Zacharias<!-- spelling per source --> Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military–industrial complex, and government oppression.
Early life
De la Rocha was born in Long Beach, California, on January 12, 1970, to Robert "Beto" de la Rocha and Olivia Lorryne Carter. His father is a Mexican-American, with distant African and Sephardi Jewish heritage, while his mother was born to Manuel García Urias, a Mexican-American, and Olive Pearl Fleming, who was of German and Irish heritage. Beto was a muralist and a member of Los Four, the first Chicano art collective to be exhibited at a museum (LACMA, 1973). De la Rocha's great grandfather, Jose Isaac de la Rocha Acosta (18821920), was a Mexican revolutionary who fought in the Mexican Revolution. His maternal grandfather, Manuel García, was originally from Sonora and worked as an agricultural laborer in the U.S. De la Rocha would later see the hardships his grandfather endured reflected in the struggles of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
De la Rocha's parents divorced when he was six, and he moved from East Los Angeles to Irvine with his mother, who attended the University of California, Irvine and earned a PhD in anthropology. De la Rocha later described Irvine as "one of the most racist cities imaginable" and said that "if you were a Mexican in Irvine, you were there because you had a broom or a hammer in your hand."
Musical career
Early career
De la Rocha met Tim Commerford in elementary school. In junior high school, they both played guitar in a band called Juvenile Expression. De la Rocha's interest in punk rock bands like The Clash, The Misfits, Sex Pistols, and Bad Religion turned into an appreciation for other bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and The Teen Idles. In 1987, he joined the straight edge band Hard Stance. In 2018, Indecision Records officially released Hard Stance's entire discography.
Inside Out
By 1988, singer Eric Ernst had departed from Hard Stance, leading to de la Rocha taking on lead vocals. Now lacking a guitarist, the remaining members contacted Vic DiCara, whom some knew from their previous band that never made it past rehearsals. This act, now named Inside Out, began writing music heavily inspired by acts like Minor Threat and Bad Brains, and soon were associated with the youth crew movement. Their sole release was the 1990 EP No Spiritual Surrender, issued through Revelation Records.
Towards the end of the band's lifetime, DiCara and de la Rocha's writing styles began to fracture. De la Rocha wished to push the groups into a more political and hip hop-inspired direction, particularly influenced by Run-DMC, whereas DiCara wished for the band to write more music inspired by Hare Krishna. While de la Rocha's influence was prevalent on performed yet unreleased Inside Out tracks like Darkness of Greed and Rage Against the Machine, the band broke up because of this conflict in 1991.
The band had a brief reunion in 1993, performing in a number of locations including multiple in Salt Lake City.
Rage Against the Machine
thumb|De la Rocha performing live
Following the dissolution of Inside Out in 1991, de la Rocha embraced hip hop and began freestyling at local clubs, at one of which he was approached by former Lock Up guitarist Tom Morello, who was impressed by de la Rocha's lyrics, and convinced him to form a band. Morello recruited former Greta drummer Brad Wilk—who had previously auditioned for Lock Up before that band's dissolution earlier that same year—and de la Rocha recruited his former Juvenile Expression bandmate, Tim Commerford, to play bass. The band was named after an unreleased Inside Out record, Rage Against the Machine.
Rage Against the Machine released their debut album in 1992 to critical and commercial success. The band was on the main stage at Lollapalooza by 1993 and was one of the most politically charged bands ever to receive extensive airplay from radio and MTV. Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the United States, but did not result in the political action de la Rocha had hoped for. He became increasingly restless and undertook collaborations with artists such as KRS-One, Chuck D, and Public Enemy. He left Rage Against the Machine in October 2000, citing "creative differences," at which time he issued a statement saying: "it was necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed", in reference to the disagreement over the release of Renegades. The other members of the band sought out separate management and secured the immediate release of Renegades. After searching for a replacement for de la Rocha, the other members of Rage joined Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave.
Solo career
thumb|left|Zack de la Rocha on stage with [[Rage Against the Machine in 2007]]
Following the disbandment of Rage Against the Machine, de la Rocha worked on a solo album he had been recording since before the band's dissolution, working with DJ Shadow, El-P, Muggs, Dan The Automator, Roni Size, DJ Premier and Questlove with production partner James Poyser. The album never came to fruition, and de la Rocha started a new collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which around 20 tracks were produced. Reznor thought the work was "excellent",
On working with DJ Shadow and Reznor, de la Rocha admitted in a 2008 interview that:
In 2000, de la Rocha appeared on the song "Centre of the Storm", from the Roni Size/Reprazent album In The Mode, while in 2002, he appeared in a minor role in the first part of the Blackalicious song "Release" on the album Blazing Arrow. A new collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free online in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq. As part of the collaboration de la Rocha released a statement which included the following:
The 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, "We Want It All".
On September 8, 2016, it was reported that de la Rocha's first solo album was complete and would be released in early 2017. The news came with a new song, produced by El-P, called "Digging for Windows" that was released on YouTube and BitTorrent. However, to date, the album remains unreleased with no further announcements made.
Rage Against the Machine reunion
thumb|right|De la Rocha performing with Rage Against the Machine at Coachella 2007
Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January 2007 and were confirmed on January 22. The band was confirmed to be headlining the final day of Coachella 2007. Rage Against the Machine, as a full band, headlined the final day of the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29. The band played in front of a Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. The performance was initially thought to be a one-off, but the band played seven more shows in the United States in 2007, and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. The band continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States, including Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In a 2008 interview, de la Rocha said this of the relationship between him, Commerford, Wilk and Morello: