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Zen Break: Our Favorite Drum Prodigy, Yoyoka Soma, 'Killing In The Name' Of Rage

Two years ago, an eight-year old Yoyoka Soma became an Internet sensation with her adorable, face-melting cover of John Bonham's drum part to Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times."

Now a veteran at the age of 10 and releasing videos mononymously as Yoyoka, she is very much still at it. Her most recent hits include Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and this note-perfect, headbang-worthy rendition of "Killing in the Name."

Perhaps most impressively, Yoyoka never really breaks a sweat the whole time: Even in the fill-heavy breakdown before the outro, she is perfectly in her element. In nearly three decades of trying, we'd wager no high school battle of the bands entrant has come close to smashing through a Rage song with this much ease.

Yoyoka says Rage Against the Machine is her favorite band, and in the video description expresses her excitement at the group's reunion and the prospect of seeing them live. RATM itself has had to postpone the first leg of that comeback tour due to the coronavirus, so without live music for the foreseeable future, Yoyoka's hard-hitting, drum-smashing energy will be the catharsis we need.

(P.S. — If you're looking for more ways to decompress, check out NPR Music's new Our Daily Breather series.)

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jon Lewis is a freelance writer and producer based in New York.