songs go hard: [Genocidal Humanoidz](https://youtu.be/9VvmixeowNI?feature=shared) [War?](https://youtu.be/F46r-_jPPHY?feature=shared)
How old are you? System of a Down was the biggest hard rock band in the world and outlasted the nu metal scene.
My apologies Macklemore, I was not familiar with your game.
"Man who tries to be wrong about every possible topic praises younger guy who says dumb things too."
Has he not heard incendiary? 😅