Rap-rock supergroup and musical election freedom fighters, maaaaan, Prophets Of Rage have rolled into Cleveland to play a number of shows protesting the Republican National Convention. If you don’t know what a national convention is, watch House Of Cards, or this super handy video about how the American primary vote works (we are now Politics and Echoes). Basically it’s where the party officially chooses their presidential nominee. And if you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, the Republicans are holding theirs currently in Cleveland, Ohio.
Prophets Of Rage, which consists of most of Rage Against The Machine and two slightly famous rappers (Chuck D of Public Enemy and B-Real from Cypress Hill to be exact), have described themselves as “an elite task force of revolutionary musicians determined to confront this mountain of election year bullshit, and confront it head-on with Marshall stacks blazing.”
The first of the free gigs was at a march for economic justice, where they were greeted by a pretty decent turnout despite the short notice. Guitarist Tom Morello reportedly told the crowd, “We’re gonna play one more jam, then we’re gonna go over there and you’re gonna go over there and we’re gonna let those motherfuckers at the RNC know that we’ve had enough of their bullshit.” YEAH!! Fuck the man, man! After this, the band parked themselves in the Cleveland Public Square, which is less than 650m from the venue of the RNC.
Prophets Of Rage vs RNC: Public Square Parkhttps://t.co/QzUoUpReM9
— Prophets of Rage (@prophetsofrage) July 18, 2016
The performance coincides with the release of the debut single from Prophets Of Rage, also titled Prophets Of Rage this week. They have put the world on notice with their incendiary first song as well as pushing the hashtag #MakeAmericaRAGEagain a trending topic worldwide.
Image: Stereogum