Chuck D And Rage Against The Machine Are Planning Something For The Republican Convention
Their supergroup Prophets of Rage “will be there on the streets, in the fields, and in the conscious.”
Prophets of Rage, the group formed by members of Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill, spoke about their intent to "cause a ruckus" at the Republican National Convention during an interview with Bloomberg.
"That'll be the perfect place for a band like Prophets of Rage to cause a ruckus," said Rage guitarist Tom Morello. The convention, which takes place in July in Ohio, is where Donald Trump will likely accept the Republican nomination for president. Morello goes on to say that they have an official venue locked down, and suggests that the group could play other locations without the proper permission. "There will be places that are spontaneous venues. It’s hard to say. This is the kind of thing you don’t broadcast to the local authorities prior to arrival.”
Public Enemy's Chuck D described the need for a revolution of the existing political structure. "The two party system's been over a long time ago, so we have to come up with something that looks forward into the 21st century that makes sense to all these young people who have come into the voting market." When asked if he saw a difference between the Democratic and Republican parties, D responded, "Not really, I never have." (As of now, the band won’t confirm if they will make a similar appearance at the Democratic National Convention.)
Morello also discussed their perspectives on the candidates of the 2016 election, and how Prophets of Rage is a reaction:
One of the things that has irked me greatly is the way that the media has talked about both the Trump campaign and the Sanders campaign as, both of them are raging against the machine. We’re going to set that record straight once and for all, what it really means to rage against the machine... What [the public are] being offered up, through the tiny funnel of the electoral process, is a racist demagogue on the one hand, and a great dreamer on the other hand, and in the middle is the lesser of three evils. None of those choices are good enough for us. There needs to be an alternate voice, one that’s unfiltered, uncompromising, and stands unapologetically with the people.
Watch the whole interview, plus footage of their first ever show in L.A., above via Pitchfork.