Rage Against the Machine has been trending on Twitter in response to a Vancouver radio station playing their “Killing in the Name” song nonstop.
As the Vancouver Sun reports, the station started playing the 1992 rap-metal classic early Wednesday morning and continued to do so throughout the day without changing to any other song. Occasionally, Zack de la Rocha‘s declaration of “Now you do what they told ya” would be interrupted by the DJs to take a call requesting a different song, only to cue up “Killing in the Name” again.
Speculation began that the never-ending “Killing in the Name” playlist was a form of protest in support of several hosts who’d announced earlier in the week they’d be departing the station. However, it now seems that it was a stunt to signal the station’s change to an alternative format.
In a video posted Thursday, new host Angela Valiant offered an explanation, essentially summing up that while the “Killing in the Name” loop was meant to introduce the rebranded station, it also reflected all the “reasons to protest” currently, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and the police brutality about which “Killing in the Name” was originally written.
Valiant also quotes a tweet from a Guardian reporter covering the story that declared, “Even if it is a stunt, you can believe it’s a protest.”
Rage Against the Machine, meanwhile, is gearing up to finally launch the band’s reunion tour, which was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outing kicks off July 9 in East Troy, Wisconsin.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.