Through this, we are learning about the history of the riots from a piece of the history itself while it remains relevant today.Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime.īorn and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in music at a young age. The cherry on top of the song, assuming the lyrics are factual, is the band has been using stolen music equipment from the riots the entire time. “Next stop we hit it was the music shop/It only took one brick to make that window drop/Finally we got our own P.A/Where do you think I got this guitar that you’re hearing today?”
Their common grief was their economic status and disdain for authority figures It does not get more punk rock than this.īradley Nowell, Sublime’s lead singer, even inserts himself into the disarray numerous times throughout the song, implying his home is much more comfortable because of furniture he stole during the riots. This sentiment is captured in many photos surrounding the riots where many of the looters were of various ethnic backgrounds. “Some kids went in a store with their mother/I saw her when she came out, she was getting some Pampers/They said it was for the black man/They said it was for the Mexican and not for the white man.” Not for the greater good of society, and not for the empowerment of an ethnic group. The assumption is that all of the people protesting or rioting are there to express their distaste for an injustice, but more likely than not, many of the protestors are mainly there for selfish reasons. In light of more recent societal outcries like the Ferguson riots, which mirror some of the concerns brought forth by the Rodney King incident, Sublime’s track is still very applicable.
It was time to loot, to assault and to destroy, not for altruism or vigilante justice for King, but for personal gain.ĭespite being released in 1996, the song’s relevance has not faded. The acquittal of the officers who assaulted King merely served as the catalyst, an excuse and the straw that broke the camel’s back. These riots were a product of the ghetto’s pent-up animosity toward the police. The Rodney King Riots resulted in 63 people dead, nearly 12,000 people arrested and more than $1 billion in damages. Sublime’s 1996 track “April 29th, 1992” reflected on the incident and concluded the Los Angeles riots were not about justice for the beating of Rodney King, rather, the riots were an excuse for people to embrace their animalistic-destructive tendencies. “April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you? You were sitting home watching your TV, while I was participating in some anarchy.” April 29, 1992, a date most synonymous with the infamous Rodney King riots, is approaching its 25th anniversary.Ī time period so violent and chaotic for Los Angeles County, then Mayor Tom Bradley issued a state of emergency which resulted in the National Guard being deployed in an effort to restore order.įrom the aftermath, rubble and debris of this mayhem the thought-provoking inspiration for a song was born.
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