Some metal fans can get a little precious when it comes to gatekeeping the genre. No-one likes a tourist, but ‘defending the faith’ shouldn’t mean acting like a cop and pulling up anyone and everyone in a metal T-shirt to ascertain whether or not they’re fully paid up members of the community. Not least because you look pretty damn stupid when the person under review absolutely schools your sceptical ass.
Such was the case when some over-officious metalheads sought to question the metallic credentials of popular R&B/hip hop artist and social media star Zaria after spotting her wearing a Ride The Lightning t-shirt in a Tik Tok post. Predictably, among the inevitable “I bet you don’t even like Metallica” comments, there were calls for Zaria to “name three Metallica songs”, a challenge she accepted with some relish: “My response to you guys is like, Really, only three songs? How about I play them on guitar for you?”
And this is how how you put mouthy metalheads in their place.