Rage Against the Machine, also known as Rage or RATM, was an American rock / rapcore band noted both for their diligent political conscience and for their pioneering blend of rock- and rap music which over time would come to be known variously as Rock, Rap Rock or Rap Metal (Both known under Rapcore), Hard Rock, Funk Metal and Alternative Rock or Alternative Metal - as well as their vocal militant leftist beliefs. At the point of their break-up in 2000, Rage Against the Machine had been one of the most popular political hard rock bands of all time, and certainly of the 1990s. Three-fourths of the band are now members of Audioslave, featuring former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell.

Widely regarded as the definitive originators of their genre, Rage drew inspiration from early metallic instrumentation to create an almost totally new style of music. The coalescence of rhyming styles and vocals along with their sound, especially Tom Morello's guitar techniques, made RATM difficult to confine to any one particular musical genre, compelling a new classification.