Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who last year released the collaborative solo album The Atlas Underground Flood, has said that online commenters offended by his political views aren’t intelligent enough to understand the meaning of his music.
He voiced as much during a Metal Hammer reader Q&A in which the musician took part on Wednesday (March 9). One of the first questions the Rage guitarist fielded was, How do you feel about some fans telling you to stay away from politics … on social media?
“I have a number of thoughts,” Morello responded. “One is that you don’t trigger a free speech exemption when you pick up a guitar, that right remains intact.”
He continued, “Secondly, people who are offended by my politics on Twitter or Instagram, please know it’s because you weren’t intelligent enough to know what the music that you were listening to all these years was about.”
The musician added, “For the music, you’re welcome, but if you’re a white supremacist or a proto-fascist, that music isn’t written for you — it’s written against you.”
Morello has unsubtly outlined his socialist political drive throughout his career, beginning with his contributions to the activist rap-rock of Rage Against the Machine in the 1990s. In 2021, he spoke out against the U.S. Capitol attack, disavowed racist reductionism and offered support for displaced refugees.
Last year’s The Atlas Underground Flood features Morello’s collaborations with many musicians, including Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. It follows the Rage guitarist’s second collab album, The Atlas Underground Fire, also released in 2021.
This summer, the reunited Rage Against the Machine plan to begin an extensive concert tour that they’ve plotted across North America. But they won’t be performing at Coachella 2022, and they have already postponed several of the concert dates to next year.
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