For whatever reason, nu-metal is a pretty polarizing subgenre of heavy music. Though we have a pretty good general idea of which bands fall into the category, the lines are a bit more blurred when it comes to who influenced it.
This goes back to it being polarizing. Though a lot of the artists who fall into the category — Korn, Slipknot and Deftones among them — have started to accept the association in recent years, they used to denounce it. They were all adamant about maintaining their own unique identity and didn’t want to be pigeonholed with anyone else, as if being slapped with a label is a curse. Similarly, many of the musicians who set the stage for nu-metal’s beginnings refuse to accept such responsibility.
Nu-metal combines rap elements with funk, rock and metal. Therefore, the artists that helped inspire it all came from a variety of different backgrounds. Rap groups played a part, as did funk, groove and thrash metal bands. The fusion of these genres led to something that couldn’t quite be called metal, but couldn’t simply be called hip-hop either.
8 Musical Groups That Influenced Nu-Metal
We can either thank them, or blame them.