Prophets of Rage: rock and rap from musicians of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill

Described as a rock-rap supergroup, Prophets of Rage feature musicians well known to fans for their achievements in other hugely popular bands. Formed in 2016, the line-up comprises three members of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave — bassist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk — two members of Public Enemy, DJ Lord and rapper Chuck D, and Cypress Hill rapper B-Real.

The excellent musicians in Prophets of Rage represent two seemingly contradictory genres, rap and rock. Yet they prove that a carefully considered mixture of hip-hop beats, rap verses and DJ displays with rock’s powerful guitars and drums produces music unlike anything we have known. Familiar hits receive unexpected arrangements, remixed songs gain entirely new musical settings, and the musicians play with genre conventions, combining rock’s impact with hip-hop’s communicative power.

The band’s name, rendered in Polish as Prorocy Gniewu, comes from lyrics to Rage Against The Machine’s “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back”. Prophets of Rage are socially engaged, their career born from protest. Their first joint performance was organised in opposition to events surrounding the United States Republican Party’s 2016 convention. Their debut single, “Prophets of Rage”, appeared that same year.

The band performed in the USA on the Make America Rage Again tour in 2016, its name an ironic reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “make America great again”. Interestingly, the setlists mixed instantly recognisable hits by the bands to which Prophets of Rage’s members belonged with new original tracks written for their debut album, released in 2017. The artists decided to donate part of the ticket proceeds to organisations fighting hunger and homelessness in the United States. In 2018, they released another single, “Heart Afire”.

The musicians argue that creating music should be inspired by engagement with important social issues, rather than merely a desire for commercial and media success. Prophets of Rage use music to express their views and expose and name the flaws in the system governing today’s world. Guitarist Tom Morello says: “We are an elite special-operations unit of revolutionary musicians determined to confront the mountains of bullshit generated during US elections. We will face the liars with blazing amplifiers.”

The band’s lyrics, especially important in today’s profound crisis of values and threats to fundamental freedoms and human rights, call for rebellion against established norms and injustices, and for taking a stand on intolerance, social inequality and discrimination. We should not only let the dynamic sounds created by these six outstanding musicians sweep us away, but also allow them to inspire important personal decisions and action.

Prophets of Rage connect brilliantly with their fans. Their performances are a living dialogue with audiences who not only go wild in the mosh pit, but also have the opportunity to join a musical demonstration and protest in the name of justice, honesty and freedom.

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