Recently, Billboard reported that Rage Against the Machine (RATM) had “no plans” of recording their follow-up to 2000's critically-acclaimed “Renegades”. The quartet is known for their spirited defense of the working class and their defiance toward American institutions. The song “Bulls on Parade” exemplifies the RATM sound as lead singer Zack de la Rocha decries the military industrial complex and the politicians who support it as they “rally round the family with a pocket full of shells.” The song made RATM a household name and became an anthem for activists across the nation. Despite their incisive commentary and provocative tone, however, RATM could never reached their intended audience — working class people. Working class people could never relate to songs such as “Guerrilla Radio” or “Killing in the Name” that were so drenched in metaphor they served to confuse, rather than educate. Somewhat ironically, the primary consumers of RATM were those who benefited most from American institutions: young middle-class suburban whites. That is, those who had enough time to dissect RATM’s song lyrics and incorporate them into their belief systems.
RATM will inevitably fall into obscurity because they failed to mobilize their intended audience. Their lyrics prevented them from doing so. Historically speaking, the working class has always favored practical arguments over theoretical abstractions. Working class movements have been activated by leaders who recognize the worker’s plight and speak in a language they understand. Historical examples include Lech Wałęsa, a shipyard worker turned trade-union organizer who successfully promoted Polish independence in the face of violent resistance from the USSR. In music, the working class does have its Lech Wałęsa and his name is Kid Rock. A critical look at Kid Rock’s discography forces us to confront the fact that Kid Rock has been an unrecognized spokesperson for the working class. Unrecognized not by his audience, but the pompous music critics who have refused to engage with his work.
“you can look for answers but that ain’t fun”
Sonically, Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” is indistinguishable from most songs in RATM’s catalogue. If you were to replace Kid Rock with Zack de la Rocha and retain the instrumentation, “Bawitdaba” could very well be a song off of RATM’s self-titled album. The song begins with Kid Rock proclaiming his name as distorted guitars pulse over simple but devastating drums. Listeners are treated with an infectious chorus that pays homage to earlier times in Hip Hop. In the first verse, Kid Rock celebrates his audience, littering his rhymes with familiar cultural products and experiences such as “chicks with beepers”, “southern comfort”, and “cars packed with speakers.” Then, after establishing rapport, he launches into a blistering critique of American society, noting the “bastards at the IRS”, “crooked cops”, and “his homies in the county in cell block six.”
Kid recognizes his audience is not blind to the problems facing the country. Rather than repeating truisms or relying on abstract concepts, Kid directly criticizes the nation’s corrupt tax code and criminal justice system. Kid punctuates the song with “you can look for answers but that ain’t fun” as he implicitly lambasts bands like RATM who hold that workers can only obtain class consciousness through careful introspection. Kid understands the nation’s problems are self-evident and that the “fun” comes from challenging the system, not penning obtuse indictments of it. Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” is a poor man’s “Bulls on Parade”. Not because it is devoid of quality, as the phrase is commonly used, but because it accomplishes a goal RATM could have accomplished if they were not so invested in preaching proletariat politics with a bourgeois tongue.
“Now get in the pit and try to love someone.”