15 Metal Songs About Bigotry + the Police That Aren’t by Rage Against the Machine

With America’s institutional racism at the forefront of everyone’s minds right now, it’s not surprising that Rage Against the Machine have enjoyed a surge in popularity. But here’s the thing: systematic racism and police brutality are a machine against which metal has been raging for decades! There are plenty of great songs that have tackled one or both of these topics before.

So whether you’re tired of hearing the same five Rage Against the Machine songs over and over again or just generally feel like your life could use some more ass-kicking protest music right now… in chronological order, here are fifteen songs about bigotry and the police that aren’t by Rage Against the Machine.

Bad Brains – “Big Take Over” (1982)

Sample lyric: “All throughout this so called nation/ Prepare yourself for the final quest/ This world is doomed with its own segregation/ Just another Nazi test”

Suicidal Tendencies – “Fascist Pig” (1983)

Sample lyric: “Riot squad, bash their heads/ Kick their ass until they’re dead/ I won’t be a fascist pig”

Storm Troopers of Death – “Speak English or Die” (1985)

Sample lyric: “You come into this country/ You can’t get real jobs/ Boats and boats and boats of you/ Go home you fuckin’ slobs”

Anthrax – “Indians” (1987)

Sample lyric: “Love the land and fellow man/ Peace is what we strive to have/ Some folks have none of this/ Hatred and prejudice”

Living Colour – “Funny Vibe” (1988)

Sample lyric: “No, I’m not gonna rob you/ No, I’m not gonna beat you/ No, I’m not gonna rape you”

Napalm Death – “Unchallenged Hate” (1988)

Sample lyric: “A chronic complaint of dimness/ Prevails your profound ideology/ A romantic vision of a master race/ Attained through coercive forms of authority”

Body Count – “Cop Killer” (1999) + “No Lives Matter”

Read this if you wanna know why both songs are included. -Ed.

Sample lyrics: “Cop killer, better you than me/ Cop killer, fuck police brutality!” (Cop Killer)
“We say that ‘Black Lives Matter’ Well truthfully they really never have/ No one ever really gave a fuck/ Just read your bullshit history books” (“No Lives Matter”)

Sepultura – “Refuse/Resist” (1993)

Sample lyric: “Chaos A.D./ Tanks on the streets/ Confronting police/ Bleeding the Plebs”

Skunk Anansie – “Intellectualise My Blackness” (1995)

Sample lyric: “He’s always tryin’ to make up for his little quips/ The joke about the ni**a and the yellow n*p/
Then he tells me ‘I’m so different from those other shits’”

System of a Down – “Deer Dance” (2001)

Sample lyric: “Battalions of riot police/ With rubber bullet kisses/ Baton courtesy/ Service with a smile”

God Forbid – “Constitution of Treason” (2005)

Sample lyric: “This is the tale of Mr. Black/ Broken down and beaten/ A product of an enraged nation”

Testament – “The Persecuted Won’t Forget” (2008)

Sample lyric: “In pieces shall we rest, for those who choose not to believe/ So put me to the test, who wrote those pages of history?”

Brujeria – “Viva Presidente Trump!” (2016)

Sample lyric: “Odia a los mojados, odia mexicanos/ Si Trump gana va a deportar a todos/ Odia a mi raza, ama su dinero” (translation: “Hates the wet, hates Mexicans/ If Trump wins he will deport everyone/ Hate my race, love your money”)

Stray From the Path – “Goodnight Alt-Right” (2017)

Sample lyric: “It’s 2017 but in a ’40s trend/ With a racist president that’s ‘making everything great again’”

Pig Destroyer – “Army of Cops” (2018)

Sample lyric: “Tell me where does it stop?/ This tower of law, this army of cops”