music

Old metalhead here. Hated the nu-metal phase, because it took metal off the air. At least where I lived the radio stations that had been playing heavier alternative and metal switched entirely to nu-metal.

I didn’t like most nu-metal because it lacked the main part of metal for me - which is guitar focus. Nu-metal was all about the huge bombastic intro and then drop everything but a simple bass line and drums while someone sings or raps. Maybe a feeble little guitar solo midway through, but very little guitar work.

In my mind they are two different genres of music, and I’m a metalhead, not a nu-metalhead.

Nu-metal also specifically branded itself as lower class/trashy. Maybe that was due to it's proximity to hip-hop, but it leaned into the immature "your mom won't like you listening to this" aesthetic. I associate it with dumbfuck dirt bike/lifted truck bros. The kinda guy who starts a fight cuz he thinks you looked at him the wrong way

There was definitely a big reaction against what a lot of people called "rap rock" at the time. Now, this wasn't a terribly new concept when nu-metal started, having already been done by groups like Rage Against the Machine and Run DMC/Aerosmith, but a lot of it was really badly done in nu-metal (see: Limp Bizkit, etc).

I would agree that a lot of it was based in specifically anti-black racism. That's what drove the reactions of people like my dad and uncles at the time. I was really into it when it was new, being a middle school-aged white suburban boy, and I didn't see a lot of negative backlash among my peer-group until some years later. As for me, I kind of 'aged out' of it and got into punk in high school, so I look back on it through the lens of cringing at my middle school self and am not a fan these days, but that really stems from self hatred.

For me personally, it just comes down to the fact that nu-metal was terrible, imho.

I never thought of it that way when it came to nu metal hate, but metalheads just, in general, tend to be elitists and purists who think that any blending of their beloved metal with another genre of music is bad. It's why a lot of metalheads feel the need to not shut the fuck up about how much they hate metalcore, for instance. Their opposition to it usually stems from not seeing it as "true metal" and just a subgenre of hardcore punk that incorporates metallic elements. Regardless if you hold that sentiment as truth or not, just because a form of music is "not metal" doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. You also have to consider that the lines between a genre can definitely be arbitrary and socially constructed.

There are also a fair amount of racist metalheads.

Regardless, metalhead purism and metalhead racism are both toxic traits.

Rage Against the Machine was the best!

Is linkin Park nu metal? If so I don’t remember anyone hating them. Everyone was obsessed with it especially after transformers came out. But I also was a kid so I didn’t exactly go on forums and look at people’s discussions on music

From what I understand of the metal community rascism is not a thing that can be ruled out. However people tend to embrace white rappers no matter how mediocre so I don't think that was a key factor here.

I dunno. My issue with nu metal was usually its most vocal fans. They were just vaguely shitty white guys. The music was alright enough.

Nu-Metal was for guys who thought the machine Rage Against The Machine was raging against was bed-time or homework.

As a nu-metal fan, sounds about right.

Is the hate against terrible rap sections in overplayed pop songs primarily due to racism? Probably, because why the fuck would westoids miss an opportunity. Doesn't really make them any better