According to Morello, "Killing in the Name" was a collaborative effort, combining his riff with Tim Commerford's "magmalike" bass, Brad Wilk's "funky, brutal" drumming and vocalist Zack de la Rocha's "conviction".

[16][17][18] The refrain "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" draws a link between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ku Klux Klan.

[20] The cover of the CD single is a Malcolm Browne photograph of Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the murder of Buddhists by the U.S.-backed regime of Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.

[15] On February 21, 1993, the BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes accidentally played the uncensored version of the song on his Top 40 Countdown, leading to 138 complaints.

[25] Following the 2020 United States elections, a video of pro-Trump protesters dancing to "Killing in the Name" was widely shared on social media.

"[26] In 2022, Reuters Fact Check concluded that a viral video purportedly showing North Korea's military choir covering the song had been digitally altered.

Its audio is from a video uploaded to YouTube in 2019 of an event when a thousand musicians gathered to perform the song inside Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park.

The montage of clips of the large choir and footage of the North Korea's military arsenal such as tanks and missiles had been edited together to mislead viewers.

[27] In early December 2009, the English DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy launched a group on Facebook encouraging people to buy the song in the week before Christmas.

They hoped to prevent the winner of The X Factor, a televised singing competition, from achieving the UK Christmas number one for the fifth year running.

[32] After the X Factor creator Simon Cowell denounced the campaign as "stupid" and "cynical",[33] the group gained more attention and was mentioned on various UK news channels, radio stations and websites.

[40] Critics noted that both The X Factor and Rage Against the Machine are signed to labels that are part of Sony BMG;[30][41][42] Morello dismissed conspiracy claims as ridiculous.

[43][44] Kasabian's Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno expressed their happiness at the campaign's success in an NME interview and criticized The X Factor.

[45] Rage Against the Machine attracted controversy when they performed an uncensored rendition of the song on BBC Radio 5 Live in mid-December 2009, despite the hosts asking them to censor the expletives.

[21] In 2021, in a collaboration with the arts collective the Ummah Chroma, Rage Against the Machine released a 15-minute short documentary video about the making of "Killing in the Name.

"[54][55] The video features anti-racist activist Tim Wise and contains footage of an interview with Zach de la Rocha, who says that capitalist society "should not stand.

"[54] In July 2009, "Killing in the Name" was voted at number two in the Hottest 100 of all time countdown poll, conducted by Australian radio station, Triple J.

[68] As part of supergroup Audioslave, guitarist Tom Morello incorporated instrumentals from Rage Against the Machine including versions of "Killing in the Name" into their performances.

During one of his last performances before he died, American comedian Bill Hicks ended a set by smashing his microphone against a stool while singing along to "Killing in the Name" playing over the loudspeakers.