Back in the day, Jonathan Davis used to hate that people would call Korn a nu metal band. Without a doubt, Korn is the band that popularized and kicked off the genre, introducing the elements that many acts would go on to adopt for themselves. But Davis loathed this title (and in general, did not care for labels).
Per a recent conversation with Metal Hammer, Jonathan speaks about how much he could not stand the nu metal label; granted, his feelings regarding Korn being labeled a nu metal band would eventually change, but in the beginning, he was not pleased. Per Jonathan Davis:
“For me, we were making [2002’s] Untouchables, and that was when so many bands were coming out and jumping on the [nu metal] bandwagon. Now I don’t mind the tag ‘nu metal’ – they named an entire subgenre after my band? Holy shit! That’s cool! – but punk-ass, crazy Korn back then, we were like, ‘What the fuck? Fuck everyone! We’re going to make [this] insane record. Keep people guessing.’ It had become a parody of itself – ‘I don’t want to be defined like that!’
“Nowadays, I don’t care, but back then I hated it. I make the music I make…you don’t call Metallica some thrash band! They’re fucking Metallica! You don’t call the Chili Peppers a funk rock band! They’re the fucking Chili Peppers!”
Do you think that Davis makes a good point regarding labels that bands get smacked with? When it comes to other Korn-related stories, music producer Ross Robinson recently spoke about what he considers the most important song to be in the band’s catalog. Also, some months ago, we ranked all the Korn albums from worst to best. We included everything from their self-titled debut, up to their recent 2022 studio album. You can check out both articles by following their respective links below.
Nu Metal Godfather Ross Robinson Speaks To The Most Important Korn Song In The Band's Catalog
