If you were around in the late 90s or early 2000s, you probably remember the weird tension in the air. Nu-metal was peaking. Pop-punk was getting glossy. Then, Rage Against the Machine dropped an album that was just... covers. People were confused. But then you heard the opening beat of Rage Against the Machine Renegades of Funk, and suddenly, the confusion didn't matter anymore. It wasn't just a cover. It was a bridge between the South Bronx of the 70s and the political firestorm of the turn of the millennium.
Honestly, it’s one of those tracks that shouldn't work on paper. You have a bunch of Los Angeles radicals taking a song originally written by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force—the literal pioneers of electro-funk—and trying to make it heavy.
Usually, when rock bands cover hip-hop, it’s cringey. This wasn't.
The Sound of a Dying Decade
By the time Renegades (the album) came out in December 2000, Rage Against the Machine was basically falling apart. Zack de la Rocha had already announced he was leaving the band a few months prior. There’s a certain ghostliness to the record because of that. You’re listening to four guys who can barely stand to be in a room together, yet they’re locked into some of the tightest grooves of their career.
Rage Against the Machine Renegades of Funk serves as the centerpiece of this swan song. While the original 1983 version is all Roland TR-808 cowbells and space-age synthesizers, Rage grounded it in something much filthier. Tim Commerford’s bassline doesn't just play the notes; it growls. It’s thick. It’s got that distorted, overdriven punch that makes you want to break something, but in a rhythmic, disciplined way.
Tom Morello, the wizard of the group, didn't try to replicate the synth sounds with a keyboard. That’s not his style. Instead, he used his guitar to mimic the "wicky-wicky" scratching of a DJ. He used a toggle switch and a wah-pedal to create these chirping, alien textures that somehow felt more organic than the machines they were imitating. It’s a masterclass in how to use an instrument for something it wasn't designed to do.
Who Exactly Were the Renegades?
The lyrics of the song are a history lesson. Most people just shout along to the chorus, but de la Rocha is actually name-checking the figures he considers the true "renegades" of human history. He’s connecting the dots between art, science, and revolution.
He shouts out Zulu nation. He mentions Chief Sitting Bull. He talks about Thomas Paine.
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It’s about the idea that the "renegade" isn't just a guy with a guitar or a gun. It’s the person who changes the frequency of how we think. When Afrika Bambaataa wrote it, he was trying to stop gang violence in the Bronx by turning that energy into "the beat." When Rage covered it, they were trying to remind a distracted, Y2K-obsessed public that the struggle for justice is a long, continuous line that stretches back centuries.
The song lists:
- Preacher men and school teachers.
- The rebels who wouldn't be tamed.
- The poets and the street kids.
It basically says that if you’re pushing against the status quo, you’re part of this weird, funky lineage.
The Production Magic of Rick Rubin
You can’t talk about this track without mentioning Rick Rubin. He produced the Renegades sessions, and you can hear his fingerprints all over the drums. Brad Wilk’s snare drum sounds like a gunshot. There’s no fluff. There’s no "extra" production. It’s just four guys in a room, captured with terrifying clarity.
Rubin has this knack for stripping things down to their skeletal essence. On Rage Against the Machine Renegades of Funk, he let the space between the notes do the talking. That’s why it hits so hard in a car or through big speakers. It breathes. It doesn't feel compressed like modern digital tracks.
Why This Song Actually Saved the Cover Album Genre
Cover albums are usually a sign of a band running out of ideas. They’re "contractual obligation" records. But Rage approached this like a mission. They didn't just cover songs they liked; they covered songs that built their DNA.
By including tracks from Minor Threat, Cypress Hill, and MC5 alongside Bambaataa, they were mapping out their own ancestry. Rage Against the Machine Renegades of Funk stands out because it’s the most transformative. It took a song from the "electro" genre—which is arguably the ancestor of EDM—and dragged it into the world of hard rock without losing the soul.
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Think about the music landscape in 2000. Britney Spears was everywhere. Creed was on the radio. Then this drops. It was a reminder that music could be smart, heavy, and danceable all at once. It gave permission to a whole generation of kids to look back at the origins of hip-hop.
The Music Video and the Visual Legacy
If you haven't seen the video lately, go watch it. It’s a collage. It’s directed by Steven Murashige and it’s basically a documentary in four minutes. It features archival footage of everything from the Civil Rights movement to breakdancing.
It reinforces the song’s message: the renegade spirit is a visual history as much as an oral one. You see the faces of the people Zack is rapping about. It turns a "rock video" into an educational tool.
The Technical Breakdown
For the nerds out there, the gear used on this track is pretty specific. Tom Morello likely used his "Arm the Homeless" guitar. His setup is famously simple—a Marshall JCM800 and a handful of pedals—but the way he uses the Whammy pedal on the solo sections of Renegades is iconic. He isn't playing scales. He's playing tension.
Tim Commerford’s bass tone is legendary here. He used a lot of custom-wound pickups and basically two separate signal paths to get that blend of low-end thump and high-end "grit." It’s what keeps the song from sounding thin when Morello starts doing his "space noises."
Brad Wilk, on the other hand, plays like a metronome made of lead. He stays behind the beat just enough to give it that "funk" feel, but he hits so hard that it retains its "rock" edge.
Misconceptions About the Track
A lot of people think this was a "new" song when it came out. It wasn't. It’s a cover of a 1983 track.
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Some critics at the time felt Rage was "selling out" by doing a cover album. Looking back, that’s a ridiculous take. If anything, they were doubling down. They were highlighting the black and brown artists who invented the sounds that white rock bands had been profiting from for decades. It was an act of cultural reclamation.
Also, people often forget that this was the last song many people heard from Rage before they went on their long hiatus. It’s a hell of a way to go out. It’s loud, it’s defiant, and it’s deeply rooted in the history of the streets.
How to Listen to It Today
If you want to appreciate Rage Against the Machine Renegades of Funk in 2026, don't just listen to it on your phone speakers.
- Find a high-quality source. The vinyl pressings of Renegades are surprisingly good.
- Listen to the original Afrika Bambaataa version first. Seriously. You need to hear the 1983 version to understand how radical the Rage version actually is.
- Pay attention to the transition. Notice how the song builds from a simple beat into a chaotic, screaming climax.
- Read the lyrics. Don't just vibe. Look up the names Zack mentions. It’s a rabbit hole worth falling down.
The reality is that Rage Against the Machine didn't just play songs; they built monuments to ideas. Renegades of Funk is a monument to the idea that the "jam" and the "revolution" are the same thing. It’s been over twenty years, and honestly? Nothing else sounds quite like it. It’s a lightning strike caught on tape.
Actionable Insights for the Listener:
- Diversify your playlist: If you like the heavy riffs in Rage, trace them back to the funk and soul artists like Sly & The Family Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic.
- Analyze the Gear: Musicians should study Morello’s "less is more" philosophy. You don't need a thousand plugins; you need one good riff and a creative way to manipulate it.
- Check the History: Use the song as a starting point to research the Zulu Nation and the early 80s Bronx scene to see where the "Renegade" spirit actually began.
- Support the Message: The band’s official site and various archives still maintain lists of the organizations and movements they supported during this era—many of which are still active and need support today.
Everything about this track reminds us that music is at its best when it has something to say and a heavy beat to say it with.