SYSTEM OF A DOWN's SHAVO ODADJIAN On 'Chop Suey!': 'It's Just A Phenomenon, And I'm Grateful And Blessed For It'

In a new interview with Newsweek, Shavo Odadjian, one of the founding members of the Grammy-winning metal group SYSTEM OF A DOWN, spoke about SOAD's song "Chop Suey!", which crossed the threshold of one billion streams on Spotify back in 2023. It was the first SYSTEM OF A DOWN track to reach the milestone. Shavo said: "When Daron [Malakian, SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist/vocalist] brought that song, no one knew what it was going to become. It's just a phenomenon, and I'm grateful and blessed for it. I remember it like it was yesterday, filming that video. I even remember when we were deciding on having that be the first single before the album came out. These are all vivid memories because that was such a monumental moment for our band when we were writing and recording 'Toxicity'. It's just one of those things in my life that I think I'm going to remember forever."

Shavo added: "I'm just very grateful that the song has lived this long and still remains one of those songs that people like and love and kind of relate to. It's been like a childhood thing for a lot of people who are older now, and they're still into it, and their kids get into it. So, it's kind of like a generational thing, like a classic song. It became one of those. There's nothing more to say than that I'm grateful for that."

In November 2020, the music video for "Chop Suey!" surpassed one billion views on YouTube.

"Chop Suey!" was the first single from SYSTEM OF A DOWN's second album, "Toxicity". The single was released in August 2001 and earned the band its first Grammy nomination in 2002 for "Best Metal Performance."

Malakian stated about "Chop Suey!": "The song is about how we are regarded differently depending on how we pass. Everyone deserves to die. Like, if I were now to die from drug abuse, they might say I deserved it because I abused dangerous drugs. Hence the line, 'I cry when angels deserve to die.'"

SYSTEM OF A DOWN recently completed a run of 2025 North American shows that kicked off at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 27-28 with special guests KORN, and included two nights at Soldier Field in Chicago (August 31-September 1) with AVENGED SEVENFOLD and a final stop at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on September 3 and September 5 with DEFTONES.

This past spring, SYSTEM OF A DOWN completed a nine-show "Wake Up!" South American stadium tour. The trek kicked off on April 24 in Bogota, Colombia at the Estadio Nemésio Camacho El Campin, followed by a show in Cercado De Lima, Peru at the Estadio Nacional. The tour moved on to Chile, Argentina and Brazil, wrapping up with a run of five shows in Curitiba, Rio De Janieiro and São Paulo. The concerts were SOAD's first trip to South America since 2015.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011, but has only managed to record two songs in the last 20 years, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they raised over $600,000.