Nu-metal holds many meanings to many people. To me, it’s the early 2000s older brother-core. It’s smelly and grimy. It’s getting thrown around the bed of a pickup truck on a gravel road with Disturbed blasting. It’s crushed cans of Monster. It’s Michael Bay. The metal subgenre of nu-metal came about in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It’s an odd blend of screamo and heavy metal, sometimes with hip-hop influences. I hope you enjoy this odd little blend of headbangers!

“Y’all Want a Single” – Korn

Would it be a nu-metal playlist without Korn kicking it off? Absolutely not. This specific song never fails to get the blood pumping and mosh pits moshing. The whispering intro of the song that quickly leads into an explosion of heavy guitar riffs and banging drums is eerie, fun and so exciting. Korn is often considered one of the pioneers for the nu-metal genre and this song is exactly why. There is a clear fusion of genres that creates this grimy and weird version of metal. 

“Faith” – Limp Bizkit 

In 1987, the legendary pop icon George Micheal released the song “Faith.” Around the world people fell in love with the iconic song and singer. But in 1997, Limp Bizkit covered the song on their debut album and for me at least, the original would never be the same. The band follows the lyrics almost word for word, with an added “Get the f*ck up” and a screamo solo. This song really emulates Bizkit as a band for me though, because Limp Bizkit is not that good. The band is super cheesy, has really bad album art, and the lyrics are mostly the lead singer talking to the crowd. But at the end of the day, Limp Bizkit is silly and fun. Just a silly little Nu-Metal band. 

“Violence Fetish” – Disturbed

Every DePaul student should listen to a little Disturbed here and there because they’re from Chicago! A lot of their songs, this one in particular, go along great with intense activities. I’m sure a lot of Disturbed enjoyers listen to them at the gym, which is fine, but I think this song works with other activities like putting a fitted-sheet on a bed or parallel parking. Once you give it a listen, you’ll understand. 

“Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)” – Kittie

The title of this song kinda says it all. The magic Kittie used in the studio to create this song is out of this world. I’ve heard the opening riff of this song quite a bit on TikTok and it gives me hope that more people will learn about Kittie and give this song a listen. This is the perfect song when one person in particular is pissing you off. For me, it is often the Nissan Altima driver who just cut me off on my way home from work. 

“What I’ve Done” – Linkin Park

I’ve been listening to Linkin Park since I was five years old. Chester Bennington is forever one of my favorite vocalists and artists. But one of my core childhood memories involving Linkin Park was in 2007, when the credits rolled for the first Transformers movie. It was insane. I was not only absolutely blown away by the movie I watched, sort of hyped by Optimus Prime’s speech, and then this beautiful banger of a song comes on. I am sort of a sucker for bad and mediocre early to mid 2000s action movies and that is partially due to the soundtracks.