The Debut of One Day as a Lion
by Special Correspondent Nadra Kareem
As the U.S. launched its specious war on terrorism, George Bush wrangled away another presidential election, a stunned nation took in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and miraculously a biracial senator from Illinois rose to prominence, the absence of one of the music scene’s most influential voices has been sorely missed. Nasal but vitriolic, guttural but lucid, that voice taught me that “anger is a gift” and to cry to the powers that be, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.”
If you’re still in the dark about the voice in question, it belongs to former Rage Against the Machine front man Zack de la Rocha.
The group, a rap-rock hybrid with socially conscious lyrics, split in 2000 over musical and personal differences. Guitarist Tom Morello, whose life parallels Barack Obama’s in a way that’s uncanny,* wanted to take the group in a more rock-oriented direction, while de la Rocha sought to explore hip-hop, electronica and other music styles. For fans of de la Rocha, the past eight years have left a tremendous void.
The remaining members of Rage Against the Machine went on to form Audioslave with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, but, with the exception of a single called “March of Death,” we’ve heard little from de la Rocha. There were rumors that he’d recorded hundreds of tracks, but perfectionism kept him from releasing them. Other rumors indicated that de la Rocha had become a recluse or—gasp!—had been fatally gunned down. When Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California last year, the second bunch of rumors were obviously put to bed. But, because none of the dozens of tracks de la Rocha had supposedly recorded on his own were being released, questions lingered about his solo project. Was it ever to be released? Was there really a solo project at all?
The answer is yes and no. On July 22nd, de la Rocha released his first project sans Rage Against the Machine in years, but it’s not a solo venture. It features him on vocals and keyboards and former Mars Volta member Jon Theodore on drums. The duo is going by the name “One Day as a Lion,” and their EP bears the same name. The first single, “Wild International,” which you can hear by visiting this site, is already receiving airplay. And, with opening line, “They say that in war that truth be the first casualty,” the single leaves little doubt that de la Rocha has kept his political edge.
Why one would doubt that de la Rocha would continue writing politically-charged lyrics remains to be seen. This is the man who made issues of social justice come to life in his lyrics, with allusions to everything from the Zapatista uprising, the colonization of the Americas, apartheid in South Africa, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, environmental racism via the use of DDT in communities of color and much more.
This is the man who cried, “So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun. These people ain’t seen a brown skin man since their grandparents bought one.”
Yet, when Rage Against the Machine was in its heyday, the mainstream press took particular joy in arguing that the band’s fans didn’t “get” the lyrics. Instead, they simply enjoyed thrashing around to angry music. The press’s insistence that Rage’s lyrics and activism were irrelevant, that art is powerless to effect social change, always rankled me. For one, art has managed to move others to social activism for centuries. Secondly, I myself was a case in point that the band could have a profound impact on political development. In college, I became involved with activist organizations such as Refuse & Resist as a direct result of my exposure to Rage. Had I not become familiar with the band, I’m not sure that I would have been motivated to put into practice some of the political beliefs that I was exposed to in the classroom, let alone bring activists to campus or raise funds for a range of causes.
Now that de la Rocha is back, I’m hoping that a new generation of young people will be similarly motivated to make a political impact on their communities. This time around, de la Rocha may be without Morello on guitar, but, in Jon Theodore, he has found another virtuoso musician. The half-Haitian drummer has studied percussion in his father’s native land and sees drumming not only as a way to make beats but as a way to call forth ancestors also. For Theodore, drumming is in essence a spiritual exercise. For, de la Rocha, who grew up alienated as a Chicano kid in largely white and conservative Orange County, music is a vehicle to express one’s rage at the establishment and those—be they teachers, colonizers or corporations—bent on upholding its tenets. Together, Theodore and de la Rocha are sure to wow, and I’m eager to see what influence their collaboration will have on audiences.
*Like Barack Obama, Tom Morello is the son of a white mother and a Kenyan father. Just as Obama’s father was a respected figure in the country, Morello’s father garnered respect for his role in Kenya’s Mau Mau Rebellion. Like Obama, Morello attended Harvard University and, following graduation, set out to pursue a career in politics. After working for a U.S. senator, Morello ultimately decided that he wasn’t comfortable with politics as a career path and launched a music career. Lastly, both Obama and Morello have ties to Illinois. The former is a transplant who married into a Chicago family; the latter grew up in a Chicago suburb. Here is a link to a transcript of Morello’s appearance on “Tavis Smiley” last year in which Morello discusses the parallels between his life and Obama’s.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Abu Sinan wrote:
I love Zach. His support for causes that are dear to me, namely Palestine and Ireland, have been fully expressed in lyrics and liner notes.
There is a point to what some mainstream meedia pundits have said. I knew many Rage fans that were middle/upper class white kids who had no clue as to what Zach was talking about. I remember Rage playing in alternative clubs in the 1990s where the dance floor would fill up with rich white girls who, again, didnt have a clue.
On the other hand I know activists in the Middle East and Europe who were fueled by the music and the lyrics.
I cannot wait to hear more!
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 8:11 am ¶
Sumayyah wrote:
Finally! Some good news. Now I have something to look forward to.
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 8:24 am ¶
jmn wrote:
RATM might be all political and whatnot, but the Dixie Chicks have bigger balls, as argued in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0fX4cv32oo
:p
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 8:48 am ¶
Lisa wrote:
I LOVE RAGE. I’m glad Zack is back in action. The music and the lyrics are amazing. And screaming the “F you I won’t do what you tell me” lyric (while hopping up and down) is a GREAT way to release tension!!!
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 11:57 am ¶
Black Canseco wrote:
I always liked Zach–he’s got some crazy classic verses in hiphop circles. Anyone whose ever heard Burned Hollywood Burned off the Bamboozled soundtrack or CIA (Criminals In Action) knows what I’m talking about.
Rage was one the few bands whose songs got banned from mainstream radio by the FBI in the days right after 9/11.
Too bad those guys split for such goofy reasons. one guy wants to stay real, the other guy wants to stay on EmptyVee.
Such is life.
The parallels between Morello and Obama are hilarious. Being from Chi, you can argue that their best hope for lasting success and acceptance is to be more symbolic than substanitive figures. Rage is/was cool… but i don’t know a single person who actually got down with RATM’s causes based on reading their liner notes. You were either down before or you weren’t.
Listening to angry revolutionary music and rocking a Che Guevera T or an old Evil Empire Tee is usually as far as most folks are willing to go; I think ZDLR was interested in doing more off stage than on and i think Morello just got tired of the fight.
i could be wrong tho; but i doubt it. (lol)
Never got into Mars Volta–they played a few dates in Chi back in the day. Regardless, I’m gonna check this site out asap.
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 4:49 pm ¶
v mad wrote:
“The press’s insistence that Rage’s lyrics and activism were irrelevant, that art is powerless to effect social change, always rankled me. For one, art has managed to move others to social activism for centuries. Secondly, I myself was a case in point that the band could have a profound impact on political development.”
I used to doubt the art-social change connection as well.
Then I heard Invincible.
I didn’t even like that much hip-hop before I heard her. Now, after listening to lyrics like “Every generation must find its mission / Fulfill or betray it / I know the odds is more than just bein killers or players / And making millions of papers / Our blood is spillin to haters / Too much injustice among us to sit still and complacent” on repeat for months, I’m on the verge of a career change.
Check her out: emergencemusic.net
Also, see her ‘docu-music-video’ for her song Locusts, on gentrification in Detroit.
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 7:49 pm ¶
RainaWeather wrote:
I was also very influenced by Rage politically. I might not even be on this website if it weren’t for them.
@Black Canseco: I actually got into them more after 9/11. I guess I could sense that everyone was gonna get all hyper patriotic and ethnocentric and lose the capacity for rational thought.
@Sumayyah: Ditto
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 8:24 pm ¶
Mike wrote:
Rage was the ish!
They are missed in these days, with all thats going on.
The Dixie Chicks are nice and all but there sound is not angry enough for me, they are no P.E. or Rage.
Posted 29 Jul 2008 at 9:22 pm ¶
michael wrote:
I never cared for RATM, or their phoney political posturing.
The Dixie Chicks have way bigger balls, and really paid the price for their beliefs.
Posted 30 Jul 2008 at 12:03 am ¶
Black Canseco wrote:
Dixie Chicks scared the crap out of everybody. they were about as nonpolitical pro-establishment brain candy as it got. but they played their WPP card (White Women’s Privilege card) one hand too many and got smacked down by folks.
Like Dave Chappelle once noted, “if they’ll go after those cute little white women, no telling what they’ll do to my black azz!”
That’s why all the black artists got scared and kept quiet.
Rage just didn’t care and kept talking and took the hits. They probably had less to lose since they were never ultra mainstream to begin with.
Posted 30 Jul 2008 at 12:12 am ¶
Dan wrote:
Good news for sure.
Been wondering what Zach’s been up to.
Some more of Zach’s lyrics from ‘Take the Power Back’
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 teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can’t recall
The student’s eyes don’t perceive the lies
Bouncing off every fucking wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to some of that
Bullshit that he learned in school
Europe ain’t my rope to swing on
Can’t learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the motherfuckin’ weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
‘Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back
Posted 30 Jul 2008 at 8:23 am ¶
sfsinger wrote:
I love RATM. I never got an angry music vibe. They were powerful and passionate, fought against injustice. They weren’t putting women down or talking about getting high. They challenged the status quo. It was a righteous ‘anger’ if anything and a commitment to change. It was rare to be so engaging and have such a high level of musicianship. They are missed.
Posted 30 Jul 2008 at 11:55 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
I loved me some Rage back in high school. Shit, Morello’s hands were the business! (picture it, a stage …1/20/09)
The thing is Rage was somewhat popular with the mainstream. Their lyrics were never subtle.
Is there anybody mainstream now that discusses issues?
Posted 31 Jul 2008 at 3:07 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
Yeah, Dixie Chicks really got slapped down.
Whatever you feel about their music, check out Shut Up & Sing. Death threats against children? These are the times we’re living in.
Like Dave Chappelle once noted, “if they’ll go after those cute little white women, no telling what they’ll do to my black azz!”
That’s why all the black artists got scared and kept quiet.
I don’t disagree, but the fanba$e$ are polar opposites. Even with privilege, they took a risk going against their grain…in Europe (!).
Considering the topics discussed and the manner in which they are presented (authentic/”real”) in conjunction with their fanbase (if anger $ell$-even if it’s directed at G Dub, Viacom ain’t gonna silence you), the proportions of blacks serving in the military and the history of politics in black music, I’d say the silence of too many (not all) black artists was a bitch move.
I saw a doc on music from soldiers in Iraq. If/when they get back, those are the folks I want to hear from.
Posted 31 Jul 2008 at 3:22 pm ¶
Ford MF wrote:
I’m not entirely sure sure I’d say RATM was committed to “social justice”. Like tough-guy nationalist and liberation movements all over the world, they’re concerned numero uno with their own masculinity, with actual social justice a distant second.
Perpetuating a childish white-bad / nonwhite-good dichotomy, the only progress they seemed to be interested in was the kind the Black Panthers espoused: loud, angry, largely futile. And male. They can drop references to Malcolm X’s assassination (if you can call it that) all over the place, but you’d get old and gray waiting for them to sing about Harvey Milk or Du’a Khalil Aswad. To take an explicit position as the “social justice” brand, and then ENTIRELY EXCLUDE women and gays from your platforms, is both misogynistic and homophobic in its omission (which sat just fine with their primary fratboy demographic).
Posted 31 Jul 2008 at 8:25 pm ¶
Luis wrote:
Yes, this refrain was overdone. Most Rage fans didn’t get it. It’s hard to reach most people. Most people don’t take risks. Most people aren’t introspective. Most people just want to be like most people. As long as the music gets to those who need it, then it’s worth being misunderstood by fratboys.
Posted 01 Aug 2008 at 8:01 pm ¶
Ford MF wrote:
Who exactly needs stale, shouty sloganeering?
Posted 03 Aug 2008 at 1:13 am ¶