Rage Against the Machine

Zack de la Rocha / Tom Morello rap-metal; Killing in the Name is the entry riot.

Formed 1991. Debut album and Evil Empire paired de la Rocha’s cadence with Morello’s effects-as-solos, Tim Commerford’s funk bass, Brad Wilk’s dry drums—no samples required for the “DJ” textures. Killing in the Name (1992) is the citation track. They sit at the 1990s intersection of metal radio and protest lyric without nu-metal’s later pop polish.