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DJ General Strike’s Top 40 Protest Songs of 2025

January 9, 2026 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! 1 Comment

Happy New Year comrades. This is DJ General Strike, host of the weekly protest music radio show, Protest Tunes on 91.3 KBCS FM in Seattle, WA. I broadcast 2 hours of radical protest music of all genres and eras every Wednesday at 9 PM. 2025 was a great year for protest music, as there was certainly a lot to protest this year in the US, given the rise of MAGA-fascism under Trump’s second term. The massive No Kings Protests in June and October inspired many great protest songs, as did the ICE-Out movement against Trump’s immigration crackdown, the cover-up and eventual limited release of the Epstein files, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs and DOGE cuts, and the attacks on the transgender and LGBT community.

Over the last year, I’ve compiled a playlist of over 1,100 of these protest songs, which you can listen to in its entirety here, and I’ve made 4 shows on my top protest songs of each season, or what I call “Molotov Hot Tracks.” I’ve painstakingly narrowed that high volume of songs down to my top 40 protest songs of 2025. I aired most of these songs on my show on New Year’s Eve, which you can listen to an archive of here.

The songs are organized by genre below for ease of listening (and alphabetically within genre), and you can also listen to all 40 on this Spotify Playlist. Without further ado, here’s my top 40 Protest Songs of 2025.

Folk

1. Hundred Year Hunger by Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg is an English protest singer-songwriter, author, and activist. The song about the Gaza genocide and the historical events that led to it was inspired by the book Hundred Year Hunger by E. Mark Windle. The song is also a benefit for the Amos Trust’s Gaza Appeal. This single was released on September 8th to coincide with the humanitarian aid Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza.

2. Little Flame by Carsie Blanton

Carsie Blanton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New Orleans, US. About this song, just released December 5th, she said, “I’ve been learning a bunch of protest songs, and I had that itchy-brain feeling that I might be searching for a song that didn’t exist yet. I wanted to tie together the loose ends of history into one long tapestry of solidarity; a kind of unified theory of liberation movements.”

3. Everyone’s in the Street by Dispatch ft. Ani DiFranco

Dispatch is an indie/roots band from Boston, US, and this track features Grammy-winning feminist folk-rock singer-songwriter, author, and activist Ani DiFranco. This song connects modern protest movements to the legacy of social change activism. Dispatch said, “This song pays homage to some of the great activists of our time, John Lewis, Delores Huerta, Alice Stokes Paul, and Lois Curtis. It highlights the importance of gathering in community to pursue justice and wage peace.”

4. No Kings by Jesse Welles ft. Joan Baez

Jesse Welles is a protest singer-songwriter and guitarist from Arkansas, US. He released a solo version of this song the day before the October No Kings protests, and in early November, he performed it live with legendary 84-year-old folk singer and activist, Joan Baez, at his San Francisco Fillmore concert. A couple of weeks later, they recorded the duet in-studio and just released it on December 12th.

5. Amerikkka’s Veins by Jordan Smart

Jordan Smart is a singer-songwriter currently based in Ludlow, US. This song is the opening track on his album Confessions of a CEO. Jordan recorded the tracks between one and three takes at Small Blue Studio in Lexington, Kentucky, with J. Tom Hnatow. This is a powerful anthem against police brutality, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

6. Heavy Foot by Mon Rovia

Mon Rovia is a child refugee of the Liberian Civil War, who was adopted at age 7 and brought to Tennessee, US, and created a sound that he dubbed “Afro-Appalachian.” About this song, he said, “Heavy Foot’ lays bare the scars of a broken system, all under the weight of a heavy-footed government. Yet, through this gravity, it sings of unbreakable unity—reminding us that in the face of oppression, our love and solidarity can defy the forces that try to hold us down.”

7. Fire In America by Sasha Allen

This viral protest song by transgender singer-songwriter and former The Voice finalist Sasha Allen uses far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September as a lens to examine the perpetual cycle of violence in America. The song sparked controversy after MSNBC’s Joy Reid praised its lyrics, leading to widespread conservative backlash online.

8. If the People Unite by Seth Staton Watkins

Seth Staton Watkins is a folk singer from St. Louis, US. Though from the States, he primarily sings and is best known for his renditions of traditional/rebel Irish tunes and sea shanties. He records and produces all of his music in his home studio. He describes this anti-Trump rallying cry as “a song to succor a weary soul through the bitter cold of winter”.

Rock

9. A World of Love and Care by Ezra Furman

Ezra Furman is a Jewish transwoman and Boston, US-based singer-songwriter and author, who previously released three albums as Ezra Furman and the Harpoons. This utopian song about building a better world is off her new album Goodbye Small Head, released in May.

10. The List by Moon Walker

Brooklyn, US-based indie-rock artist Harry Springer composes, produces, and performs all of Moon Walker’s music in his bedroom. He started Moon Walker at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to pass the time and make some extra money selling songs to music libraries. Since then, Moon Walker has had viral success on TikTok and has now amassed over 100 million streams and sold out shows across America. He released this single about Trump’s Epstein Files cover-up in October.

11. Big Crime by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

Young is a Legendary singer, songwriter, and musician formerly of bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. This song, released September 8th, lambasts Donald Trump, features his backing band, The Chrome Hearts, and was recorded during a sound check at a concert on Chicago’s Northerly Island.

R&B/Pop

12. Build A Ballroom by A Gift from Todd & Ken Sandberg

@ken.sandberg
Singing along with Build A Ballroom by @agiftfromtodd #singalong #duet #buildaballroom #acapella
♬ original sound – Ken Sandberg

A Gift From Todd is a Baltimore, US-based artist and content creator. This viral a capella protest song against Trump’s demolition of the east wing of the White House to build a $300 million ballroom funded by private donors was first shared on TikTok in October. It gained significant traction on social media, leading to various duets and collaborations, notably this version with actor, singer, and podcaster Ken Sandberg, which they released together in November.

13. Sleeves Up by Crys Matthews

Crys Matthews is a former drum major and classically-trained clarinetist turned folk singer. Matthews says she is using her voice to answer Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to be “a drum major for justice.” She was born and raised in a small town in North Carolina by an A.M.E. preacher. She released this post-Trump-election call to action on inauguration day.

14. Pretrial (Let Her Go Home) by Fiona Apple

The three-time Grammy-winning genre-bending singer-songwriter and pianist released this rallying cry for pretrial reform in May, her first original song in five years. “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)” is a protest anthem shaped by Fiona Apple’s activism, including years of court watching, community organizing, and listening to the women impacted by pretrial incarceration in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a volunteer with the organization CourtWatch PG.

15. Lady Liberty by Galactic & Irma Thomas

Galactic is a funk band from New Orleans, US, formed in 1994. Irma Thomas is an 84-year-old pillar of American R&B and blues history known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans”. They released this single about the erosion of democracy under Trump in January, off their collaborative album Audience With The Queen, which dropped in April.

16. Reparations by Kirby

Kirby is a soul singer-songwriter from Mississippi, US. Before pursuing a solo career, she was a songwriter for stars like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Paul McCartney. This track, calling for reparations for slavery, was inspired by her grandparents’ story and her ancestors who were slaves on the Dockery cotton plantation. It’s off her sophomore album, Miss Black America, released in August.

Reggae/Ska

17. Last Call In America by Fishbone ft. George Clinton

Fishbone is an all black ska/funk/rock fusion band formed in 1979 by brothers John and Phillip Fisher and their friends in junior high school in Los Angeles, US. This song features the godfather of funk, George Clinton, and is off their newest album, Stockholm Syndrome, which dropped June 27. The song speaks directly to the current social, economic, and political climate in America under Trump’s second term.

18. World Citizen by Irie Souljah & Kabaka Pyramid

Irie Souljah is a Spanish Reggae artist, born and raised in Barcelona, who relocated to Jamaica in 2014. After dropping out of music school in his mid-teens, he started going to street parties with his friends, where he discovered reggae icons and started the band, Mystic Souldiers, which became one of the biggest reggae acts in Spain. The track features conscious contemporary Jamaican reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid. This single, released in July, critiques anti-immigrant policies around the world and calls for truly open borders, where every person is considered a ‘world citizen’ with freedom to move and migrate as they need or desire.

19. The Way You Tune It Out by JER

JER is a YouTuber, musician, composer, and music educator who hosts the YouTube channel Skatune Network, where they post ska covers of popular songs, earning the fan nickname “The CEO of Ska”. They also play trombone for ska-punk band We Are the Union. They released this single, about normalizing and turning a blind eye to injustice, in June, off their album Death of the Heart, which came out in August.

20. Street Cry by Young Veterans, Sizzla, Luciano & Turbulence

Young Veterans Music is an independent record label operating out of Kingston, Jamaica. They brought together 3 prominent conscious Jamaican reggae artists for this song; Luciano, Jamaican second-generation roots reggae singer whose lyrics promote consciousness and eschew slackness (vulgarity); Sizzla, a contemporary reggae artist noted for his high number of releases (56 albums to date); and Turbulence, a reggae artist known for mixing roots reggae with elements of dancehall and Rastafarian spirituality. Released in August, the song calls attention to the struggles of the poor and the need for systemic change to end poverty.

Hip-Hop

21. Inamo, Customs Enforcement by Bambu

Bambu is a Filipino-American community activist and rapper from Los Angeles, US, now based in Oakland. Bambu utilizes his music as a tool for a larger goal – to reach and support youth who face issues of poverty and gang violence that he experienced, and move them to question what goes on in the world, with the eventual goal of organizing and activism. This song against Trump’s immigration crackdown (inamo is a curse word in Tagalog) is off his newest album, They’re Burning the Boats, released in October.

22. Sick, Sad World by Bob Vylan

Bob Vylan is an English political punk-rap duo based in London, also known as The Bobs, as both of them go by the stage name Bobbie Dylan (with different spellings). Their leading the crowd in the Gaza solidarity protest chant “death, death to the IDF” during their performance at Glastonbury Festival this June resulted in their visas for an upcoming tour in the US being revoked. They released this single about the cost of living crisis on October 10th.

23. rage by Dezi

DEZI’s an Los Angeles, US-based alt-pop/hip-hop artist whose music comes from embracing every aspect of her identity. “My whole life is about riding the in-between. I’m Cuban American, I’m bisexual, I’m very femme but also very masc. For a long time, I felt like I had to choose which parts of myself to show, but now I’ve stopped trying to be some sort of perfect package.” About this song, she said, “It’s a song for the people who feel their best isn’t enough, who were sold an unattainable dream due to the systems our government created.”

24. THREAT LEVEL ORANGE by Earth to Eve

Earth to Eve is the solo project of Los Angeles, US-based indie-pop artist Eve Weisberger. Almost every aspect of her songs, the writing, lyrics, production, mixing, and mastering, is all done by her alone. She released this viral anti-Trump protest song this July, which was designed to be sung easily at protests.

25. No Kings In The USA by Gangstagrass ft. Allison Russell

Gangstagrass is a Bluegrass and hip-hop fusion group, best known for the theme song of the FX show Justified. Founded in 2006 by US producer Rench to “make super funky jams of hip-hop and bluegrass that bring together the best of both worlds.” They released this song featuring Canadian roots artist Allison Russell, to coincide with “No Kings” protests on June 14th.

26. 3.5% by Hyphen

Hyphen is an English rapper and songwriter of Indian origin who was working in finance and feeling depressed and lacking purpose, and started making music to help him deal with depression, which gave him a new sense of purpose. This track is inspired by the 3.5% rule, developed by political scientist Erica Chenoweth, which suggests that when about 3.5% of a population actively participates in a nonviolent protest movement, it’s highly likely to succeed in achieving major political change. This song is off Hyphen’s new EP, This Might Be It, released in August.

27. EVERYTHING’S ON FIRE by Lil Darkie

Lil Darkie is an experimental rapper, producer, and visual artist known for pushing the boundaries of genre and expression from Long Beach, US. Blending elements of hip-hop, punk, metal, folk, country, and electronic music, his work is raw, aggressive, and unapologetically honest. This track, about the rising cost of living and rising fascism in the US, is off his new album USD, released July 24th.

28. fucked up by Macklemore

Four-time Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Macklemore came up with the persona “Professor Macklemore” for an art project involving a superhero while attending High School in Seattle, US. He rose to international success collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Macklemore released this protest single against Trump’s second term and the genocide in Gaza in February, with all proceeds going to UNRWA.

29. START A FIRE by The Neighborhood Kids

The Neighborhood Kids are a conscious hip-hop collective from San Diego, US, on a mission to spark unity and drive social change through music. DAMAG3 is a transgender alternative hip-hop artist who started out making music in their bedroom outside of New Orleans, and released their first songs in 2021. The Neighborhood Kids and DAMAG3 released this collaborative anti-capitalist call to arms in July.

30. Sirens by SkyDxaddy

SkyDxddy is a pop/hip-hop singer/songwriter who calls her genre “Traumacore.” She says about herself “I started making music after everything I went through, so many people go through trauma, of all kinds. And we’re bred not to talk about it. That’s so harmful. My music allows the listener to feel it, process it, and feel power from the fact that they made it out.” This song about militant resistance to violence against women, is off SkyDxddy’s debut album, TRAUMACORE: RAW AND UNCUT, which she released this May.

Metal/Hardcore

31. PO$T AMERICAN by Dead Pioneers

Dead Pioneers emerged as an extension of vocalist Gregg Deal’s performance art, blending music with critical cultural commentary. Rooted in themes of identity and resistance, the band’s sound acts as a platform for addressing the complexities of Indigenous experience. They released this single against white nationalism and American patriotism in January, which is also the title track of their newest album released in April.

32. Clockworked ft. LANDMVRKS

Stray from the Path is a Political hardcore band formed in 2001 in Long Island, US. “Their music fuses hardcore with metallic precision, hip-hop swagger, punk urgency, and political commentary.” This song against apathy and conformity to rising fascism is the title track off their new and final album, Clockworked, released May 30th, and features French metalcore band LANDMVRKS.

33. Scene 1 by SUMAC & Moor Mother

Pacific Northwest trio Sumac is a post-metal supergroup formed in 2014. It features the Vancouver, Canada-based Nick Yacyshyn, Seattle, US-based Brian Cook, and Vashon Island, US-based Aaron Turner. Moor Mother is a Jazz poet, rapper, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, US, of the bands Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss. This song against European colonialism and anti-black racism is off their collaborative concept album The Film, released in April.

34. HOSTAGE (they will not erase us) by TX2

TX2, AKA Timothy Evan Thomas, is a queer musician who blends hip hop, metal, and punk rock from Fort Collins, US. TX2’s first went viral on TikTok Tok and he now has 1.3 million followers and 45 million likes on the platform. TX2 also started the “X Movement”, which is all about bringing awareness to mental health issues, and has been donating proceeds from this song to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for the LGBTQ+ community. About this track, which is a rallying cry for equality, visibility, and justice, for the queer and trans community, which he released in April, TX2 said, “This is our anthem. They will not erase us.”

Punk

35. Down to Riot by Cheap Perfume

Cheap perfume is an unapologetically political feminist punk band out of Denver, US, formed in 2015. About this single, released July 18th, off their album Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask (released this October). Guitarist-vocalist Jane No said, “This working-class anthem was inspired by hearing so many people after the pandemic complaining that ‘No one wants to work anymore.”

36. Protect Trans Kids by Evan Greer & Ryan Cassata

This song is a collaboration of two trans activist-musicians: Ryan Cassata, a trans masc singer-songwriter, actor, YouTuber, speaker, and activist based in New York, US; and Evan Greer, a trans fem digital rights activist, writer, and musician from Boston, US. They released this punk anthem this Trans Day of Visibility (March 31st). About the track, Greer said, “The goal of this song is to remind people that it’s actually pretty f–ing simple: Let [trans] kids be kids. Stop bullying them. Just leave them alone.”

37. BRAINROT by Grandson

Grandson is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper, and activist based in Los Angeles, US, who began releasing music in 2015. BRAINROT was his first new release in two years since the Venom film theme song, and the lead single off his album INERTIA, which dropped in September. About the song, Grandson said, “‘BRAINROT’ is about the distraction of the internet, the way our attention span is weaponized and attacked by technology companies to prevent any real momentum building on the pressing issues of our generation.”

38. Bad Apple by Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls are an English punk rock duo formed in Brighton by Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez, who are both LGBT and neurodivergent. They took their name from Lambrini, a brand of sweet sparkling pear cider, associated with low-class women. This anti-police brutality track is off their album Who Let the Dogs Out, released in January.

39. Not In Your Mouth, None Of Your Business by Peaches

Peaches is a queer feminist Canadian electroclash musician, performance artist, director, and producer known for her sexually transgressive persona. She began her musical career in the 1990s as part of the folk trio, Mermaid Cafe, and is now 59 years old. She released this single in October, the lead single off her first album in over a decade, No Lube So Rude, due in 2026. This song is a rousing battle cry for bodily autonomy and a protest against the Trump administration’s attacks on trans and queer people’s freedom.

Jazz

40. A Plea by Flea

This Eight-minute jazz single was released on December 2nd by the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, and second-best bassist of all time (according to Rolling Stone). He was first called “Flea” as a teenager for his seeming inability to sit still, and the nickname stuck. This track is the first preview of his forthcoming solo jazz album. Flea describes the song’s lyrics as “yearning for a place beyond, a place of love, to help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world.”

News, Protest Tunes

DJ General Strike’s Top 40 Protest Songs of 2024

January 9, 2025 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! 1 Comment

Happy New Year comrades, this is DJ General Strike, host of the weekly protest music radio show, Protest Tunes on 91.3 KBCS FM in Seattle, WA. I broadcast 2 hours of radical protest music of all genres and eras every Wednesday at 9 PM. 2024 was an active year for protest music, in light of the Presidential election in the US and the General election in the UK. Many great anti-war songs were also released against Israel’s ongoing war/genocide in Gaza. Over the last year I’ve compiled a playlist of over 800 of these protest songs, which you can listen to in its entirety here, and I’ve made 4 shows on my top protest songs of each season, or what I call Molotov Hot Tracks. I narrowed that high volume of songs down to my top 40 protest songs of 2024. I aired most of these songs on my show last Wednesday, New Year’s Day, which you can listen to an archive of here. I’ve organized these 40 protest songs by genre below for ease of listening (and alphabetically within genre), you can also listen to all 40 on this Spotify Playlist. Without further ado here’s my top 40 Protest Songs of 2024.

Folk

Grammy winning feminist folk-rock singer-songwriter, author and activist. One of the first artists to create her own label in 1990, she is called ‘the mother of the DIY movement’ and has sold over 5.5 million albums on her own Righteous Babe Records. New Bible is an anti-capitalist song, the 2nd single off of her album Unprecedented Sh!t’, Ani’s 23rd release, released July 12th.

Carsie Blanton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New Orleans, US. Blanton says she “writes anthems for a world worth saving.” About this song this single released May 31st, she said it’s “a “f— the democratic party for sitting on its hands during a genocide” kind of a song.”

Petrie is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She began performing in 2006, but in 2010 the advent of the Conservative-led coalition government influenced her, as a socialist, feminist, and lesbian, towards an increasing emphasis on political songwriting. This track is off of her new album Build Something Better, released March 8th.

Welles, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Arkansas, US, who was the frontman of the bands Dead Indian, formed in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. In 2024, Welles garnered attention on social media for authoring and performing satirical protest songs, like this viral anti-war-on-Gaza song, which satirizes common justifications for war.

Seth Staton Watkins is a folk singer from St. Louis, US, who is best known for his renditions of traditional Irish rebel tunes. He records and produces all of his music in his home studio. He released “Stand Together”, a rewrite of his 2023 song “It’s Not the Poor Folk”, this November in the wake of Trump’s electoral victory.

Sister Wife Sex Strike is a Seattle-based anarchist folk punk band comprised of Sister Pigeon and Sister Moth. The band’s name is inspired by a real life sex strike that they went on in 2021. They released this anti-Zionist single on July 4th, off of their new album Sister Wife Sex Change, which dropped August 2nd.

Rock and Roll

Frank Turner is an English punk, folk and indie-rock singer-songwriter who began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band’s split in 2005. This anti-authoritarian song off of Turner’s new album Undefeated, is a rewrite of an old unreleased song of his, called Practical Anarchist.

MC5 (Motor City 5) was an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The last two members of the band, Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson passed away this year, while they were working on their all-star comeback album Heavy Lifting which features guests like Tom Morello, Slash, Vernon Reid, and more. The album was released this October, timed to the band’s posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie. Primal Scream had been performing live from 1982 to 1984, but their career did not take off until Gillespie left his position as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain. This epic nine minute track compares settler colonialism in Ireland, Scotland and Palestine.

R&B/Pop

This Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author performs solo and with rock band Super Furry Animals, who obtained mainstream success in the 90s, and the electro-pop band Neon Neon. He’s considered a figurehead of the era known as Cool Cymru, a Welsh cultural movement in music and film in the 1990s and 2000s. This anti-government corruption song is off of his newest album Sadness Sets Me Free released last January.

Shaina Taub is a Vermont-raised, Brooklyn-based composer, singer-songwriter and performer. This song is newly written for Taub’s musical about the Women’s Suffrage Movement, “Suffs” upcoming Broadway run. Taub wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the musical and also stars as Alice Paul in “Suffs”.

The 74 year old living legend, had his first Billboard No. 1 hit at the age of 12, and has won 25 Grammys (the most by any solo artist). This is Stevie’s first new song since 2020, and it encourages people to get involved and seize the crucial moment that the U.S. and the world find themselves in right now.

Sunny War is a Blues/Folk/Punk guitarist from Nashville, US. “Walking Contradiction” is the first single from her album Armageddon In A Summer Dress, which drops on 21st of February 2025. Sunny War wrote its songs after moving into her late father’s 100-year-old house in Chattanooga. A big fan of Crass, the influential British anarcho-punk collective, she recruited Crass’ Steve Ignorant to perform on this track.

Reggae/Ska

DJ Pamplona is an independent audio engineer from Rio de Janeiro Brazil, of the group Dub Ataque. He is now based in Florida where he owns his own studio and record label, Pamplona Beats. This anti-war-on-Gaza song features Soom T, a Scottish reggae singer of Indian origin.

Zion I Kings, a family of producers and musicians from three respected roots production houses, finished and released this posthumous track by the late Peetah Morgan in July. Peetah, who passed away on February 25th, was the lead singer of Grammy-winning contemporary reggae band Morgan Heritage, formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan.

The Undercover Hippy is UK based singer-songwriter Billy Rowan, who spent 7 years DJ’ing and MC’ing on the Drum & Bass circuit, then started The Undercover Hippy as a solo act in 2007 and now plays with a 5 piece band. 100% of proceeds from this track are donated to Palestinian charities: Sanabel Team, The Sameer Project and We Are Not Numbers.

Jazz/Spoken Word

aja monet is a poet, writer, lyricist and activist based in Los Angeles, US. She was the youngest poet to ever hold the title Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Champion at the age of 19 in 2007. This song was inspired by Langston Hughes’ 1938 poem, “For the Kids Who Died.”

Meshell Ndegeocello is a singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She’s been nominated for 11 Grammys, and won two. This epic 8 minute track is off of her new album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, which pays homage to the eminent writer and activist, James Baldwin.

Hip-Hop

Abe Batshon is a Palestinian American songwriter, artist and entrepreneur born in San Francisco and raised in Hayward, California. This single, released in February about the war in Gaza, also features Lebanese singer Samer and Detroit-based Palestinian-American hip hop artist Sammy Shiblaq.

Arrested Development was formed in Atlanta, US, in 1988 by rapper and producer Speech and turntablist Headliner. They were the first hip hop band to win a Grammy for Best New Artist, in 1993. This track is from their new album Bullets In The Chamber, released in January, which is so full of great protest songs, it was hard to pick just one.

Brother Ali is a blind, albino rapper, community activist, and member of the Rhymesayers Entertainment hip hop collective from Minneapolis, US. In this track Ali, who is Muslim, and anti-zionist Jewish producer unJUST tackle Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people. They released this single in March, off of their collaborative album Love and Service which came out in April.

Eddie Mack is an Arab-American Hip-Hop artist from Detroit, US. Mack engineers and produces and writes all of his own music. His distinct sound combines vintage Hip-Hop tracks with contemporary production methods. This sequel to his October 2023 protest song against Israel’s war on Gaza, The Sound Of War, was released in August.

Harris J, AKA “the Muslim Justin Bieber” is a young British Muslim artist whose debut album, Salam, was released in 2015. This song features rapper Lowkey, an Iraqi-British rapper and activist from London. These two London-based Muslim artists collaborated on this anti-war track against Israel’s war/genocide in Gaza.

Kimmortal is a Queer Filipina emcee and singer-songwriter based in Vancouver, BC. Their debut album Sincerity was entirely crowd funded by her community. In this follow up to Kimmortal’s November 23’ single against Israel’s war on Gaza, Stop Business As Usual, they feature Toronto R&B/Hip-Hop artist Phoenix Pagliacci of TRPP and transgender American-Peruvian rapper Bobby Sanchez.

The Seattle star rapper released this follow-up to his viral Spring protest single on September 20th, and performed it live for the first time in Seattle the next day at the Palestine Will Live Forever benefit concert. The track features Palestinian-American artists Anees and Amer Zahr, Gaza-born rapper MC Abdul, and the LA Palestinian Kids Choir. Just like the first song, Macklemore is donating the proceeds from “Hind’s Hall 2” to UNRWA.

Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album in 1988. She’s back after ten years with a brand new album, called ‘1 of 1’. In this song MC Lyte, Stevie Wonder, and Common address systemic injustice and the pervasive impact of racism on African Americans.

Rapsody began her career at North Carolina State University, where she joined hip hop collective H2O and its spinoff group Kooley High, despite not having rapped before. She launched her solo career in 2008. This song off her new album Please Don’t Cry is about the police murder of Breonna Taylor, and samples Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”.

Metal/Hardcore

Formed in LA in 1990 and fronted by rapper Ice T. who first established himself as a rapper then co-founded the group with lead guitarist Ernie C out of their shared interest in heavy metal music. Body Count have been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal, even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs. This track critiques the American two party system, comparing the Democrats and Republicans to warring gangs.

FEVER 333 is a political rap-core trio formed in Inglewood, US, in 2017 by members of Letlive, Chariot and Night Verses. Originally named The Fever, 333 represents the band’s three core principles of community, charity and change. This anti-police brutality single, released in August, is off of their new album ‘Darker White’, released on October 4th.

English rapper and songwriter of Indian origin. Hyphen had an usual start in music – he was working in finance and feeling depressed and lacking purpose, and started making music to help him deal with depression, which gave him a new sense of purpose. He released this immigrant rights, anti-1% single this October.

Ren is a Welsh songwriter, musician, rapper, producer, director and disability rights activist, he has had chronic Lyme disease for over 10 years. He was a member of the indie hip-hop band Trick The Fox and the British busking band The Big Push. He released this anti-capitalist single on October 18th.

Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American musician and activist, best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band System of a Down, formed in 1994. Tankian says he wrote this song during the early days of System of a Down. It’s about the Armenian genocide that took place during WWI, and how it still impacts his family and the broader Armenian community.

Tom Morello, is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and political activist, best known for his tenure with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. This new solo single, off his upcoming solo rock album, Morello calls the song “a salute to the transformative power of music”. It features a guest guitar solo by his 13-year-old son, Roman Morello.

Punk

Destroy Boys are a teen punk band from Sacramento, US. Their name was taken from words that singer Violet Mayugba wrote on her chalkboard at home during a period of relationship troubles. This feminist anti-assault/harassment anthem from their new album, Funeral Soundtrack No. 4 features fellow feminist punks Mannequin Pussy, from Philadelphia, and Scowl from Santa Cruz, California.

Dropkick Murphys are Celtic punk band from Massachusetts, US. About this song, frontman Ken Casey says, “For nearly a decade, the division between red and blue, right and left, has grown deeper, darker and uglier…Nobody enjoys this more than the billionaires, who are making record profits off the blood, sweat, and tears of the working class… They love it when we fight amongst ourselves, because their biggest fear is us joining together to come after them…THE REAL ENEMY.”

Punk rock band from Santa Cruz, US, formed in 1986. Known for their energetic sound and thought-provoking lyrics, the band briefly disbanded before reuniting in 2012. They released this protest single as a call to action ahead of the U.S. election on October 22nd.

Lady Parts is a band created for the British sitcom, We Are Lady Parts, created, written, and directed by Nida Manzoor, who alongside her siblings, also writes and supervises the music for the show. The series follows a British punk rock band named Lady Parts, which consists entirely of Muslim women. This track is off the show’s soundtrack, We Are Lady Parts (Music From The Original Series – Seasons 1 & 2) released May 31st.

Lambrini Girls are a queer feminist three-piece punk band from Brighton, UK, known for their energetic, emotive lyrics and political commentary. About this single released in February the band said “’Gods Country’ is our long, overdue call-out of the government and rise of the far right… We have the audacity to call our country ‘Great’. So we ask you, ‘Are you sure?”

This 7-member Irish Folk Punk Band from Germany, started out as a duo, playing in small barns and pubs as “The O’Reillys,” and a little later mutual friends joined them as the “Paddyhats” and turned the duo into a full band. This anti-fascist song is “directed against political and social currents that endanger democracy – and calls on people to speak up, rise up and fight together for freedom and justice.”

Pop punk band with grunge influences founded in Baltimore, US in 2019, after the three members met at Johns Hopkins University. Pinkshift has used their platform to advocate for racial diversity, Palestine, and gender inclusivity. This anti-Trump song began its life as an “anti-fascist poem” written by vocalist Ashrita Kumar.

Exclusive, Interview

Exclusive Video Premiere: Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz by Free Radicals

May 25, 2022 Halldór H Kristínarson Leave a comment

The Karankawa was an indigenous tribe that lived along the coast of the Gulf of México. Along with the Atakapa tribe these indigienous communities thrived for a few thousand years in the area before Spanish people, under the command of royalty and religion, invaded the land, bringing disease and terror.

Today, ancestors of these people live scattered around northern México as well as the greater Houston area. The city of Houston is the fourth most populous city in the US and now considered one of the most diverse cities in the country. According to the 2020 census Hispanic, Latino, African-American and Asian people make up around 70% of the population.

Where some people might see such diversity of ethnicity and cultures as a positive and enriching thing, others find it bothersome and prefer their life in a monotonous bubble. In the whole of the United States clashes have occurred because of race, gender and religious beliefs. In the melting pot that is Houston, one musical group in particular has been at the forefront of protests and marches against racism, against wars, for equality, against police brutality, support Palestine, et cetera. This is the musical genre soup that is Free Radicals.

The band members have throughout their 20 odd year career mostly released instrumental music and used their voices rather at before mentioned marches and protests. But throughout their career the band has collaborated with rappers, singers and spoken word artists who have lent their voices to various projects. In 2020 the band released the critically acclaimed ‘White Power Outage vol. 1’ which, in a very direct way addresses denazification in the US, or rather the lack thereof. Now, two years later, the band is back with vol. 2 and we could not be more excited to premiere one of the singles off of the new album and its corresponding music video.

I’m honored to have had the opportunity to converse with the band via email and I’m stoked to now share the Q and A with the Shouts audience.

Halldór Kristínarson: Can you tell me a bit about the new volume and in particular the song/video we are premiering, ‘Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz’?

Free Radicals: Seven years ago, Free Radicals released the instrumental version of Checkpoint on our breakdance music album Freedom of Movement. We always knew we wanted to come back to the track and do a rap version, and now finally, the whole project has come together with four powerful and musical voices. We decided we could only do the topic justice if we included rappers from Houston, Palestine, and South Africa. Apparently, having English, Afrikaans, and Arabic lyrics on the same tune is not a normal thing to do, because when we registered the song on YouTube and on streaming services, we could choose to list only one language.

We first invited EQuality, who has been collaborating with Free Radicals since our 2004 album Aerial Bombardment with his insane spoken word piece We All Inhale. He had also joined us to take on Israeli apartheid on Every Wall on our 2012 album The Freedom Fence. He opens up Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz for his fellow rappers with a bang. When we the got tracks from Prince Alfarra from the Gaza Strip, and Jitsvinger from South Africa, we were completely blown away.

We knew that this song was going to be everything we had imagined for years, but the icing on the cake was the voice of one of our mentors, Lindi Yeni, a South African who taught dance in Houston for many years. Her theatrical experience kicked in and she improvised a skit between herself and a South African border checkpoint guard during apartheid. Lindi is a legendary figure in Houston, who helped arrange political asylum for South African performers during the apartheid years, and is seen here performing for Nelson Mandela.

To say that this was our dream team would be an understatement!

Exclusive Premiere:
Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz by Free Radicals

HK: Some protest musicians are subtle and poetic, hiding a bit their messages while others tackle issues very openly in their lyrics. What can you tell me about the evolution of your style of protest music, did you consciously reach this point or was it all a natural happening?

FR: Recently, on social media, someone commented about the album cover for White Power Outage Volume 2, saying “What is this? Some kind of subtle attempt to imply that businessmen, judges, police, and politicians are all white supremacists?” We responded, “We weren’t trying to be subtle!”

We live in a country that has had no reckoning with our history of apartheid and genocide. In Germany, there are zero statues of Nazis that are still standing, they teach the Holocaust, racism, and genocide in school. The United States has only barely ever started the process of denazification. Here, in the South, every attempt to teach real US history in schools is attacked, statues of slave owners and Indian killers abound. There’s no subtlety, and we’re certainly not trying to be subtle when responding to it.

Our political messaging comes from the street protests that we perform at. Our marching band, the Free Rads Street Band, has marched with Palestinians protesting Israeli oppression, Muslims and other groups fighting against Muslim ban laws in India, janitors demanding a living wage, anti-war protests, anti-corporate greed protests, students demanding gun control, people for women’s rights, etc.

Sometimes, journalists have mentioned that we were talking about border walls in 2012, years before Trump, and oil wars in 1998, years before the 2003 Iraq War, as if that was somehow prophetic. But there was nothing prophetic about it at all. There were protests against border walls in Texas and Palestine all the way back to the 90s, and of course, there were protests against the earlier Iraq war in 1990. Protests in the streets have been shouting about these issues for decades, and we just try to amplify those messages.

HK: How important is it for you to be able to use your art as a vessel for political activism?

FR: Our albums have always had political themes. Our first release, The Rising Tide Sinks all in 1998 was the beginning of a long collaboration between our musicians, social movements, and visual artist John Kitses. However, 99% of the shows that we’ve played have been just instrumental music, and we don’t make political speeches from the bandstand. We play at parties and clubs, weddings and funerals, street protests and break dance competitions. So, we’re used to just focusing on instrumental music most of the time, with politics only really coming in at the street protests, and when we release an album.

HK: How is the scene in Houston, when it comes to socially conscious music and art? Are there many artists who use their talents to raise awareness or promote a positive message of change?

FR: With the most diverse neighborhoods in the entire world, the Greater Houston area has all kinds of pockets of resistance and art. There are incredible LatinX, Black, Asian, indigenous, African, Muslim, and white musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, dancers, and comedians who wouldn’t even be capable of leaving off political themes from their arts, it’s too much a part of them.

Just to mention some of the Houston artists who have participated in the White Power Outage albums with us… Swatara Olushola fought to expose the scandal of the Sugar Land 95. Obidike Kamau was the long time host of Self Determination on KPFT, and is an activist for reparations. Marlon ‘Marley’ Lizama teaches writing to incarcerated youth. Jason Jackson teaches music to refugees and kids in shelters with Nameless Sound. Zack Hamburg blogs about cars and climate change. Henry ‘Hennessy’ Alvarez is part of the local chapter of the Brown Berets. Karina Nistal, Michele Thibeaux, EQuality, 200 Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez, Deniz ‘deecolonize’ Lopez, and Nosaprise all make music about social justice. Brian Is Ze has an intersectional take on gender and health care issues. Akua Holt is the host of Pan African Journal on KPFT.

We didn’t just invite rappers, singers, comedians, and spoken word artists who we like listening to, we focused on connecting with artists who are also activists!

HK: What do you hope to achieve with your latest album?

FR: We hope that the album will be the soundtrack for dismantling white supremacy, corporate capitalism, the military industrial complex, and environmental destruction! Or, if we fail, we hope the album can be an elegy for the dream of a sustainable and equitable world.

HK: What is on the horizon for you?

FR: White Power Outage vol. 2 features 66+ voices of all ages, and right now, we are especially looking forward to our June 7 concert with living legend Harry Sheppard, our 94 year old mentor, band member, and friend.

HK: Anything else you’d like to shout from the rooftops?

FR: On the two volumes of White Power Outage you will hear the beautful voices of the kids from Peace Camp Houston chanting these:

Down Down with Deportation!
Up Up with Liberation!
No Hate! No Fear!
Immigrants Are Welcome Here!
¡Racista, escucha! ¡Estamos en la lucha!
Freedom for All! No Cages, No Walls!

Exclusive Premiere: Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz by Free Radicals

Exclusive Premiere:
Checkpoint/Dompass/Hajiz by Free Radicals