Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor and Spin recently had a conversation that among other things, touched upon this Gawker article that implied a racist dudebro Donald Trump supporter was a Slipknot fan. It was an insinuation that Taylor himself didn’t agree with, which eventually led to the article being amended. The Gawker article falls in line with a troubling misconception that aggressive music is generally enjoyed almost exclusively by knuckle dragging hatemongers.
In regards to metal being associated with racial prejudice, in this case towards Hispanic and Mexican-American immigrants, Taylor told Spin:
“…I think heavy metal and hard rock were the bastion of freedom for misfits and kids who were made to feel [like they’re] outside of “normal” society. So not only did you have kids of different ethnicities, but you had kids like me who grew up dirt-poor. Metal spoke for me because it wasn’t until I was much older that I felt that I had a voice.
Here’s where people get it wrong: The metal fans that come to our shows are some of the most open-minded, encouraging, embracing, protective, and progressive fans I have ever seen. I never worry that something bad is going to happen at one of our shows. If an accident happens, that’s a different thing, but I am never worried about fights or attacks because we look out for each other.
Trump’s message is so anti-Slipknot it’s not even funny, because we have always tried to get people to stand together, and everything he does is so divisive. Trying to get people to equate Muslims with terrorists is just trying to control and manipulate one more group of people. His stances on Muslims and Latinos and his absolute silence on Black Lives Matter prove that he is unprepared to bring people together. He is prepared to tear them apart so he can control them.”
One would be remiss to not mention that while not a political endorsement per se, there was at one point this encounter between Slipknot‘s Chris Fehn and Donald Trump. Fehn himself deleted the social media posting not too long after it was made, following the expected tidal wave of controversy that followed.
