Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage
It’s a shame, really. “Killing in the Name”, a song about structural racism and police brutality, turn into an anthem of teenage angst with white teenage boys covering the crap out of it. In the process, the political message of this track got watered down significantly. However, in the era of Trump, refugees and Charlottesville, the supergroup consisting of Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, Chuck D, B-Real and DJ Lord decided to bring politics back into their music.
With two of the most recognisable voices in hip-hop fronting Prophets of Rage, this outfit is dangerously close to Rage Against the Machine. Luckily, Morello and Commerford provide grooving riffs like it’s 1992, making the similarities an absolute blessing. Although they risk sounding somewhat outdated, these former RATM-members show such incredible eccentric skill in addition to their genuine political outrage, it’s overwhelming
Meanwhile, B-Real (Cypress Hill) and Chuck D (Public Enemy) make sure that Zach de la Rocha isn’t being missed. These two frontmen might not scream and yell like Zach did on the RATM album debut, but the seamless and natural flow between these MC’s cause a sense of unity that only strengthens the anger outed by Morello, Commerford and Wilk.
Now back to politics. The songs contain several socio-political themes including, but not limited to: The Black Lives Matter movement, neglected disaster areas, minorities or refugees, and of course Trump himself: “All hail the chief, who came in the name of a thief”. The instrumental and lyrical fire work together best on “Unfuck the World” and by giving both the opener “Radical Eyes” and closing track “Smashit” the same call to a revolution as their prime messages, the album is packed together neatly.
The Prophets of Rage don’t thoroughly analyse the included themes, but they certainly know how to bring the message across: fight for your rights, fight (racist) elitism, and most of all: Unite the people through the power of music. If all beginning bands know how to keep up these massages in their covers seems too good to be true, but Prophets of Rage definitely released an inspiring and impressive record.
Release date: 15th of September 2017
Label: Fantasy Records
