10 Most Underrated Nu Metal Songs

There’s a pretty good case to be made that Korn’s debut record pretty much started all of nu metal. In one tight package, we got an introduction to their trademark detuned guitars, heavy emphasis on rhythm and grooves, and Jonathan Davis’s unique approach to vocals which brought hip hop, spoken word, and singing all under one roof. Above all else, these guys sounded tortured, and the last song on the record is where things got a bit too real.

For all of the turmoil that Jonathan talked about on this record, the root of it all stemmed from when he was abused as a child and his parents not believing the trauma that he went through. Daddy basically serves as a sort of musical revenge on Jonathan’s attacker, as he lashes out in song over some of the most foreboding guitars on the entire record. Even with songs like Blind sprinkled into the mix, Jonathan goes almost past the point of no return on this song, to the point where you can actually hear him break down in tears on the back half of the song as he tries to come to grips with reality again.

This wasn’t just some cathartic moment in the studio either, as Jonathan rarely sang the song live after recording the album because it hit too close to home. There are countless musicians in the nu metal scene who try to sound tortured or jaded, but the ending of this song is probably the closest you’ll ever come to actual trauma going down on an album.