Lead singer Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine is an angry young Chicano aspiring to become a revolutionary. He lived most of his life torn between two identities. When his parents divorced in 1974, he left the barrio of Lincoln Heights in East Los Angeles for the white suburb of Irvine in Orange County. Zack felt his presence helped to integrate the community. "The only other Chicanos you'd find in Irvine," he says, "were there because they had a broom or a hammer in the hand."

De La Rocha formed the group Inside Out. In 1989 Zack rediscovered rap music when he saw an Ice Cube show in Hollywood which helped him reaffirmed his attraction for Hip Hop, he saw the potential music had to spread his sociopolitical ideas.

Three years later, Rage Against The Machine would practice for the first time somewhere in Orange County. They named themselves after the Inside Out album that never surfaced. The single "Bullet In The Head" would be one of their first songs they would write together in 1992.

De La Rocha is helping to create a Chicano Cultural center in Highland Park, called "Regeneracion." The center is in the early stages. The walls are covered with original Chicano art from a neighborhood woman. The library is complete with politically oriented literature. "The only way that Rage Against The Machine could see a substantial change in out lifetime is to insure that our resources and ideas are integrated into the community." he says. "I have to make sure that this band doesn't become a removed entity from the grass roots. The center is here to provide a space for dialogue. When a person's sense of political action rests solely on pulling a ballot box every four years, there's going to be a sense of desperation because it's been proven to fail in bringing about the changes that the working poor need. Especially in a community like this one."

Tequila Bombtrack Killing in the Name Take the Power Back Settle for Nothing Bullet in the Head Know Your Enemy Wake Up Fistful of Steel Township Rebellion Freedom

Artist: Rage Against The Machine Title: Evil Empire