Linkin Park "never held the flag for nu-metal," says Mike Shinoda

In a new interview with NME, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda spoke on the band’s nu-metal roots, claiming they never actually identified with the genre. “We never held the flag for nu-metal—it was associated with frat rock. Arrogant, misogynistic, and full of testosterone; we were reacting against that.”

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The band’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was released in 2000, went on to sell over 10 million copies in the US alone and has since been certified Diamond. Throughout their career, the band have widely been credited with pushing nu-metal to new, unattained heights.

At the same time, as big as the band got, we always felt we had something to prove. Even now, that whole nu-metal tag is still there. We never held the flag for nu-metal – it was associated with frat rock. Arrogant, misogynistic, and full of testosterone; we were reacting against that. It breeds an outsiders’ feeling once it’s come and gone and people make jokes about. I fucking make jokes about it! What people don’t realise is I feel the same way.