Massive Militant Poetry

(This write up was conceived on January 12, the birthday of Zack de la Rocha, frontman of the Revolutionary Rap Metal band Rage Against The Machine)



At various times I have contemplated writing something about Rage Against The Machine. On high nights, dreaming about the future of the land, while trying to delay the catastrophic realisation of a wasted youth, as a consequence of self perpetuated denial, perhaps, I have felt a great need to say something. I have, on such occasions of unbridled love for humanity, contemplated giving away the mask of a tamed herd member. But every time a mild despair, a soothing apathy would lull me away to sweet trivialities. Today, however, is different.  It's Zack de la Rocha's birthday and at the cost of being a little self indulgent, I might, by the end of this blog piece, be able to shed the heavy weight of a repressed idea.

Music first came to me in the form of high pitched vibrations through buffalo horns. In early spring when the tender leaves move ecstatically at the touch of the fragrant wind, the sky shines through the cotton clouds, and the warmth is just fine to be alive, the Pepa's sound would reverberate through the whole green village, and a group of young boys and girls would come dancing singing and playing various instruments.  Dhul, Gogona, Thoka, Taal. It was love. Love for the trees, the river, the people and the animals. Love for the shiny black curls of a girl in bright Muga, and Copou, and love for the paste of pigeon peas and turmeric on father’s bare body. 

Many genres and forms came and went through the years but such a strong emotion was not to be experienced again, until I came across a band called Rage Against the Machine some 14 years later, at the brink of boyhood, getting initiated into the adult life, coming face to face with the world.

The question is one of complacency.

There has never been in recorded history a perfect society. It has always been hierarchical, oppressive towards certain groups. Power has always rested on the hands of a few. Equality, in its complete glory, has never existed, except as an idea. It is no different in the current Nation State model with well developed state, legal, and administrative Machineries. The political discourse, however, in every society in history, has always been directed towards the end of justifying and establishing the existing form of hierarchies as natural. And evidently that realisation kicks in only at times of crisis, when things go out of control and a determined few decide to change it.

In today’s world to say something like, "The political discourse has never been so prone to democratic scrutiny, the oppressive elements of a supposedly equal platform never so vulnerable to question" would be utterly wishful and preposterous, because with the increasing complexity of the system of governance -which has already taken up traits of an enterprise, owing to its intricate relationship with capitalism- newer ways of securing the survival of the system are perpetually being created. If the claim requires an example we can refer to the manipulation of the flow of information, tapping and surveillance, manipulation of the Digital Media, financed terrorism, Induced “Civil Wars”, before going into the realm of “conspiracy theories”. 

What, then, can we do as the humble citizens of a sovereign nation state, exalting the "diversity" and "plurality" which actually has been a great tool to all our rulers, from the East India Company to the present day giant, the NDA, a distinctive example of which can be seen even today in the form of communal politics. What can we do, to see in all its glory the semi-feudal nature of our society, disguising itself as an epitome of contained plurality. It is as much a philosophical inquiry into the meaning of equality as deeply political. Pondering these questions would mean acknowledging the absence of essence and understanding the utterly political nature of cultural constructs, products of specific power relations; and hopefully help in shaking off the cloak of complacency that has been imposed on us by our parents, teachers, well wishers, all unsuspecting subjects in a system of oppression.

Such were the questions that troubled four young musicians from Los Angeles, California, roughly three decades ago. 

The candour of  Zack Dla Rocha's lyrics lays bare the divide, deeply ingrained in the fabric of the society, driven by a passion for equality and freedom in all senses of the words, challenging the establishment with a revolutionary fervour, with no intellectual equivocation. 

Ya got to know

Ya got to know

That when I say go, go, go

Amp up and amplify

Defy

I'm a brother with a furious mind

Action must be taken

We don't need the key

We'll break in

Something must be done

About vengeance, a badge and a gun

Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system

I was born to rage against 'em

Fist in ya face, in the place

And I'll drop the style clearly

Know your enemy

Know your enemy!

Let not RATM's pursuit of freedom with street slang unsettle you, for their music is no street polemic. The poetry pierces through the celebrated picture of progress and equality to reveal the subtle forces that shape society, rendering one group superior to the others. The educational, religious, and media apparatuses -that, in Althuser's words, comprise the Ideological State Apparatuses- and the Police brutality accompanying it, (Repressive State Apparatus), all comes under Zack de la Rocha's fire. The content of their music, I think, is worthy of academic scrutiny; it is an endeavor not undertaken by any musical project with such degree of precision and insight. If it were up to me, I would include it in the curriculum of Marxist Theory. I don’t think Lukacs, Brecht, Althusser, Gramsci, or even Marx, for that matter, would mind.  

The present curriculum

I put my fist in 'em

Eurocentric every last one of 'em

See right through the red, white and blue disguise

With lecture I puncture the structure of lies

Installed in our minds and attempting

To hold us back

We've got to take it back

Holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears

One-sided stories for years and years and years

I'm inferior? Who's inferior?

Yeah, we need to check the interior

Of the system that cares about only one culture

And that is why

We gotta take the power back

The music accompanying de la Rocha’s militant potery was no less revolutionary. Combinig Rap, Heavy Metal and elements of Electronic music they helped pioneer a new genre of music which was later adopted by many of our favourite bands, Linkin Park being the most popular example. Tom Morello’s love for Electronic music resulted in his brilliant use of the Crybaby Wah pedel creating sounds that are conventionally produced with a turntable. From the Scratch to epic use of the tremolo. Apart from the DJ-ing, Morello also wrote some super heavy riffs, equally unconventional in the musical approach. Just listen to them you’ll know what I mean.

The Pepa still resounds through the village in springs, although it isn’t so green anymore, and the hearts of the people blackened with a poisonous tribalism. The music’s still beautiful, but since Bihu cannot ever tell us “your anger is a gift”, we need some RATM. Now, more than ever.